MEANING
1. To remain suspended in the air over a place or object without landing.
2. To stay close to a person or place, often hesitating to approach, leave, or act.
Use it for
Describe suspended movement or hesitant nearness.Makes hesitation visible by placing a person near a threshold without having them cross it.
Words that belong together
- hover above the ground
- hover in place
- hover at the doorway
- hover over a decision
On the page
A moth hovered above the lamp, its wings catching the heat.
Her brother hovered at the doorway, waiting for someone to invite him in.
Nearby words
Opposite meanings
Word forms
- Base
- hover
- Past tense
- hovered
- Past participle
- hovered
- Present participle
- hovering
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- hover
- Present continuous
- am/is/are hovering
- Present perfect
- have/has hovered
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been hovering
- Past
- hovered
- Past continuous
- was/were hovering
- Past perfect
- had hovered
- Past perfect continuous
- had been hovering
- Future
- will hover
- Future continuous
- will be hovering
- Future perfect
- will have hovered
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been hovering
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
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Usage notes
Can describe flight, a suspended position, a nearby presence, or a value fluctuating around a level; these uses should not be conflated. Sense 2: The figurative sense implies nearness and unresolved action; it need not mean literal flight.
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