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)
-
roams,
present (3rd person singular)
-
roamed,
past participle, past
-
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:
They roam a mine production area that stretches as far as the eye can see—an area of 3,500 soccer fields—with a computer algorithm telling them where to go next to pick up coal.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026
Finally, in 1997, the more primitive, mini-tanklike Sojourner Rover was the first wheeled robotic vehicle to roam Mars.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2026
For students at UC Riverside, the start of fall semester means picking up their class syllabus, catching up with friends and snapping selfies with the adorable wild donkeys that roam around the school.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
But Lagarde’s willingness to roam widely across European policy has characterized her ECB tenure, due to end next year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
The city sprawls across seventy-eight square miles, stretching from the shallow, salty estuary at the edge of San Francisco Bay to the undulating green-and-gold hills where bobcats and coyotes roam.
From "The 57 Bus" by Dashka Slater
The Barbastelle roams ancient forests but its elusive nature has made it challenging to track.
From BBC ● Oct. 30, 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 was joined this week by Diocese of Baton Rouge Bishop Michael Duca as la migra now roams Louisiana.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 11, 2025
“She roams the earth with pointed teeth and glowing eyes, looking for her children. If she finds a child awake, she will mistake them for her own and take them!”
From "The Last Cuentista" by Donna Barba Higuera
Witch-hunters roamed the British countryside in search of victims.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2026
In the south, most Arabs are Bedouins, mainly Sunni Muslims who descended from nomadic clans that roamed the Negev Desert herding camels and sheep.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 19, 2026
About the size of a large tiger and armed with enormous curved claws, the animal roamed what is now Britain approximately 120 million years ago.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 14, 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
If they roamed the halls they might be mistaken, just, for some low-level commercial bankers at Wells Fargo, or flunkies at mortgage lenders, such as Option One: nine-to-fivers.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
Now, he imagines days in the not-too-distant future where 5-year-olds learn by roaming these hills, not just listening to stories.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 31, 2026
NASA's Perseverance rover, which has been roaming across Mars since 2021, has already collected samples.
From Barron's ● Oct. 19, 2026
Fires that spread near to the site restricted their roaming area further, leaving them without a safe route to other forestry.
From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026
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
It seemed that he was roaming the streets of Brooklyn as a one-man band and living on the pennies he collected.
From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
