free-roam

A form of free roam — A game mode where players can explore the game environment at will, rather than following a fixed story line.

Meanings

nounfree-roam (plural free-roams)

plural free-roams

  1. alternativeAlternative form of free roam.

    I love shooters, RPGs, and pretty much anything with free-roam or gore.

    2009, The Official Xbox Magazine - Issues 92-95, page 335
    2 more examples

    The nurse was unsuccessful in medicating Marty because he was given free-roam of the unit.

    1985, Carol A. Rogers, Jane Ulsafer-Van Lanen, Nursing interventions in depression, →ISBN, page 188

    With free-roam of the reserve's rainforest and fruit trees, the semi-wild orangutans at Semenggoh Nature Reserve near Kuching in Sarawak are not guaranteed to show up at the twice-daily feeding sessions, but there's a pretty good chance of catching the endlessly entertaining sight of our shaggy jungle cousins stuffing half a dozen bananas into their mouths, grabbing a coconut and then scrambling back up into the jungle canopy -- swinging from tree to tree, dangling nonchalantly from vines and taking care of their adorable infants.

    2016, Isabel Albiston, Loren Bell, Lonely Planet Borneo, →ISBN
verbfree-roam (third-person singular simple present free-roams, present participle free-roaming, simple past and past participle free-roamed)

present singular third person free-roams · participle present free-roaming · participle past free-roamed · past free-roamed

  1. alternativeAlternative form of free roam.

    When on an open source network, disable ability to free-roam through the system.

    2002 -, Timothy Braithwaite, Securing E-Business Systems: A Guide for Managers and Executives, →ISBN
    2 more examples

    If the rabbit will be housed in a cage and allowed to free-roam, it is best for the animal to use a litter box that has been placed in its cage.

    2012, Thomas N. Tully, A Veterinary Technician's Guide to Exotic Animal Care, →ISBN, page 111

    Such sounds, while not overtly controlled by the player, do reflect a player's choices: whether to free-roam or whether to engage in mission-play.

    2013, Matthew Wysocki, Ctrl-Alt-Play: Essays on Control in Video Gaming, →ISBN, page 142
Cite this entry
APA

free-roam. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/free-roam

MLA

“free-roam.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/free-roam. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “free-roam,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/free-roam.

Source: free-roam on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.