different between hover vs hoover

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English hoveren, equivalent with hove +? -er (frequentative suffix).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?h?.v?(?)/
• Rhymes: -?v?(r)
• (US, formerly also UK) IPA^(key): /?h?.v?/
• Rhymes: -?v?(r)

Verb

hover (third-person singular simple present hovers, present participle hovering, simple past and past participle hovered)

1. (intransitive) To float in the air.

2. (intransitive) To linger or hang in one place, especially in an uncertain manner.
   • 1883, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island

     The neighborhood, to our ears, seemed haunted by approaching footsteps; and what between the dead body of the captain on the parlor floor, and the thought of that detestable blind beggar hovering near at hand, and ready to return, there were moments when, as the saying goes, I jumped in my skin for terror.

3. (intransitive) To waver, or be uncertain.

4. (computing, intransitive) To place the cursor over a hyperlink or icon without clicking.

Derived terms

Descendants

• Welsh: hofran

Translations

Noun

hover (plural hovers)

1. The act of hovering

Etymology 2

Unknown

Pronunciation

Noun

hover (plural hovers)

1. A cover; a shelter; a protection.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Carew to this entry?)

   • 1867, Charles Kingsley, Superstition

     Without the instinct of self-preservation, which causes the sea-anemone to contract its tentacles, or the fish to dash into its hover, species would be extermined wholesale by involuntary suicide.

Norwegian Bokmål

Alternative forms

• høver

Noun

hover m

1. indefinite plural of hov

Scots

Verb

hover (third-person singular present hovers, present participle hoverin, past hovert, past participle hovert)

1. to hover
2. to pause (in hesitation)

English

Alternative forms

• Hoover

Etymology

From Hoover, the brand name of one of the first vacuum cleaners, which was sold by The Hoover Company. The American company was founded by William Henry Hoover (1849–1932) and his son Herbert William Hoover, Sr. (1877–1954). The surname Hoover is an Anglicized version of the German Huber, originally designating a landowner or a prosperous small-scale farmer.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?hu?v?(?)/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?huv?/
• Hyphenation: hoo?ver

Noun

hoover (plural hoovers)

1. (chiefly Britain) A vacuum cleaner, irrespective of brand.

Translations

Verb

hoover (third-person singular simple present hoovers, present participle hoovering, simple past and past participle hoovered)

1. (transitive, Britain) To clean (a room, etc.) with a vacuum cleaner, irrespective of brand.
   • 2006, Stella Rimington, Secret Asset, London: Hutchinson, ISBN 978-0-09-180024-6; republished New York, N.Y.: Vintage Crime/Black Lizard, 2008, ISBN 978-1-4000-7982-7, page 210:

     In the freshly hoovered living room of her house in Wokingham, Thelma Dawnton was distinctly miffed.
2. (intransitive, Britain) To use a vacuum cleaner, irrespective of brand.
3. (transitive) To suck in or inhale, as if by a vacuum cleaner.

Synonyms

• (transitive sense): to vacuum

Derived terms

• hoover up

Translations

References

• “hoover” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.