roam
Americanverb (used without object)
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roams,
present (3rd person singular)
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roamed,
past participle, past
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roaming
present participle
verb (used with object)
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roams,
present (3rd person singular)
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roamed,
past participle, past
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roaming
present participle
noun
verb
noun
Synonym Usage
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.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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roamsimple
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roamssimple
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have roamedperfect
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has roamedperfect
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am roamingprogressive
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are roamingprogressive
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is roamingprogressive
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have been roamingperfect progressive
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has been roamingperfect progressive
Past
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roamedsimple
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had roamedperfect
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was roamingprogressive
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were roamingprogressive
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had been roamingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of roam
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English romen origin uncertain
Explanation
When you wander without a plan or a specific destination, you roam. Your cat may stay close to your house when you let her outside, or she may roam around the neighborhood all day. Dogs and kids on bikes tend to roam in packs, looking for food or fun, while a tiger in the zoo roams aimlessly around his enclosure. Book characters' eyes sometimes roam, too, or glance over a scene without stopping: "Her eyes roam across the group, but there are no familiar faces." Experts have tried connecting roam to "pilgrimages to Rome," but there seems to be no relation between roam and Rome.
Vocabulary lists containing roam
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
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Greetings, World Traveler! — List 2
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"When Cultures Meet"
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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:
But I thought: 'Come on, Hanny, don't be ridiculous, of course it's not him, Chris Martin doesn't roam the streets of London.'
From BBC ● Sep. 21, 2026
Then the car must clear customs before drivers are free to roam the U.K. streets on the left side—despite steering wheels designed for the opposite.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026
"Once my men are dropped, they have to roam over large distances to conduct search and rescue," Hawadi said.
From Barron's ● Aug. 31, 2026
With that much space, Shakur had plenty of room to roam across different styles, and few tracks display his versatility like “Got My Mind Made Up.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
Every now and then, searchlights roam the sky, criss-crossing over each other and making us stop and throw ourselves to the ground, crouching low and keeping quiet till they’ve gone.
From "Code Name Kingfisher" by Liz Kessler
Mr. Fiennes roams the gardens that surround the home Maupassant had built in 1883 and cycles by a stretch of the Seine where the author sailed his boats.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026
Until then, Promise's goat will continue enjoying special status at the student halls where he roams freely and even has some human-like habits.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
After reading Mr. Kneale’s op-ed we have an idea for a new slogan for the Sunshine State: Florida, where wildlife roams free and so do you.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
He delights in tall tales of a Barbary lion that has escaped Northern Africa and now roams the streets of Paris.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 20, 2025
She wants to make sure the children won’t starve while she’s gone and she roams Limerick begging for flour.
From "Angela's Ashes: A Memoir" by Frank McCourt
When Amy Potter was growing up, she roamed free in rural Australia and jumped off a shed onto her trampoline until it had a hole in it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026
Researchers believe the giant herbivores roamed during the Pleistocene epoch, spanning from 2.5 million years ago until their extinction about 11,700 years ago.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 10, 2026
"This was left in the Late Jurassic when long-necked dinosaurs such as Diplodocus and Camarasaurus roamed North America," Dr. Romilio said.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 11, 2026
Earlier research modeled what would happen to deer-vehicle collisions if mountain lions recolonized the eastern United States, where they once roamed before hunting and habitat destruction left them largely confined to the West.
From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026
He roamed through the neighborhoods of the rich.
From "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" by Carson McCullers
Now he logs 30,000 steps a day roaming the halls of a million-square-foot data center in the Virginia suburbs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 19, 2026
As demanding as his roaming role is, he has taken the physical demands of it in his stride.
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026
Kang sat under a tree, waiting for a friend to arrive, and played with one of many cats roaming around.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026
In 1896, a local lumberjack near a small town in northeastern Wisconsin told of a bizarre green monster roaming the nearby woods.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
That meant four were roaming free, some in search of Sierra’s family and friends.
From "Shadowshaper" by Daniel José Older
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.
