roving

¹ American  

[roh-ving] / ˈroʊ vɪŋ /

adjective

1. roaming or wandering.

2. not assigned or restricted to any particular location, area, topic, etc..

   a roving editor.

3. not assigned to any particular diplomatic post but having a special mission.

   a roving ambassador.

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roving ² American  

[roh-ving] / ˈroʊ vɪŋ /

noun

1. a soft strand of fiber that has been twisted, attenuated, and freed of foreign matter preparatory to its conversion into yarn.

2. the final phase of carding, in which this is done.

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Other Word Forms

• rovingly adverb
• rovingness noun

Etymology

Origin of roving¹

First recorded in 1590–1600; rove ¹ + -ing ²

Origin of roving²

First recorded in 1785–95; rove ³ + -ing ¹

Example Sentences

I imagined that my Destiny might be in roving the land as a keen-eyed journalist—recording history’s most exhilarating moments as they unfurled before my very eyes.

From Literature

Despite the U.S. intervention, presaged by aircraft carriers roving the Caribbean this fall and attacks on accused drug-trafficking boats, some investors cautioned that Venezuela’s future is still highly uncertain.

From The Wall Street Journal

Hargeisa, capital of the breakaway Republic of Somaliland, abuts hot spots like Somalia and Yemen but lacks the constant coups, wars, riots, terrorist attacks, ideological reckonings and other usual attractions for roving correspondents.

From The Wall Street Journal

Undocumented families filled the street for a posada, a Latin American Christmas tradition akin to a roving block party, with music, food and an increasingly rare sense of safety.

From Los Angeles Times

Guests of this Coffin Creek attraction were carted along from one breached containment scenario to the next, with roving monsters periodically surprising them in the darkness between the scantily lighted vignettes.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• itinerant
• peripatetic
• wandering