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• roach
  roach

  noun

  a cockroach.
• Roach
  Roach

  noun

  Maxwell Max, 1924–2007, U.S. jazz drummer and bandleader.

roach

¹ American  

[rohch] / roʊtʃ /

noun

1. a cockroach.

2. Slang. the butt of a marijuana cigarette.

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roach ² American  

[rohch] / roʊtʃ /

noun

• roaches,
  plural
• roach
  plural

1. a European freshwater fish, Rutilus rutilus, of the carp family.

2. any of various similar fishes, as the golden shiner.

3. a freshwater sunfish of the genus Lepomis, found in eastern North America.

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roach ³ American  

[rohch] / roʊtʃ /

noun

1. Nautical.

   1. the upward curve at the foot of a square sail.

   2. (loosely) a convexity given to any of the edges of a sail; round.

2. hair combed up from the forehead or temples in a roll or high curve.

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verb (used with object)

1. to clip or cut off (the mane of a horse); hog.

2. to comb (hair) into a roach.

Roach ⁴ American  

[rohch] / roʊtʃ /

noun

1. Maxwell Max, 1924–2007, U.S. jazz drummer and bandleader.

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roach ¹ British  

/ rəʊtʃ /

noun

1. a European freshwater cyprinid food fish, Rutilus rutilus , having a deep compressed body and reddish ventral and tail fins

2. any of various similar fishes

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roach ² British  

/ rəʊtʃ /

noun

1. short for cockroach

2. slang the butt of a cannabis cigarette

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roach ³ British  

/ rəʊtʃ /

noun

1. the amount by which the leech of a fore-and-aft sail projects beyond an imaginary straight line between the clew and the head

2. the curve at the foot of a square sail

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Roach ⁴ British  

/ rəʊtʃ /

noun

1. Hal , full name Harald Eugene Roach . 1892–1992, US film producer, whose company produced numerous comedy films in the 1920s and 1930s, including those featuring Harold Lloyd and Laurel and Hardy

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• roach
  plural
• roaches
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of roach¹

An Americanism dating to 1830–40 roach ¹ for def. 1 and 1940–45 roach ¹ for def. 2; shortening of cockroach

Origin of roach²

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English roch(e), from Old French roch(e); further origin uncertain

Origin of roach³

First recorded in 1785–95; origin uncertain; posssibly a development of roach ² ( def. )

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

roach Roach roaches

She said she and other residents had noticed dead pike, carp, roach, eel, rudd and dace.

From BBC ● Aug. 2, 2026

Despite the roach infestation, JPMorgan dived into External link private credit, along with the rest of Wall Street, with Dimon reckoning his bank could handle the risk.

From Barron's ● Mar. 25, 2026

During the COVID-19 pandemic, I was quarantined in an apartment building with a roach infestation.

From MarketWatch ● Dec. 11, 2025

The typical alternative fund is “a roach motel,” says Auwaerter.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 7, 2025

“You’ve got, like, a major roach situation in there!” she exclaimed.

From "Hoot" by Carl Hiaasen

For Mike Roach and Kim Osgood, owners of Paloma Clothing, a clothing store in Portland, Oregon, that means preparing for one of their best-selling items to potentially increase sizably in price.

From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026

The couple, whose shop has been operating for 51 years, say they will likely hold the original price and hope the "tariff problem," as Roach calls it, gets worked out.

From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026

When 10th Street Entertainment’s merchandising director Ian Dietrich came across fanmade clothing with the Papa Roach lyric “Cut my life into pieces,” he didn’t try to take the shop down.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026

Zendaya recently wore an enormous white winged creation from the label to the premiere of “The Odyssey,” styled by longtime collaborator Law Roach.

From Salon ● Aug. 9, 2026

But of course all I really had on my mind was Hosie Roach.

From "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns

“You turn the lights on, and the roaches run.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026

The spokesperson urged reptile owners who have been using dubia roaches as feeders to seek legal alternatives such as crickets and wood roaches.

From BBC ● Jun. 5, 2026

Inmates are housed in unsafe, dirty facilities infested with roaches and rats, Bonta said in a news conference Monday, and lack basic access to clean water and edible food.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2025

In transit, bedsheets, scraps of paper, even Bibles are lit on fire and used to burn out roaches crawling through cracks and hiding in the crevices.

From Slate ● May 19, 2025

Until that moment, Gregor hadn’t even realized the roaches had wings.

From "Gregor the Overlander" by Suzanne Collins

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