hoover
verb (used with object)
to clean with a vacuum cleaner.
hoover
1 American
[hoo-ver]
/ ˈhu vər /
verb (used with object)
(often initial capital letter)
-
hoovers,
present (3rd person singular)
-
hoovered,
past participle, past
-
hoovering
present participle
Hoover
2
American
[hoo-ver]
/ ˈhu vər /
noun
-
Herbert (Clark), 1874–1964, 31st president of the U.S. 1929–33.
-
J(ohn) Edgar, 1895–1972, U.S. government official: director of the FBI 1924–72.
-
Lou Henry, 1874–1944, U.S. First Lady 1929–33 (wife of Herbert Hoover).
-
a town in N central Alabama.
Hoover
1
British
/ ˈhuːvə /
noun
verb
-
to vacuum-clean (a carpet, furniture, etc)
-
to consume or dispose of (something) quickly and completely
he hoovered up his grilled fish
Hoover
2
British
/ ˈhuːvə /
noun
-
Herbert ( Clark ). 1874–1964, US statesman; 31st president of the US (1929–33). He organized relief for Europe during and after World War I, but as president he lost favour after his failure to alleviate the effects of the Depression
-
J ( ohn ) Edgar. 1895–1972, US lawyer: director of the FBI (1924–72). He used new scientific methods to combat crime, including the first fingerprint file
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
hooversimple
-
hooverssimple
-
have hooveredperfect
-
has hooveredperfect
-
am hooveringprogressive
-
are hooveringprogressive
-
is hooveringprogressive
-
have been hooveringperfect progressive
-
has been hooveringperfect progressive
Past
-
hooveredsimple
-
had hooveredperfect
-
was hooveringprogressive
-
were hooveringprogressive
-
had been hooveringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of hoover
First recorded in 1925–30; after the trademark of a vacuum cleaner manufacturer
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:
The hope is that Google’s AI Overviews and other chatbots that hoover up editorial content might reference information from that material when responding to user queries.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
Supporters of such laws argue that social media companies attract users with news stories and hoover up online advertising revenue that would otherwise go to struggling newsrooms.
From Barron's ● Apr. 28, 2026
Rising land prices smother our ability to move, suppress fertility rates, stifle innovation, and hoover up resources that might be deployed elsewhere.
From Slate ● Nov. 4, 2025
When enough of these pebbles clump together, they can collapse under their own weight to form asteroid-sized rocks, which hoover up the material around them until they’ve grown into full-sized planets.
From Space Scoop ● Jul. 16, 2025
I whinged that it didn't smell of anything, but she pointed out I wasn't the one who had to hoover and unpick the needles from the carpet.
From "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell
GO Bonds are typically funded by taxes, such as income, property and sales taxes while revenue bonds in this case are repaid by homeowners, according to the Hoover Institution’s analysis.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 13, 2026
"Verity," Amazon MGM's psychological thriller based on a novel by Colleen Hoover, dropped from first to second place at $11.5 million, according to Exhibitor Relations.
From Barron's ● Oct. 11, 2026
Did director Michael Showalter just nail the Colleen Hoover adaptation?
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
Mr. Levy is a visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution and a member of the Shadow Open Market Committee.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026
Hoover thought Dasch was withholding information so that he would have leverage over the FBI and would be considered indispensable.
From Nazi Saboteurs by Samantha Seiple
"I've got a friend who has had some for about eight years, and it's not maintenance-free because once a week she goes out and hoovers it," he added.
From BBC ● Apr. 24, 2026
It is the industry that hoovers up everything from veterinary clinics to newspapers, not necessarily to the benefit of either dog owners or journalists.
From Slate ● Dec. 12, 2024
The public health effort, dubbed “HHS Protect Now,” hoovers up vast amounts of data, including coronavirus test results, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as state and local sources.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 1, 2020
The eel detects this movement and hoovers up the prey.
From National Geographic ● Oct. 20, 2015
“That would be a resounding no,” Dad replies, then hoovers into the slice.
From "I'll Give You the Sun" by Jandy Nelson
In fourth, "Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie" hoovered up an estimated $20.5 million for Paramount on its debut weekend.
From Barron's ● Aug. 16, 2026
Not a handful of almonds hoovered over the sink.
From Salon ● Feb. 19, 2026
Then, covering our hair, we stepped inside and across perfectly hoovered crimson carpets and under chandeliers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2025
They were average when Lions fans hoovered up travel packages at huge expense.
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2025
Rex got to the ball, hoovered it up, and started back towards Alex.
From "Eleven" by Tom Rogers
The PC is equipped with a central processing unit, graphics card, random-access memory and high-capacity storage — the very same equipment that multitrillion-dollar tech companies are now hoovering up to power their artificial-intelligence ambitions.
From MarketWatch ● May 23, 2026
One ETF hoovering assets suggests that some investors are also diversifying by flirting with non-capitalization-weighting strategies.
From Barron's ● Apr. 15, 2026
Around 9 a.m., sanitation workers were maneuvering what appeared to be a massive vacuum hose inside the drain, hoovering up debris before the manhole cover could be sealed.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 25, 2026
OpenAI isn’t the only one hoovering up chips and energy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2025
It sent its stealthy, suckered tentacles inching along the insides of his skull, hoovering the knolls and dells of his memory, dislodging old sentences, whisking them off the tip of his tongue.
From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
