roast

[rohst]

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verb (used with object)

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

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

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

to cook or heat by embedding in hot coals, embers, etc.: to roast chestnuts.

to heat excessively: The summer sun has been roasting the entire countryside.

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

to warm at a hot fire: She roasted her hands over the fire.

Informal. to ridicule or criticize severely or mercilessly.

to honor with or subject to a roast: Friends roasted the star at a charity dinner.

verb (used without object)

to roast meat or other food.

to undergo the process of becoming roasted.

noun

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.

a piece of meat for roasting.

something that is roasted.

the act or process of roasting.

Informal. severe criticism.

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.

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

adjective

roasted: roast beef.

Origin of roast

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

Related formsroast·a·ble, adjectivehalf-roast·ed, adjectiveo·ver·roast, verbun·der·roast, verb (used with object)un·roast·ed, adjectivewell-roast·ed, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for roast

lampoon, ridicule, lambaste, razz

Examples from the Web for roast

Contemporary Examples of roast

The nanas and poppies and grannies and grampses who flocked there to roast in the sun.
Powerful Congressman Writes About ‘Fleshy Breasts’
Asawin Suebsaeng
January 7, 2015
Remove the roast from the pan and let rest for a minimum of 15 minutes.
Make Carla Hall’s Roasted Pork Loin With Cranberries
Carla Hall
December 24, 2014
With time I learned to disassemble the entire hotpot and mount the heating coil on a roast beef can with a whole punched in it.
Tales of a Jailhouse Gourmet: How I learned to Cook in Prison
Daniel Genis
June 21, 2014
They drove out to a restaurant on Eight Mile Road, and he drank two glasses of water, waiting for his roast beef sandwich and tea.
Gordie Howe Hockey’s Greatest War Horse
W.C. Heinz
May 31, 2014
I plan to get shrimp as well as the catfish and also the roast beef.
New Orleans Celebrates Its Favorite Sandwich at the Oak Street Po-Boy Festival
Tyler Gillespie
November 26, 2013

Historical Examples of roast

The lotus is a leguminous plant—so excellent for the salad—not for the roast.
The Spenders
Harry Leon Wilson
A roast of beef meant a visit, in Dr. Ed's modest-paying clientele.
K
Mary Roberts Rinehart
In summer, meat will roast in a shorter time than in winter.
Directions for Cookery, in its Various Branches
Eliza Leslie
Put it on a spit, and roast it till it is tender throughout.
Directions for Cookery, in its Various Branches
Eliza Leslie
A breast of veal will require about three hours and a half to roast.
Directions for Cookery, in its Various Branches
Eliza Leslie

British Dictionary definitions for roast

roast

verb (mainly tr)

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

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

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

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

(intr) to be excessively and uncomfortably hot

informal to criticize severely

noun

something that has been roasted, esp meat

Word Origin for roast

C13: from Old French rostir, of Germanic origin; compare Middle Dutch roosten to roast

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

Word Origin and History for roast

late 13c., "to cook by dry heat," from Old French rostir "to roast, burn" (Modern French rôtir), from Frankish *hraustjan (cf. Old High German rosten, German rösten, Middle Dutch roosten "to roast"), originally "cook on a grate or gridiron," related to Germanic words meaning "gridiron, grate;" cf. German Rost, Middle Dutch roost.

Intransitive sense "be very hot, be exposed to great heat" is from c.1300. The meaning "make fun of in an affectionate way" is from 1710. From the same source as roster. Related: Roasted; roasting. Roast beef first recorded 1630s (cf. French rosbif, from English).

early 14c., "meat roasted or for roasting;" see roast (v.). Meaning "a roasting" is from 1580s. Sense of "an unmerciful bantering" is from 1740.