roving

a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.

a fool or simpleton; ninny.

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verb (used without object)

to wander about without definite destination; move hither and thither at random, especially over a wide area.

verb (used with object)

to wander over or through; traverse: to rove the woods.

noun

an act or instance of roving.

Origin:
1490–1500; orig., to shoot at a random target; perhaps < Scandinavian; compare Old Norse rāfa to stray; but compare also Old French raver to roam

Synonyms
1. stroll, amble, stray. See roam.

verb

a simple past tense and past participle of reeve².

verb (used with object)

to form (slivers of wool, cotton, etc.) into slightly twisted strands in a preparatory process of spinning.

to draw fibers or the like through an eye or other small opening.

to attenuate, compress, and twist slightly in carding.

noun

British, roving².

Origin:
1780–90; of obscure origin

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To roving

Collins

World English Dictionary

rove¹ (rəʊv)

—vb
1.	to wander about (a place) with no fixed direction; roam
2.	(intr) (of the eyes) to look around; wander
3.	have a roving eye to show a widespread amorous interest in the opposite sex
4.	(intr) Australian rules football to play as a rover

—n
5.	the act of roving

[C15 roven (in archery) to shoot at a target chosen at random (C16: to wander, stray), from Scandinavian; compare Icelandic rāfa to wander]

rove² (rəʊv)

—vb
1.	(tr) to pull out and twist (fibres of wool, cotton, etc) lightly, as before spinning or in carding

—n
2.	wool, cotton, etc, thus prepared

[C18: of obscure origin]

rove³ (rəʊv)

—n
	a metal plate through which a rivet is passed and then clenched over

[C15: from Scandinavian; compare Icelandic ro]

rove⁴ (rəʊv)

—vb
	a past tense and past participle of reeve

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

rove

"to wander with no fixed destination," 1536, possibly a Midlands dialectal variant of northern Eng. and Scottish rave "to wander, stray," from M.E. raven, probably from O.N. rafa "to wander, rove." Infl. by rover (q.v.). Earliest sense was "to shoot arrows at a mark selected at pleasure or at random"

(1474).

Encyclopedia Britannica

Encyclopedia

roving

in archery, form of practice or competition dating from at least the 16th century, when it was practiced by the Honourable Artillery Company at Finsbury Fields near London. Archers set up many marks on the field and shot from one to the next in sequence, the object being, as in golf, to use the fewest shots in completing the course. Roving is similar to modern field archery, which, in fact, is sometimes called roving.

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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Example sentences

Roving thoughts and provocations from our writers province.

Roving thoughts and provocations from our writers beauty.

Roving thoughts and provocations from our writers police.

Roving thoughts and provocations from our writers posted here.

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Matching Quote

"So, we'll go no more a-roving
So late into the night,
Though the heart be still as loving,
And the moon be still as bright.
For the sword outwears its sheath,
And the soul wears out the breast.
And the heart must pause to breathe
And love itself have rest."

-George Gordon Noel Byron