:-beetles 
a, larva of Goerius a fens, enlarged thrice ; 
t>, pupa of Qitedins molcchinus; c, imago 
of Philonthus apicalis. (Lines show natu- 
ral sizes of b and c.) 
rove 
Sordello'a paradise, his roves 
Among the hills and valleys, plains and groves. 
Browning, Sordello, 
rove 2 (rov), r. t. ; pret. and pp. roved, ppr. roving. 
[Perhaps an irreg. var. of reeve 3 (< reef' 2 ), due 
to confusion with the pret. rove, or of rive 1 , due 
to the former pret. rove : see reeve 3 , rive 1 . Some 
take rove to be a form of roll 1 through Sc. row. 
Others refer to ruff 1 = D. ruif, a fold.] 1. To 
draw through an eye or aperture ; bring, as wool 
or cotton, into the form which it receives be- 
fore being spun into thread; card into flakes, 
as wool, etc.; slub; sliver. 2. To draw out 
into thread; ravel out. 
rove 2 (rov), re. [Cf . rove 2 , .] 1 . A roll of wool, 
cotton, etc., drawn out and slightly twisted; 
a slub. 2. A diamond-shaped washer placed 
over the end of a rove clench-nail, which is 
riveted down upon it Rove clench-nail. See 
clench-nail. 
rove 3 (rov). Preterit and past participle of 
reeve 3 . 
rove 4 t, . An obsolete form of roof 1 . Chaucer. 
rove 5 t, ii [A reduced form of arroba. ] A unit 
of weight, the arroba, formerly used in England. 
The arroba was 25 pounds of Castile, and in England 25 
pounds avoirdupois was called a rove. The arroba in For-, 
tugal contained 32 pounds. 
Forein wool, to wit, French, Spanish, and Estrich, is 
also sold by the pound or hundredweight, but most com- 
monly by the rove, 25 pound to a rove. 
Recorde, Grounde of Artes (1543), iii. 17. 
rove-beetle (rov'be'tl), . A brachelytrous co- 
leopterous in- 
sect of the fam- 
ily Staphylini- 
clx, especially 
one of the 
larger species, 
such as the 
devil's coach- 
horse. The name 
is sometimes ex- 
tended to all the 
brachelytrous bee- 
tles, when several 
of the leading 
forms are distin- 
guished bj qualify- 
ing terms. Large- 
eyed rove-beetles 
are Stenidse; bur- 
rowing rove-beetles, Oxytelida ; broad-bodied rove-bee- 
tles, Omaliidee ; small-headed rove-beetles, Tachyparida. 
The Pselaphidae are sometimes known as moss-loving rove- 
beetles. See also cuts under devil's coach-horse (at devil), 
Homalium, and Pselaphus. 
rover (ro'ver), n. [Early mod. E. also roavcr ; 
< ME. rover, rovare, a var. < D. roover, a robber, 
a pirate, = AS. redfere, ME. revere, E. reaver, a 
robber. Doublet of rawr.] 1 . A robber, es- 
pecially a sea-robber; a freebooter: a pirate; 
a forager. 
Robare, or robbar yn the see (rovare, or thef of the se, K., 
rowar, as thyf on the see,P.), Pirata. Prompt. Pan., p. 437. 
And they helped David against the band of the rovers ; 
for they were all mighty men of valour. 1 Chron. xii. 21. 
The Maltese rovers take away every thing that is valu- 
able both from Turks and Christians. 
Pococke, Description of the East, II. 1. 61. 
She may be neither more nor less than the ship of that 
nefarious pirate the Red Rover. Cooper, Red Rover, ii. 
2. One who roves; a wanderer; one who ram- 
bles about, or goes at random from point to 
point. 
Next to thyself and my young rover, he 's 
Apparent to my heart. Shalt., W. T., i. 2. 176. 
I'd be a Butterfly ; living, a rover, 
Dying when fair things are fading away ! 
T. H. Bayly, I'd be a Butterfly. 
Hence 3. A fickle or inconstant person. 
Man was formed to be a rover, 
Foolish women to believe. 
Mendez, Song in the Chaplet. (Latham.) 
4. In archery : (a) A person shooting at a mark 
with a longbow and arrow, or shooting merely 
for distance, the position of the archer being 
shifted with every shot, and not confined to a 
staked-out ground. The flight-arrow was used 
by the rover. (6) An arrow used by a rover. 
See flight-arrow. 
yes, here be of all sorts flights, rovers, and butt- 
shafts. B. Jonson, Cynthia's Revels, v. 3. 
(o) An irregular or uncertain point to be aimed 
at; also, a mark at an uncertain or indefinite 
distance. 
The Roauer is a inarke incertaine, sometimes long, 
sometimes short, and therefore must haue avrowes lighter 
or heauier, according to the distance of the place. 
G. Markham, Country Contentments (ed. 1615), p. 108. 
6. In arch., auy member, as a molding, that 
follows the line of a curve. 7. In croquet: (a) 
A ball that has gone through all the hoops, and 
330 
5249 
only needs to strike the winning-stake to be out 
of the game. (b) A player whose ball is in the 
above condition To snoot at rovers, in archery: 
(a) To shoot an arrow for distance or at a mark, but with 
an elevation, not point-blank ; or to shoot an arrow at a 
distant object, not the butt, which was nearer. (f>) To 
shoot at random, or without any particular aim. 
