What does rondar in Spanish mean?

What is the meaning of the word rondar in Spanish? The article explains the full meaning, pronunciation along with bilingual examples and instructions on how to use rondar in Spanish.

The word rondar in Spanish means circle, wander around, pester, badger, come upon, patrol, bother. To learn more, please see the details below.

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Meaning of the word rondar

circle

verbo transitivo (voltear alrededor)

(transitive verb: Verb taking a direct object--for example, "Say something." "She found the cat.")
Las moscas rondaban la basura.
Flies were circling the garbage.

wander around

verbo transitivo (merodear)

(phrasal verb, intransitive: Verb with adverb(s) or preposition(s), having special meaning and not taking direct object--for example, "make up" [=reconcile]: "After they fought, they made up.")
La policía arrestó al hombre que rondaba la casa con malas intenciones.
The police arrested the man who was wandering around the house for no good reason.

pester, badger

verbo transitivo (coloquial (perseguir, acosar)

(transitive verb: Verb taking a direct object--for example, "Say something." "She found the cat.")
Ronda a su jefe desde hace días porque quiere un aumento de sueldo.
For days he's been pestering his boss because he wants a pay raise.

come upon

verbo transitivo (acercarse)

(phrasal verb, intransitive: Verb with adverb(s) or preposition(s), having special meaning and not taking direct object--for example, "make up" [=reconcile]: "After they fought, they made up.")
Creían que la muerte rondaba al pueblo y se negaban a rendirse sin luchar.
ⓘEsta oración no es una traducción de la original. I feel a cold coming on.

patrol

verbo transitivo (vigilar, patrullar)

(transitive verb: Verb taking a direct object--for example, "Say something." "She found the cat.")
El vigilante ronda el barrio para impedir que se cometan robos.
The vigilante patrols the neighborhood to prevent robberies.

bother

verbo intransitivo (figurado (pensamiento, inquietud) (figurative)

(intransitive verb: Verb not taking a direct object--for example, "She jokes." "He has arrived.")
Una duda ronda por mi cabeza y no me deja dormir.
There is a problem bothering me and keeping me up at night.

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Spanish (español), also known as Castilla, is a language of the Iberian-Romance group of the Romance languages, and the 4th most common language in the world according to Some sources, while others list it as a 2nd or 3rd most common language. It is the mother tongue of about 352 million people, and is spoken by 417 million people when adding its speakers as a language. sub (estimated in 1999). Spanish and Portuguese have very similar grammar and vocabulary; The number of similar vocabulary of these two languages is up to 89%. Spanish is the primary language of 20 countries around the world. It is estimated that the total number of speakers of Spanish is between 470 and 500 million, making it the second most widely spoken language in the world by number of native speakers.