hover

Meaning

Verb

1. (transitive) To keep (something, such as an aircraft) in a stationary state in the air.
2. (transitive) Of a bird: to shelter (chicks) under its body and wings; (by extension) of a thing: to cover or surround (something).
3. (obsolete, transitive) Of a bird or insect: to flap (its wings) so it can remain stationary in the air.
4. (intransitive) To remain stationary or float in the air.
5. (figuratively, intransitive) Sometimes followed by over: to hang around or linger in a place, especially in an uncertain manner.
6. (figuratively, intransitive) To be indecisive or uncertain; to vacillate, to waver.
7. (intransitive) Chiefly followed by over: to use a mouse or other device to place a cursor over something on a screen such as a hyperlink or icon without clicking, so as to produce a result (such as the appearance of a tooltip).
8. (intransitive) To travel in a hovercraft as it moves above a water surface.

Noun

1. An act, or the state, of remaining stationary in the air or some other place.
2. A flock of birds fluttering in the air in one place.
3. (figuratively) An act, or the state, of being suspended; a suspension.
4. (Southern-England) A cover; a protection; a shelter; specifically, an overhanging bank or stone under which fish can shelter; also, a shelter for hens brooding their eggs.

Synonyms

soar

float

vacillate

flutter

fly

✈️

impend

brood

loom

flit

bulk large

waft

circle

⭕

waver

wheel

🛞

levitate

circle around

linger

oscillate

pester

stick to

glide

hang about

hang around

hang

vibrate

take wing

float in the air

serpentuate

circumrotate

soar into the air

swoop about

move round about

approach

mouse hover

billow

buzz

cling to

convolve

dither

dock

drift

driftingly

flap

flatteringly

hesitate

moor

park

🏞️

poise

remain

scruple

Translations

planer

schweben

librarsi

pairar

cernerse

zweven

flotar

attardarsi

voltear

flotar

tugurio

faire du sur-place

voletejar

baracca

🛖

weifelen

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈhɒvə/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: hoveren

Inherited from Old English: *hōfian

In summary

The verb is derived from Middle English hoveren (“to float in the air, hover; to stay”), probably from hoven (“hover; of a bird: to fly high in the air, soar”) (which it displaced) + -er- (frequentative suffix). Hoven is probably derived from Old English *hōfian, from hōfon, the plural past indicative form of hebban (“to lift, raise”), from Proto-West Germanic *habbjan, from Proto-Germanic *habjaną (“to lift; to heave”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *keh₂p- (“to hold, seize”). The English word is analysable as hove (“(obsolete) to remain suspended, float, hover; to linger, wait”) + -er (frequentative suffix).
The noun is derived from the verb.