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hover

[huhv-er, hov-]
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verb (used without object)
  1. to hang fluttering or suspended in the air: The helicopter hovered over the building.
  2. to keep lingering about; wait near at hand.
  3. to remain in an uncertain or irresolute state; waver: to hover between life and death.
  4. 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.
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verb (used with object)
  1. to cause to hover.
  2. Computers. to place (a pointer) over an area of a screen without clicking or tapping.
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noun
  1. the act or state of hovering.
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Origin of hover

1350–1400; Middle English hoveren, frequentative of hoven to hover, of obscure origin
Related formshov·er·er, nounhov·er·ing·ly, adverb

Synonyms

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1. See fly1. 3. falter, pause, fluctuate.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for hover

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • That hover o'er the meeting-halls, Where many a voice stentorian bawls!

    The Grand Old Man

    Richard B. Cook

  • Anthony would not come and hover silently at my bedside in the middle of the night.

    It Happened in Egypt

    C. N. Williamson

  • Corrected misprints are noted by hover information in the text.

  • After seeming to hover for a time on the verge of a great truth, we have gained only a truism.

  • I hover over my racked body like a ghost, and exist in an interregnum.

British Dictionary definitions for hover

hover

verb
  1. (intr) to remain suspended in one place
  2. (intr) (of certain birds, esp hawks) to remain in one place in the air by rapidly beating the wings
  3. (intr) to linger uncertainly in a nervous or solicitous way
  4. (intr) to be in a state of indecisionshe was hovering between the two suitors
  5. (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
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noun
  1. the act of hovering
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Derived Formshoverer, nounhoveringly, adverb

Word Origin

C14: hoveren, variant of hoven, of obscure origin
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for hover

v.

c.1400, hoveren, frequentative of hoven "hover, tarry, linger;" see hove (1). Related: Hovered; hovering. As a noun from 1510s.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper