roll
pronunciation
How to pronounce roll in British English:
UK [rəʊl]
How to pronounce roll in American English:
US [roʊl]
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- Noun:
- rotary motion of an object around its own axis
- a list of names
- a long heavy sea wave as it advances towards the shore
- photographic film rolled up inside a container to protect it from light
- a round shape formed by a series of concentric circles
- a roll of currency notes (often taken as the resources of a person or business etc.)
- small rounded bread either plain or sweet
- a deep prolonged sound (as of thunder or large bells)
- the sound of a drum (especially a snare drum) beaten rapidly and continuously
- a document that can be rolled up (as for storage)
- anything rolled up in cylindrical form
- the act of throwing dice
- walking with a rolling gait
- a flight maneuver; aircraft rotates about its longitudinal axis without changing direction or losing altitude
- the act of rolling something (as the ball in bowling)
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- Verb:
- move by turning over or rotating
- move along on or as if on wheels or a wheeled vehicle
- occur in soft rounded shapes
- flatten or spread with a roller
- emit, produce, or utter with a deep prolonged reverberating sound
- wrap or coil around
- begin operating or running
- shape by rolling
- execute a roll, in tumbling
- sell something to or obtain something from by energetic and especially underhanded activity
- move in a wavy pattern or with a rising and falling motion
- move about aimlessly or without any destination, often in search of food or employment
- move, rock, or sway from side to side
- cause to move by turning over or in a circular manner of as if on an axis
- pronounce with a roll, of the phoneme /r/
- boil vigorously
- take the shape of a roll or cylinder
- show certain properties when being rolled
Word Origin
- roll
- roll: English has two words roll, both of which go back ultimately to Latin rotulus ‘small wheel’, a diminutive form of rota ‘wheel’ (source of English rotate, rotund, round, etc). This passed via Old French rolle into English as roll ‘rolledup parchment’ [13]. The modern French version of the word has given English role [17], whose underlying notion is of a ‘rolled-up’ piece of paper with the actor’s lines written on it. From rotulus was derived the Vulgar Latin verb *rotulāre, which has given English its verb roll [14]. Control comes from the same source.=> control, rota, rotate, round
- roll (n.)
- early 13c., "rolled-up piece of parchment or paper" (especially one inscribed with an official record), from Old French rolle "document, parchment scroll, decree" (12c.), from Medieval Latin rotulus "a roll of paper" (source also of Spanish rollo, Italian rullo), from Latin rotula "small wheel," diminutive of rota "wheel" (see rotary). Meaning "a register, list, catalogue" is from late 14c., common from c. 1800. Meaning "dough which is rolled before baking" is first recorded mid-15c. Sense of "act of rolling" is from 1743. Meaning "quantity of material rolled up" is from late 14c.; meaning "quantity of paper money" is from 1846; sense of "quantity of (rolled) film" is from 1890. Meaning "act of sexual intercourse" is attested from 1942 (roll in the hay), from roll (v.). Dutch rol, German Rolle, Danish rulle, etc. are from French.
- roll (v.)
- c. 1300 "turn over and over, move by rotating" (intransitive); late 14c. as "to move (something) by turning it over and over;" from Old French roeller "roll, wheel round" (Modern French rouler), from Medieval Latin rotulare, from Latin rotula, diminutive of rota "wheel" (see rotary). Related: Rolled; rolling. Of sounds (such as thunder) somehow suggestive of a rolling ball, 1590s; of a drum from 1680s. Of eyes, from late 14c. Of a movie camera, "to start filming," from 1938. Sense of "rob a stuporous drunk" is from 1873, from the action required to get to his pockets. To roll up "gather, congregate" is from 1861, originally Australian. To be on a roll is from 1976. To roll with the punches is a metaphor from boxing (1940). Heads will roll is a Hitlerism:If our movement is victorious there will be a revolutionary tribunal which will punish the crimes of November 1918. Then decapitated heads will roll in the sand. [1930]
Example
- 1. Toys that move or roll are ideal .
- 2. It was complete with a power cord and a roll of paper .
- 3. Who knew the humble toilet roll can be a work of art ?
- 4. As I help roll up the carpet , the two couples laugh hysterically .
- 5. Never bite straight into a roll , and refrain from cutting it in half and buttering .