Phrase guide
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
No pronunciation record was provided for this word.
noun
Any of various carnivorous or scavenging beetles of the family Staphylinidae that are often found in decaying matter and have slender bodies and short wing covers.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
active beetle typically having predatory or scavenging habits
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: beetle
History
From rove (“to roam; a roam”) + beetle, in reference to the family's scavenging tendencies.
Across languages
15 source translations are retained for this English entry.
