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housetop

American  
[hous-top] / ˈhaʊsˌtɒp /

noun

  1. the top tops or roof of a house.

idioms

  1. from the housetops, publicly; generally.

    The day I got my promotion I wanted to shout it from the housetops.
housetop British  
/ ˈhaʊsˌtɒp /

noun

  1. the roof of a house

  2. to announce (something) publicly

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of housetop

First recorded in 1520–30; house + top 1

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.

Two generations later, during the Civil War, Moby-Dick author Herman Melville stood in the night on his Manhattan housetop as he watched the city burn.

From Time • Sep. 19, 2014

The first shot sends a screaming firework over a housetop and into the trees.

From New York Times • Oct. 26, 2011

Scarcely had she moved from the British-protected waters before her crew saw rockets flare from a housetop on the Rock.

From Time Magazine Archive

A cone on the housetop lets in air which settles evenly down in a slow draft.

From Time Magazine Archive

So well preserved were the vats of his tannery that one would hardly have been surprised to find the distinguished guest of Simon walking on the housetop in the twilight.

From The Story of a Life by Ellis, J. Breckenridge (John Breckenridge)

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.