roam

[rohm]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR roam ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used without object)

to walk, go, or travel without a fixed purpose or direction; ramble; wander; rove: to roam about the world.

verb (used with object)

to wander over or through: to roam the countryside.

noun

an act or instance of roaming; a ramble.

Origin of roam

1300–50; Middle English romen < ?

Related formsroam·er, nounun·roam·ing, adjective

Synonyms for roam

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR roam ON THESAURUS.COM

1. stray, stroll, prowl. Roam, ramble, range, rove imply wandering about over (usually) a considerable amount of territory. Roam implies a wandering or traveling over a large area, especially as prompted by restlessness or curiosity: to roam through a forest. Ramble implies pleasant, carefree moving about, walking with no specific purpose and for a limited distance: to ramble through fields near home. Range usually implies wandering over a more or less defined but extensive area in search of something: Cattle range over the plains. Rove sometimes implies wandering with specific incentive or aim, as an animal for prey: Bandits rove through these mountains.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for roam

trek, traipse, ramble, stray, drift, prowl, tramp, meander, saunter, stroll, traverse, gallivant, hike, travel, peregrinate, walk, range, rove, bum, vagabond

Examples from the Web for roam

Contemporary Examples of roam

Reports this week said they were free to roam around Qatar and were not confined to house arrest.
U.S. Spies Worry Qatar Will ‘Magically Lose Track’ of Released Taliban
Eli Lake
June 5, 2014
In the script, the cheetahs drift from their owner and roam suburban Mexico unattended.
The Best Scenes From Cormac McCarthy’s ‘The Counselor’ Screenplay
Thomas Flynn
October 27, 2013
Allowing a sexual predator to roam unchecked in your midst is a hell of a lot worse than screwing up a scoop.
CNN Follies
Michael Tomasky
April 17, 2013
The airport is in Tel Aviv and I know that POTUS “wishes he could wear a fake mustache and roam around Tel Aviv.”
Welcome To Palestine: What's Your Faith?
Maysoon Zayid
March 20, 2013
In the wake of this news, 10 tidbits on the dogs who roam the outback.
Pets or Predators? 10 Things About Australia’s Famous Dog, the Dingo
Meredith Kaufman
June 13, 2012

Historical Examples of roam

That he might be; but he was not so forlorn as to roam away and leave them together.
Little Dorrit
Charles Dickens
She had always lived indoors and had never been allowed to roam the neighborhood.
Concerning Cats
Helen M. Winslow
Like the gypsies of old, but with vastly more territory to roam.
Astounding Stories of Super-Science, November, 1930
Various
Us two had all creation to roam 'round in, and we landed at Eastboro Twin-Lights.
The Woman-Haters
Joseph C. Lincoln
But I think they are happiest when they are free to roam the woods where they like.
Our Young Folks at Home and Abroad
Various

British Dictionary definitions for roam

roam

verb

to travel or walk about with no fixed purpose or direction; wander

noun

the act of roaming

Derived Formsroamer, noun

Word Origin for roam

C13: origin unknown

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 roam

c.1300, romen, possibly from Old English *ramian "act of wandering about," which is probably related to aræman "arise, lift up." There are no certain cognate forms in other Germanic languages, but Barnhart points to Old Norse reimuðr "act of wandering about," reimast "to haunt." "Except in late puns, there is no evidence of connexion with the Romance words denoting pilgrims or pilgrimages to Rome ...." [OED], such as Spanish romero "a pilot-fish; a pilgrim;" Old French romier "travelling as a pilgrim; a pilgrim," from Medieval Latin romerius "a pilgrim" (originally to Rome). Related: Roamed; roamer; roaming.