roll top

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noun

a flexible, sliding cover for the working area of a desk, opening by rising upward and back in quadrantal grooves and rolling up beneath the top.

Also called roll-top desk, rolltop desk. a desk with such a cover.

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Nearby words

roll off, roll on, roll out, roll over, roll the bones, roll top, roll up, roll up one's sleeves, roll with the punches, roll-around, roll-off

Origin of roll top

An Americanism dating back to 1885–90

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

Examples from the Web for roll top

What part of it wasn't taken up by a roll-top desk was filled by a table fairly groaning under its load of magazines.
The Trail of Conflict|Emilie Baker Loring
There were a table and a chair or two, and in a corner an American roll-top desk.
Hard Pressed|Fred M. White
In the room beyond, evidently the holy of holies, he could see an elderly man at a roll-top desk smoking a large cigar.
McAllister and His Double|Arthur Train
With his back to Carl, the dean was writing at a roll-top desk.
The Trail of the Hawk|Sinclair Lewis

The next morning Leon Sammet sat at his roll-top desk in his private office, while Barney went over the morning mail.
Potash & Perlmutter|Montague Glass