Hove Meaning
/həʊv/Definition, CEFR level C2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
verbTo remain suspended in air, water etc.; to float, to hover.
verbTo wait, linger.
Sentence Examples
I hove to have some time.
Despite failing to win last night, Brighton and Hove Albion are second in the table.
CEFR Practice Quiz
After the storm, the old ship suddenly ____ into sight over the horizon.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The giant ship slowly ____ into view as the thick fog finally began to lift.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English hoven (“to linger, wait, hover, move aside, entertain, cherish, foster”), from Old English *hofian (“to receive into one's house”), from Proto-Germanic *hufōną (“to house, lodge”), from Proto-Germanic *hufą (“hill, height, farm, dwelling”), from Proto-Indo-European *keup- (“to arch, bend, buckle”). Cognate with Old Frisian hovia (“to receive into one's home, entertain”), Old Dutch hoven (“to receive into one's home, entertain”). Related to Old English hof (“court, house, dwelling”). More at hovel.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"As shee arrived on the roring shore, / In minde to leape into the mighty maine, / A little bote lay hoving her before[…]."
— 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto VII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
"Alle these xv knyghtes were knyghtes of the table round / Soo these with moo other came in to gyders / and bete on bak the kynge of Northumberland and the kynge of Northwalys / whan sir launcelot sawe this as he houed in a lytil leued woode / thenne he sayd vnto syre lauayn / see yonder is a company of good knyghtes"
— 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, chapter X, in Le Morte Darthur, book XVIII:
"Astond he stood, and vp his haire did houe, / And with that suddein horror could no member moue."
— 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto II”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
"There was nothing else to do, and he was doing it to the best of his ability - having, in fact, fallen into a trance of admiration before a large meerschaum - when MacQuibble hove in sight on his way to the Life Class at the Gallery."
— 1913, Norman Lindsay, A Curate in Bohemia, Sydney: N.S.W. Bookstall Co., published 1932, page 150:
"This will become increasingly urgent as next year's General Election hoves into view."
— 2023 August 9, Nigel Harris, “Comment: Disinterested and dishonest”, in RAIL, number 989, page 3:
Explore More C2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
After the storm, the old ship suddenly ____ into sight over the horizon.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The giant ship slowly ____ into view as the thick fog finally began to lift.