roast

American  

[rohst] / roʊst /

verb (used with object)

1. to bake (meat or other food) uncovered, especially in an oven.

2. to cook (meat or other food) by direct exposure to dry heat, as on a spit.

3. to brown, dry, or parch by exposure to heat, as coffee beans.

4. to cook or heat by embedding in hot coals, embers, etc..

   to roast chestnuts.

5. to heat excessively.

   The summer sun has been roasting the entire countryside.

6. Metallurgy. to heat (ore or the like) in air in order to oxidize it.

7. to warm at a hot fire.

   She roasted her hands over the fire.

8. Informal. to ridicule or criticize severely or mercilessly.

9. to honor with or subject to a roast.

   Friends roasted the star at a charity dinner.

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verb (used without object)

1. to roast meat or other food.

2. to undergo the process of becoming roasted.

noun

1. roasted meat or a piece of roasted meat, as a piece of beef or veal of a quantity and shape for slicing into more than one portion.

2. a piece of meat for roasting.

3. something that is roasted.

4. the act or process of roasting.

5. Informal. severe criticism.

6. a facetious ceremonial tribute, usually concluding a banquet, in which the guest of honor is both praised and good-naturedly insulted in a succession of speeches by friends and acquaintances.

7. an outdoor get-together, as a picnic or barbecue, at which food is roasted and eaten.

   a weenie roast.

adjective

1. roasted.

   roast beef.

roast British  

/ rəʊst /

verb

1. to cook (meat or other food) by dry heat, usually with added fat and esp in an oven

2. to brown or dry (coffee, etc) by exposure to heat

3. metallurgy to heat (an ore) in order to produce a concentrate that is easier to smelt

4. to heat (oneself or something) to an extreme degree, as when sunbathing, sitting before the fire, etc

5. (intr) to be excessively and uncomfortably hot

6. informal to criticize severely

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noun

1. something that has been roasted, esp meat

Other Word Forms

• half-roasted adjective
• overroast verb
• roastable adjective
• underroast verb (used with object)
• unroasted adjective
• well-roasted adjective

Etymology

Origin of roast

1250–1300; Middle English rosten (v.) < Old French rostir < Germanic; compare Dutch roosten, German rösten

Example Sentences

They roasted the prawns on the deck, and Christopher and Mal were covered to the wrist in shreds of pink shell when a spot appeared in the sky.

From Literature

There’s the Italian-style pasta salad, tossed in olive oil and vinegar and studded with olive-bar favorites — roasted red pepper, artichoke hearts, basil — and perhaps some deli stalwarts, like chopped cured meats or cheeses.

From Salon

After a little kitchen reset, they’d open the door to spaghetti night, or roast chicken with challah, or a big pot of stew—same night, every week.

From Salon

My mother rides our donkey, and my brothers, Isaac and Jacob, carry our provisions—bread and cheese, eggplant empanadillas, roasted eggs, olives cured in salt, dried figs, almonds, and walnuts—and our few belongings.

From Literature

"We all have good memories of grandparents and getting together in this country for a Sunday roast, in my culture, the Middle East, it was always a Friday," he said.

From BBC