hover
Americanverb (used without object)
-
hovers,
present (3rd person singular)
-
hovered,
past participle, past
-
hovering
present participle
-
to hang fluttering or suspended in the air.
The helicopter hovered over the building.
-
to keep lingering about; wait near at hand.
-
to remain in an uncertain or irresolute state; waver.
to hover between life and death.
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Computers. to place a pointer over an area of a screen without clicking or tapping, as with a mouse or stylus.
Hover over the icon to reveal more information.
verb (used with object)
-
hovers,
present (3rd person singular)
-
hovered,
past participle, past
-
hovering
present participle
-
to cause to hover.
-
Computers. to place (a pointer) over an area of a screen without clicking or tapping.
noun
verb
-
(intr) to remain suspended in one place
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(intr) (of certain birds, esp hawks) to remain in one place in the air by rapidly beating the wings
-
(intr) to linger uncertainly in a nervous or solicitous way
-
(intr) to be in a state of indecision
she was hovering between the two suitors
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(tr) computing to hold (the mouse pointer) over a defined area on a web page without clicking, in order to cause a menu, information box, etc to appear
noun
Synonym Usage
See fly 2 .
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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hoversimple
-
hoverssimple
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have hoveredperfect
-
has hoveredperfect
-
am hoveringprogressive
-
are hoveringprogressive
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is hoveringprogressive
-
have been hoveringperfect progressive
-
has been hoveringperfect progressive
Past
-
hoveredsimple
-
had hoveredperfect
-
was hoveringprogressive
-
were hoveringprogressive
-
had been hoveringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of hover
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English hoveren, frequentative of hoven “to hover,” of obscure origin
Explanation
A hover craft flies low over the ground or water — it hovers. Hover can also mean waver. Think of someone that can’t decide exactly where to land. To help remember the meaning of hover, think of it as containing the preposition over: things that hover hang over. A temperature can hover around forty degrees, a grade in a class can hover around a B.
Vocabulary lists containing hover
"Diary of a Wimpy Kid" by Jeff Kinney
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"Of Mice and Men"
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"The Great Gatsby," Chapter 1 Vocabulary
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Buying a Roadster that can actually hover in the air requires an invitation from Tesla, according to its website.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026
On top of that, your level of trust in anything created by Mark Zuckerberg should constantly hover in the 0-to-4 range out of 10.
From Slate ● Sep. 23, 2026
For Deetz, he said he’d often say that he wouldn’t hover low for extended periods of time, especially if he didn’t see a place he could land in case of an emergency.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026
While many anglers will gently hover and twitch the urchin as a finesse-style bait, the young bass phenom and former Journal subject Dylan Quilatan has been fishing the urchin with a more aggressive approach.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
She usually likes to come to my appointments and hover, but she tells me she’s swamped.
From "The Running Dream" by Wendelin Van Draanen
He is fixed on the live stream as a Ukrainian snare swoops in, hovers for a few seconds and drops a net on to the drone, dragging it from the sky.
From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026
While the steps helped stem the rupee's losses, the currency has faced fresh challenges as foreign investors continue to dump Indian equities and crude hovers around $100 a barrel.
From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026
Voter turnout in the U.S. hovers around 60 percent in presidential elections and closer to 40 percent in midterms.
From Salon ● Sep. 18, 2026
The average student-loan balance in the U.S. hovers at around $38,000, so your gift will be able to help with a significant chunk of that.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 31, 2026
The sharp scent of peppermint hovers in the air.
From "The Boy Who Dared" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
But, in 2025, UnitedHealth’s medical-cost ratio hovered about 90% for three out of four quarters, an unwelcome increase for investors.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 13, 2026
However, the unheated pool in Staten Island instead felt bone-chilling in the early May temperatures, which hovered at a low 60 degrees Fahrenheit.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026
EV sales peaked around 12% of the new-car market in the third quarter of 2025 before the tax credits went away, and have hovered around 6% this year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 11, 2026
Crude oil prices have hovered between $90 and $100 a barrel as the disruption to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz enters its eighth month, far longer than analysts had expected.
From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026
She sat rigid in the principal’s chair, and a younger woman hovered behind her.
From "Millionaires for the Month" by Stacey McAnulty
The footage shows the Ukrainian drone hovering above its target, before dropping a net and dragging it from the sky.
From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026
Whether the actual production Roadster will be capable of hovering and vertical acceleration—or where it could even legally do so—is unclear.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
One of Musk’s key promises is that the Roadster will be capable of hovering in the air.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 15, 2026
If you’ve been hovering over that “subscribe to Slate Plus” button, now is the time to join.
From Slate ● Oct. 14, 2026
She stuck her nose in the apple fritter and handed it over to Mona, who was hovering.
From "Secrets at Sea" by Richard Peck
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
