Have you heard someone say ‘hover over,’ and now you’re wondering what they meant by that? Below, we’ll take a look at the definition and origin of the phrase, and you’ll see some examples of how to use the phrase correctly in a sentence.
In short:
Essentially, ‘hover over’ means to float above someone or something, just lingering in place.
The phrase ‘hover over’ is an American expression used to describe the action of lingering above someone or something. It’s generally used to explain things like helicopters, which can easily hover over something or someone (remain floating above something without moving).
The expression has been used to describe anything that hovers over anything else.
A plane hovers over the runway before it lands.
However, ‘hover over’ could also mean standing somewhere in a position where you tower over them.
For example:
The verb ‘hover’ comes from the Middle English word ‘hoveren,’ which means to float in the air, hover, or stay.
That word is derived from ‘hoven,’ which has the same meaning.
It originally referred to birds that remained suspended in the air. It meant to float or rise to the surface.
The words are closely associated with the word ‘hovercraft,’ which is a flying spacecraft that can hover.
You remember the hovercraft from the Jetsons that we all thought we’d be flying around in by now.
The word ‘hover’ can also refer to a computer cursor hovering over an object onscreen without clicking on anything. You might hover your mouse over something before deciding to click on it while you're making up your mind.
How would you use ‘hover over’ in a sentence?
Let’s look at some examples:
What other words and phrases convey the same meaning as ‘hover over’?
Here are a few examples:
To recap, we learned that:
Essentially, ‘hover over’ means to float above someone or something, just lingering in place.
If you ever get stuck or forget something, you can always come back here to review what you learned. We’ve got a whole library of content on Idioms. Go check it out and get familiar with the most common English idioms and expressions you might see going forward.
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