Providence never shoots at rovers. South, Sermons. 
rover (ro'ver), v. i. [< rover, re.] To shoot at 
rovers; shoot arrows at other marks than the 
butt ; shoot for height or distance. 
rover-beetle (ro'ver-be"tl), n. A salt-water in- 
sect, JBleditis cordatus. 
roveryt (ro'ver-i), n. [< rove 1 + -ery. Cf. 
reavery, robbery."] The action of a rover; pi- 
ratical or predatory roving. 
These Norwegians, who with their manifold robberies 
and roveries did most hurt from the Northern Sea, took up 
their haunt into this Hand. 
Holland, tr. of Camden, II. 205. (Dailies.) 
rovescio (ro-vesh'io), n. [It., var. of rivescio, 
the reverse, the wrong side, = Sp. Pg. reves = 
F. revers, < L. reversus, reverse: see reverse. 
The It. Sp. Pg. forms are irregular, and indicate 
confusion or borrowing from the F.] In music, 
imitation either by reversion or by inversion. 
See imitation, 3. 
roving 1 (ro'ving), . [Verbal n. of rove 1 , P.] 1. 
The act of rambling or wandering. 
The numberless rovings of fancy, and windings of lan- 
guage. Barrow, Sermons, 1. 177. (Latham.) 
2. Archery as practised by a rover. See ro- 
ver, 4 (c). 
roving 2 (ro'ving), H. [Verbal n. of rove?, .] 
1. The process of giving the first twist to 
yarn, or of forming a rove. 2. A slightly 
twisted sliver of carded fiber, as wool or cot- 
ton; a rove. 
roving-frame (ro'ying-fram), n. 1. In cotton- 
manuf. , a machine in which a number of slivers 
from the carder are taken from the cans and 
united, stretched, and compacted into rovings. 
Sometimes called roving-machine. See draw- 
ing-frame. 2. In worsted-manuf., a machine 
which takes two slivers from the cans of the 
drawing-frame, elongates them four times, and 
twists them together. Also called roving-head. 
E. a. Knight. 
roving-head (ro'ving-hed), . Same as roving- 
frame, 2. 
rovingly (ro'ving-li), adv. In a roving or wan- 
dering manner. 
roving-machine (vo'ving-ma-shen'*), . A ma- 
chine for winding slubbings on bobbins for 
creels of spinning-machines. 
rovingness (ro'ving-nes), re. A state of roving ; 
disposition to rove. 
roving-plate (ro'ving-plat), n. An iron or steel 
scraper which is held at an inclination against 
the grinding-surface of a rotating grindstone, 
for giving it a true circular form, scraping off 
ridges, or obliterating grooves that may be 
formed in it by the grinding of pointed or cur- 
vilinear-edged tools. 
roving-reel (ro'ving-rel), n. A device for mea- 
suring the length of a roving, sliver, or hank 
of yarn, etc. It consists essentially of two flat-faced 
wheels, between which the yarn is made to pass, the revo- 
lutions of one of the wheels, as turned by a crank, being 
recorded by a dial and serving to measure the yarn. 
row 1 (ro), v. [< ME. rowen, rouwen (pret. 
rowede, earlier (and still as a survival) rew, 
reow), < AS. rowan (pret. reow) = D. roeijen = 
MLG. roien, rojen, roen, LG. rojcn = MHG. ruon, 
rugen, riien, riiejen = Icel. roa = Sw. ro = Dan. 
roe, row; akin to Olr. ram, an oar, L. remus, an 
oar, Gr. ipeTfiav, an oar, epen/f, a rower, Skt. ari- 
tra, a rudder, paddle, etc., y ar, drive, push. 
Hence ult. rudder 1 .] I. trans. 1. To impel (a 
boat) along the surface of water by means of 
oars. In ancient times rowing was the chief means of 
propulsion for vessels of all sizes then existing ; and large 
galleys in the Mediterranean continued to be rowed till 
the nineteenth century. The service on the galleys, both 
ancient and modern, was very laborious. In later times 
it was generally performed by slaves or criminals chained 
to the bars or benches. 
Row the boat, my mariners, 
And bring me to the land ! 
The Lass of Lochroyan (Child's Ballads, II. 108). 
2. To transport by rowing: as, to row one 
across a stream. 
II. intrans. 1 . To labor with the oar ; use 
oars in propelling a boat through the water ; 
be transported in a boat propelled by oars. 
Merie sungen the muneches binnen Ely 
Tha [when] Cnut Ching rew there by. 
Historia Eliensis, quoted in C'hambers's Ellg. Lit., I. S. 
And thei roieiden to the cnntree of Gerasenus, which is 
ajens Galilee. Wyclif, Luke viii. 20, 
row 
Prepostrous Wits, that cannot rowe at ease 
On the smooth Chanell of our common Seas. 
