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

“But I didn’t get a chance before her presentation, and afterward, I made a beeline for the marshmallow roast.”

From Literature

That alone would have meant a nearly $200,000 cost increase for the roughly 95,000 pounds of coffee Reverie roasts annually.

From The Wall Street Journal

There's even a focaccia cake with roasted tomato, pesto and feta icing – a savoury offering Sunga is delighted to see.

From BBC

O’Connell stirred the pot with an Instagram post in which he stood before the Yountville Commons sign and roasted the celebrity chef.

From The Wall Street Journal

On Sunday, he says, he plans to take his fellow DJ, singer Beth Ditto of US band Gossip back to his mum's house for a roast.

From BBC