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• rover
  rover

  noun

  a person who roves; wanderer.
• Rover
  Rover

  noun

  a familiar name for a dog.

rover

¹ American  

[roh-ver] / ˈroʊ vər /

noun

1. a person who roves; wanderer.

2. Archery.

   1. a mark selected at random, as in a competition between two archers wandering over a specified area.

   2. one of a group of fixed marks at a long distance.

   3. an archer who shoots at such a mark.

3. Croquet. a ball that has been driven through all the arches and needs only to strike the last peg to be out of the game.

4. British.

   1. (at concerts or the like) a person who has a ticket for standing room only.

   2. a senior boy scout, 18 years of age or older.

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rover ² American  

[roh-ver] / ˈroʊ vər /

noun

1. a pirate.

2. Obsolete. a pirate ship.

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rover ³ American  

[roh-ver] / ˈroʊ vər /

noun

1. a machine that twists, draws out, and cleans fibers prior to spinning; a roving machine.

2. a roving-machine operator.

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Rover ⁴ American  

[roh-ver] / ˈroʊ vər /

noun

1. a familiar name for a dog.

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rover ¹ British  

/ ˈrəʊvə /

noun

1. a person who roves; wanderer

2. archery a mark selected at random for use as a target

3. croquet a ball that has been driven through all the hoops but has not yet hit the winning peg

4. Australian rules football one of the three players in the ruck, usually smaller than the other two, selected for his agility in play

5. a small remote-controlled vehicle which roams over rough, esp extraterrestrial, terrain taking photographs, gathering rock and soil samples, etc

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Rover ² British  

/ ˈrəʊvə /

noun

1. the former name for Venture Scout

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rover ³ British  

/ ˈrəʊvə /

noun

1. a pirate or pirate ship

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rover ⁴ British  

/ ˈrəʊvə /

noun

1. a machine for roving wool, cotton, etc, or a person who operates such a machine

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Etymology

Origin of rover¹

First recorded in 1490–1500; rove ¹ + -er ¹

Origin of rover²

First recorded in 1350–1400 rover ² for def. 1 and in 1530–40 rover ² for def. 2; Middle English rover(e) “pirate,” from Middle Dutch rover(e) or Middle Low German rover “robber,” equivalent to roven “to rob” + -er; cf. reave ¹; see also -er ¹ ( def. )

Origin of rover³

First recorded in 1735–45; rove ³ + -er ¹

Explanation

A rover is a drifter or wanderer, someone who doesn't settle in one spot. If you grow up in a small town, you may dream of buying a camper and living as a rover one day. Because rovers tend to roam around, this word has historically been a popular name for dogs. In fact, Shakespeare even called a dog Rover in A Winter's Tale. The rover vehicles used to explore rough terrain got their name from this same sense of wandering. Planetary rovers roll around the surfaces of moons and planets, exploring on their own or carrying crew. Land Rovers and other cars bill themselves as equally rugged and adventurous.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

rover Rover

NASA's Perseverance rover, which has been roaming the red planet since 2021, has already collected samples ready to be taken back to Earth.

From Barron's ● Aug. 16, 2026

A new image captured on June 13, 2026, shows the rover as a tiny green speck against the Martian landscape, just one day before it officially reached the distance milestone.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 14, 2026

The lander test for Artemis III depends on the same rocket family, and the Moon Base rover deliveries are contractually tied to New Glenn.

From BBC ● May 29, 2026

Then in 2021, it landed a small rover on Mars.

From Barron's ● May 24, 2026

The leverage advantage on the rover was huge.

From "The Martian" by Andy Weir

JLR continued to build the Land Rover and Range Rover brands, but the cyber-attack took those lines down.

From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026

Ever since Jaguar Land Rover ceased production of the classic Land Rover Defender, fans have been snapping up discontinued models and breathing new life into them.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026

A Fire Rover sensor monitors the space for fire safety—fires in recycling facilities like this are not uncommon.

From Barron's ● Jun. 17, 2026

The initial crash saw the Ford leave the road and the occupants of the Land Rover flee the area on foot before police arrived.

From BBC ● Jun. 11, 2026

Just for a moment, she wondered if Alex Rover still wanted to write to her now the rafts were finished, but there was no one else to ask.

From "Nim’s Island" by Wendy Orr