rover

1 of 2

noun (1)

ro·​ver ˈrō-vər How to pronounce rover (audio)
: pirate

rover

2 of 2

noun (2)

rov·​er ˈrō-vər How to pronounce rover (audio)
1
: a random or long-distance mark in archery
usually used in plural
2
3
: a player who is not assigned to a specific position on a team and who plays wherever needed
4
: a vehicle for exploring the surface of an extraterrestrial body (such as the moon or Mars)

Examples of rover in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Mars Sample Return would deliver rocks, rubble and dust from the Red Planet’s Jezero Crater that has already been gathered and sealed into tubes by the Perseverance rover. Corinne Purtill, Los Angeles Times, 6 Mar. 2024 Should Intuitive fail, Astrobotic will get another shot at becoming the first private company to land on the moon in November, with a second flight scheduled to deliver a water-hunting rover, VIPER, for NASA near the lunar south pole. Robert Hart, Forbes, 14 Feb. 2024 The rotor-craft was carried to the Red Planet strapped to the belly of NASA’s Perseverance rover, which landed three years ago on the floor of a vast Martian basin called Jerezo Crater on a separate mission aimed primarily at collecting surface samples for eventual return to Earth. Joey Roulette and Steve Gorman, The Christian Science Monitor, 26 Jan. 2024 The advances in phones seem to be confined to the camera — this year’s model can zoom in on the Mars rover, but next year’s model will be able to see the condition of its tire treads! James Lileks, National Review, 25 Jan. 2024 So instead Astrobotic will focus on gathering information to help inform its next spacecraft, the moon lander Griffin, which is aiming for launch atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy carrying a large NASA lunar rover to the moon’s south pole before the end of the year. Richard Tribou, Orlando Sentinel, 9 Jan. 2024 The rover team hopes to stabilize the dust cover so SHERLOC can resume data collection operations. Amanda Kooser, Forbes, 14 Feb. 2024 Ingenuity hovered above the rover acting as a scout, as Perseverance puttered along the sands of Mars. Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 7 Feb. 2024 Considered by the space agency as a 30-day technology demonstration of no more than five experimental test flights, the 4-pound chopper hitched a ride on NASA's Perseverance rover, landing on the Red Planet in 2021. USA TODAY, 26 Jan. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'rover.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Middle English, from Middle Dutch, from roven to rob; akin to Old English rēafian to reave — more at reave

First Known Use

Noun (1)

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Noun (2)

circa 1525, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of rover was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near rover

Cite this Entry

“Rover.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rover. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

rover

1 of 2 noun
ro·​ver ˈrō-vər How to pronounce rover (audio)

rover

2 of 2 noun
rov·​er ˈrō-vər How to pronounce rover (audio)
: a person who roves around : roamer

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