roam
[rohm]
- to walk, go, or travel without a fixed purpose or direction; ramble; wander; rove: to roam about the world.
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- to wander over or through: to roam the countryside.
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- an act or instance of roaming; a ramble.
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Origin of roam
1300–50; Middle English romen < ?
Synonyms
See more synonyms for roam on Thesaurus.com1. 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. 2018
Examples from the Web for roam
Contemporary Examples
Reports this week said they were free to roam around Qatar and were not confined to house arrest.
In the script, the cheetahs drift from their owner and roam suburban Mexico unattended.
Allowing a sexual predator to roam unchecked in your midst is a hell of a lot worse than screwing up a scoop.
The airport is in Tel Aviv and I know that POTUS “wishes he could wear a fake mustache and roam around Tel Aviv.”
In the wake of this news, 10 tidbits on the dogs who roam the outback.
Historical Examples
That he might be; but he was not so forlorn as to roam away and leave them together.
Little DorritCharles Dickens
She had always lived indoors and had never been allowed to roam the neighborhood.
Concerning CatsHelen M. Winslow
Like the gypsies of old, but with vastly more territory to roam.
Us two had all creation to roam 'round in, and we landed at Eastboro Twin-Lights.
The Woman-HatersJoseph C. Lincoln
But I think they are happiest when they are free to roam the woods where they like.
roam
- to travel or walk about with no fixed purpose or direction; wander
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- the act of roaming
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Word Origin
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
v.
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.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper