roll top

noun

1. 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.
2. Also called roll-top desk,. a desk with such a cover.

Word History and Origins

Origin of roll top¹

An Americanism dating back to 1885–90

Example Sentences

And then I hurried out of the room without locking the drawerwithout pulling down the roll top of the desk, indeed.

From Project Gutenberg

He was sitting at his roll-top desk, with his feet thrust into the unimaginable litter of papers that covered it.

From Project Gutenberg

He slid back the roll top, and ran a rapid eye over the neatly filed papers.

From Project Gutenberg

Britt Smith was unarmed, his revolver being found afterwards, fully loaded, in his roll-top desk.

From Project Gutenberg

You went to a furniture dealer and bought a large roll-top desk, and when it came home the genius of order came home with it.

From Project Gutenberg