Sylvester, tr. of Du Bartas's Weeks, i. 4. 
2. To be moved by means of oars : as, the 
boat rows easily Rowed of all, an order given to 
oarsmen to stop rowing and unship the oars. To row dry. 
(a) To handle the oars in rowing so as to avoid splashing 
water into the boat, (b) To go through the motions of 
rowing in a boat swung at the davits of a ship, as a sailor 
in punishment for some offense connected with boats or 
rowing. The forced exercise is called a dry row. [Colloq. 
in both uses.] 
row 1 (ro), n. [< row 1 , .] An act of rowing; 
also, an excursion taken in a rowboat. 
Wondering travelers go for an evenmg row on the Cas- 
pian, to visit the submarine oil-springs to the south of the 
town of Baku. Pop. Sci. Mo., XXVI. 264. 
row 2 (ro), re. [Also dial, rew ; < ME. rowe, rewe, 
raw, rawe, < AS. raw, reew, a row, line ; akin to 
(a) OD. rijge, rijg, D. rij = MLG. rige, LG. rige, 
rege = OHG. riga, riga, MHG. rige, a row; (b) 
MHG. rihe, G. reihe, a series, line, row ; from the 
verb, OHG. rihan, MHG. rihen, string together 
(Teut. i/rihw); of. Skt. rekhd, line, stroke.] 1. 
A series of things in a line, especially a straight 
line ; a rank ; a file : as, a row of houses or of 
trees ; rows of benches or of figures ; the people 
stood in rotes; to plant corn in rows. 
To hakke and hewe 
The okes olde and leye hem on. a rewe. 
Chaucer, Knight's Tale, 1. 2008. 
My wretchedness unto a row of pins, 
They'll talk of state. Shak., Rich. II., iil. 4. 26. 
The bright Seraphim, in burning row, 
Their loud uplifted angel trumpets blow. 
Milton, Solemn Music. 
2t. A line of writing. 
Which whoso willeth for to knowe, 
He moste rede many a rowe 
In Virgile or in Claudian, 
Or Daunte, that it telle can. 
Chaucer, House of Fame, 1. 448. 
3t. A streak, as of blood. Compare rowy. 
The bloody rowes stremed doune over al, 
They him assayled so maliciously. 
Lamentation of Mary Magdalene, 1. 120. 
4. A hedge. Halliwell, [Local, Eng.] 5. A 
continuous course or extent ; a long passage. 
[This sense, now obsolete in general use, appears in the 
unique Rmcg of Chester in England, which are open pub- 
lic galleries or lines of passage running along the fronts 
of the houses in the principal streets, generally over the 
first stories, covered by the projecting upper stories, lined 
with shops on the inner side, and reached by stairs from 
the street.] 
6. A line of houses in a town, standing con- 
tiguously or near together; especially, such a 
line of houses nearly or quite alike, or forming 
an architectural whole : sometimes used as part 
of the name of a short street, or section of a 
street, from one corner to the next. 7. In 
organ-building, same as bank 1 , 7, or keyboard. 
A hard or a long row to hoe. See hoei. Harmonic 
row. See harmonic. To hoe one's own row. See 
Aoi. 
TOW 2 (ro), i: t. [< row 2 , .] To arrange in a 
line; set or stud with a number of things 
ranged in a row or line. 
Bid her wear thy necklace raic'd with pearl. 
Parnett, Elegy to an Old Beauty. 
row 3 (i'ou), re. [Of obscure slang origin; vague- 
ly associated with rowdy, rowdydow, and per- 
haps due in part to rout 1 . The Icel. hrja, a 
rout, struggle, can hardly be related.] A noisy 
disturbance; a riot; a contest; a riotous noise 
or outbreak; any disorderly or disturbing af- 
fray, brawl, hubbub, or clatter: a colloquial 
word of wide application. 
Next morning there was a great rmp about it [the break- 
ing of a window], 
Barham, in Mem. prefixed to Ingoldsby Legends, I. 35. 
They began the row, . . . and then opened upon Ger- 
many a career of scepticism, which from the very first 
promised to be contagious. De Quincey, Homer, i. 
We turned in about eleven o'clock, it not being possible 
to do so before on account of the row the men made talk- 
ing. K. Sartorius, In the Soudan, p. 92. 
TO kick up a row. Same as to lack up a dust (which see, 
under <Zs*i).=Syn. Uproar, tumult, commotion, broil, 
affray. 
row 3 (rou), '. [< row 3 , n.~\ I. trans. 1. To 
injure by rough and wild treatment: as, to row 
a college room (that is, to damage the furni- 
ture in wild behavior). [Slang.] 2. To scold ; 
abuse; upbraid roughly or noisily. [Colloq.] 
Tell him [Campbell] all this, and let him take it in good 
part ; for I might have rammed it into a review and rowed. 
him. Byron, To Mr. Murray, May 20, 1826. 
II. in trims. To behave in a wild and riotous 
way; engage in a noisy dispute, affray, or the 
like. 
If they are found out, the woman is not punished, but 
they rou' (probably a mild kind of fight). 
Anthrnp. Jour., XIX. 420. 
