rover
Other forms: rovers
A rover is a drifter or wanderer, someone who doesn't settle in one spot. If you grow up in a small town, you may dream of buying a camper and living as a rover one day.
Because rovers tend to roam around, this word has historically been a popular name for dogs. In fact, Shakespeare even called a dog Rover in A Winter's Tale. The rover vehicles used to explore rough terrain got their name from this same sense of wandering. Planetary rovers roll around the surfaces of moons and planets, exploring on their own or carrying crew. Land Rovers and other cars bill themselves as equally rugged and adventurous.
Definitions of rover
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someone who leads a wandering unsettled life
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synonyms:
bird of passage, roamer, wanderer
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types:
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nomad
a member of a people who have no permanent home but move about according to the seasons
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drifter, floater, vagabond, vagrant
a wanderer who has no established residence or visible means of support
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beachcomber
a vagrant living on a beach
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Bedouin, Beduin
a member of a nomadic tribe of Arabs
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Bushman
a member of the race of nomadic hunters and gatherers who live in southern Africa
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Hun
a member of a nomadic people who invaded Europe in the 4th century
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Saracen
(historically) a member of the nomadic people of the Syrian and Arabian deserts at the time of the Roman Empire
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Scythian
a member of the ancient nomadic people inhabiting Scythia
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sundowner
a tramp who habitually arrives at sundown
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bum, hobo, tramp
a disreputable vagrant
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a vehicle for exploring rough terrain, especially a planet or another extraterrestrial body
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type of:
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vehicle
a conveyance that transports people or objects
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vehicle
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an adult member of the Boy Scouts movement
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DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘rover'.
Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors.
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