▪ I. ˈroaming, vbl. n.
[f. roam v. + -ing1.]
The action of the verb; a wandering journey. Also fig. and attrib.
| 1581 Mulcaster Positions xxxix. (1887) 204 It were to large a roming place, to runne over the port that the churchmen haue kept. 1582 Stanyhurst æneis i. (Arb.) 18 Through this wyde roaming thee Troians Italie mishing Ful manye yeers wandred. 1660 H. More Myst. Godl. vii. i. 282 All Prophecies are not from the mere ravings & roamings of a buisie Phansie. 1875 Whitney Life Lang. v. 82 This may seem like an aimless roaming through one department of our vocabulary. 1883 Encycl. Brit. XVI. 48/2 The south or steppe portion of Mesopotamia was from early times the roaming-ground of Arabic tribes. |
▸ Telecomm. The use of a mobile phone on a network other than the one subscribed to, esp. as a result of travelling between cells or outside the area covered by one's usual network; the facility to use a mobile phone in this way. Freq. attrib., as roaming agreement, roaming charge, etc. Cf. cell n.1 21, roam v. Additions.
| 1984 PR Newswire (Nexis) 20 June The ‘roaming’ agreement is believed to be the first of its kind in the cellular industry to be entered into by a wireline and non-wireline company. Roaming allows a cellular customer to obtain service outside of his home calling area. 1989 Los Angeles Times (Nexis) 22 Aug. iv. 2 a/1 Subscribers can now use their cellular phones outside of a typical coverage area, thanks to ‘roaming agreements’ in which competing cellular carriers have agreed to accept and broadcast calls made from subscribers who don't belong to their networks. 1995 What Mobile & Cellphone Mag. Feb. 4/2 This rate includes..roaming charges, which can cost around $3 a day in many parts of the US. 2000 Wavelength Jan. 60 With the aid of..a mobile phone with international roaming, we crossed borders, caught ferries, flew south, and waited for the swell to arrive. 2003 Holiday Which? Summer 132/1 Before leaving the UK, you must contact your operator to set up your phone for roaming, if you want it to work at all. |
▪ II. ˈroaming, ppl. a.
[f. as prec. + -ing2.]
That roams or wanders.
| 1597 Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. lxvi. §4 Dominion ouer the whole band of that roaming and spoyling aduersarie. 1837 W. Irving Capt. Bonneville III. 62 The roaming herds of that species of animal. |
Hence ˈroamingly adv.
| 1621 Lady M. Wroth Urania 211 With him I..came into this country, where euer since I haue romingly endured, neuer in any one place setled. |