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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

China's Tianwen-1 mission already landed a rover named Zhurong on the surface of Mars in 2021, in one of the most spectacular successes of Beijing's space programme.

From Barron's ● Aug. 16, 2026

The polygons stretch across the terrain in every direction, continuing as far as the rover can see.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 1, 2026

That pace far surpassed NASA's previous record holder, the Opportunity rover, which needed 11 years and two months to travel the same distance.

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

The video recording announces, “The rover Resilience brought home many important discoveries that have moved our understanding of Mars forward, but the planet still holds many mysteries yet to be solved.”

From "A Rover's Story" by Jasmine Warga

His vehicle, a grey Land Rover Defender, was pictured on its roof, with broken windows.

From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026

Jaguar Land Rover said Monday that it would cut "around 4,000 roles over the next two years", or about ten percent of its global workforce, in a further blow to Europe's automobile industry.

From Barron's ● Sep. 7, 2026

An assistant took the wheel of Navarrete’s Range Rover so her boss could catch up on emails, calls and texts.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026

LONDON—A midnight-black Land Rover Defender P400 recently slid up next to some trash bags in a no-parking zone outside Harrods and nestled against the curb at an angle, its rear protruding into the street.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026

If Alex Rover could survive all those wonderful adventures, so could Jack.

From "Nim’s Island" by Wendy Orr