room
Americannoun
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rooms
plural
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a portion of space within a building or other structure, separated by walls or partitions from other parts.
a dining room.
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rooms, lodgings or quarters, as in a house or building.
-
the persons present in a room.
The whole room laughed.
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space or extent of space occupied by or available for something.
The desk takes up too much room.
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opportunity or scope for something.
room for improvement; room for doubt.
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status or a station in life considered as a place.
He fought for room at the top.
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capacity.
Her brain had no room for trivia.
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Mining. a working area cut between pillars.
verb (used without object)
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rooms,
present (3rd person singular)
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roomed,
past participle, past
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rooming
present participle
noun
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space or extent, esp unoccupied or unobstructed space for a particular purpose
is there room to pass?
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an area within a building enclosed by a floor, a ceiling, and walls or partitions
sitting room
dining room
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(functioning as singular or plural) the people present in a room
the whole room was laughing
-
(foll by for) opportunity or scope
room for manoeuvre
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(plural) a part of a house, hotel, etc, that is rented out as separate accommodation; lodgings
she got rooms in town
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a euphemistic word for lavatory
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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roomsimple
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roomssimple
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have roomedperfect
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has roomedperfect
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am roomingprogressive
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are roomingprogressive
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is roomingprogressive
-
have been roomingperfect progressive
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has been roomingperfect progressive
Past
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roomedsimple
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had roomedperfect
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was roomingprogressive
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were roomingprogressive
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had been roomingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of room
First recorded before 900; Middle English roum(e), Old English rūm; cognate with Dutch ruim, German Raum
Explanation
A room is a space in a house or building that's usually enclosed with walls. Your favorite room in your house might be the den where the TV is, or the cozy kitchen. There's the physical area called a room, and then there's the concept of room, which can mean "space" or "opportunity." If you have room in your life for a puppy, it means you can make the time to walk it and feed it and play with it. If you have room in your bedroom for a puppy, it means you have the physical space you need for a dog bed.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
He works relentlessly in the weight room gaining strength.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026
The cry echoes around the changing room: "Marching on together!"
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
The drink still matters, but increasingly it’s part of something larger: the room, the menu, the DJ, the conversation.
From Salon ● Aug. 15, 2026
And even as consumers cycle through fashion trends more quickly thanks to social media, some analysts say there’s still room for more gains.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 15, 2026
Dad’s in his room on the phone; I hear him in a low whisper, softly laughing.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
They attend concerts, meet career coaches, reserve study rooms, download software, join student organizations, and participate in countless campus activities without ever reaching for a wallet.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
Or you could do both, followed by a night at River’s End, where a restaurant and five woodsy guest rooms enjoy sweeping views of the river, sea and sea stacks.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
A personality hire, maybe to an outsized degree, naturally cares about making rooms better.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 13, 2026
Roadways become dining rooms, dance floors, bars, and parties.
From Salon ● Aug. 11, 2026
Gabi and I climb the stairs and have a quick look at the rooms.
From "Code Name Kingfisher" by Liz Kessler
All seven members roomed in a single dorm room until 2016.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 20, 2026
"I roomed with 'Thommo' for years, and I've seen him and spent time with him since, and he's genuinely struggling," says Moody.
From BBC ● Mar. 2, 2026
Once in Sacramento, Cárdenas roomed with Assemblymembers Cruz Bustamante and Richard Polanco, the Eastside politico who was then chair of the Latino Legislative Caucus.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 27, 2024
While working on the reboot, I roomed with the associate producer, Marcy Carriker, who married Tom in 1990.
From New York Times ● Dec. 28, 2023
When I was at Elkton Hills, I roomed for about two months with this boy, Harris Mackim.
From "The Catcher in the Rye" by J. D. Salinger
Moreover, it’s not just young people fresh out of school who are rooming with others to keep their housing costs low.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 4, 2025
Back in the fall of 2007, Knox was a 20-year-old student from Seattle, studying in Perugia and rooming with a young British woman named Meredith Kercher.
From Salon ● Apr. 14, 2025
He’s implemented several team-building exercises, including moving players into on-campus dorms for the opening week of training camp and rooming them with guys from other position groups.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 31, 2023
“Bunker Hill is old town, lost town, shabby town, crook town,” the noir master Raymond Chandler wrote, long before the neighborhood’s old rooming houses were demolished.
From New York Times ● May 17, 2023
Expressed interest in rooming with us in NYC.
From "The Serpent King" by Jeff Zentner
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
