rove beetle

Save This Word!

noun

any of numerous beetles of the family Staphylinidae, having a slender, elongated body and very short front wings, and capable of running swiftly.

QUIZ

QUIZ YOURSELF ON "WAS" VS. "WERE"!

Were you ready for a quiz on this topic? Well, here it is! See how well you can differentiate between the uses of "was" vs. "were" in this quiz.

Question 1 of 7

“Was” is used for the indicative past tense of “to be,” and “were” is only used for the subjunctive past tense.

true

false

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Also called staphylinid.

Origin of rove beetle

First recorded in 1765–75

Words nearby rove beetle

Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, Rouyn, ROV, Rovaniemi, rove, rove beetle, rove-over, rover, Rover Boy, roving, roving commission

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use rove beetle in a sentence

Blister rust is like having the flu; the pine beetle is like fast acting leukemia.
What It Takes to Kill a Grizzly Bear|Doug Peacock|November 23, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In 2007, FWS reported that the beetle outbreak had affected only 16 percent of the whitebark pines.
What It Takes to Kill a Grizzly Bear|Doug Peacock|November 23, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Either way, Rove certainly had a better night than last time around.
Fox News Election Panelists Dress Up As Cowboys|Jack Holmes, The Daily Beast Video|November 5, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The most memorable ad of the lot was one run by American Crossroads, the Super PAC associated with Karl Rove.
In North Carolina, GOP Overreach May Be More Unpopular Than Obama|Dean Obeidallah|November 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST

The Beetle was launched with a series of television commercials unlike any before them.
Nationalism on Four Wheels|Clive Irving|October 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Her feet crush creeping things: there is a busy ant or blazoned beetle, with its back broken, writhing in the dust, unseen.
God and my Neighbour|Robert Blatchford
But strangest of all the dishes at the Tagal's feast was one prepared from a kind of beetle.
Alila, Our Little Philippine Cousin|Mary Hazelton Wade
In a moment his interested eyes would rove over the crowd again.
Ancestors|Gertrude Atherton
Then the juice would fill up the hole the beetle had made, and the tree would go on growing as before.
The Wonder Book of Knowledge|Various
There was a toy balloon, a beetle that ran all over the room in a life-like manner, a jumping jack, and some popcorn balls.
The Story of the Big Front Door|Mary Finley Leonard

British Dictionary definitions for rove beetle

rove beetle

noun

any beetle of the family Staphylinidae, characterized by very short elytra and an elongated body: typically they are of carnivorous or scavenging habits

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