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Hover vs Stray - What's the difference?

hover | stray |

As verbs the difference between hover and stray

is that hover is to float in the air while stray is to wander, as from a direct course; to deviate, or go out of the way.

As nouns the difference between hover and stray

is that hover is a cover; a shelter; a protection while stray is any domestic animal that has an enclosure, or its proper place and company, and wanders at large, or is lost; an estray.

As an adjective stray is

having gone astray; strayed; wandering; as, a stray horse or sheep.

hover

English

Etymology 1

(etyl) hoveren (frequentative of hove).

Verb

(en verb)
  • To float in the air.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-29, volume=407, issue=8842, page=55, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= Travels and travails , passage=Even without hovering drones, a lurking assassin, a thumping score and a denouement, the real-life story of Edward Snowden, a rogue spy on the run, could be straight out of the cinema. But, as with Hollywood, the subplots and exotic locations may distract from the real message: America’s discomfort and its foes’ glee.}}
  • To linger in one place.
  • * 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.
  • To waver, or be uncertain.
  • (computing) To place the cursor over a hyperlink or icon without clicking.
  • Derived terms
    * * hoverboat * hoverbike * hovercar * hoverchair * hovercraft

    Etymology 2

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A cover; a shelter; a protection.
  • (Carew)
    (Charles Kingsley)
    (Webster 1913) ----

    stray

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Any domestic animal that has an enclosure, or its proper place and company, and wanders at large, or is lost; an estray.
  • (figuratively) One who is lost, either literally or metaphorically.
  • The act of wandering or going astray.
  • (historical) An area of common land or place administered for the use of general domestic animals, i.e. "the stray"
  • Verb

    (en verb)
  • To wander, as from a direct course; to deviate, or go out of the way.
  • * Denham
  • Thames among the wanton valleys strays .
  • To wander from company, or from the proper limits; to rove at large; to roam; to go astray.
  • (figurative) To wander from the path of duty or rectitude; to err.
  • * November 2 2014 , Daniel Taylor, " Sergio Agüero strike wins derby for Manchester City against 10-man United," guardian.co.uk
  • It was a derby that left Manchester United a long way back in Manchester City’s wing-mirrors and, in the worst moments, straying dangerously close to being their own worst enemy.
  • To cause to stray.
  • * 1591 , , V. i. 51:
  • Hath not else his eye / Strayed his affection in unlawful love,

    Synonyms

    * deviate

    Adjective

    (-)
  • Having gone astray; strayed; wandering; as, a stray horse or sheep.
  • In the wrong place; misplaced.
  • a stray comma

    Derived terms

    * stray line * stray mark

    References

    Anagrams

    * * *