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  • roll-up
    roll-up
    noun
    Also rollup something, as a carpet or window shade, that can be rolled up when not in use.
  • roll up
    roll up
    verb
    to form or cause to form a cylindrical shape
Synonyms

roll-up

American  
[rohl-uhp] / ˈroʊlˌʌp /

noun

  • roll-ups
    plural
  1. Also rollup something, as a carpet or window shade, that can be rolled up when not in use.

  2. Informal. an increase, as in value or cost.


roll up British  

verb

  1. to form or cause to form a cylindrical shape

  2. (tr) to wrap (an object) round on itself or on an axis

    to roll up a map

  3. informal (intr) to arrive, esp in a vehicle

  4. (intr) to proceed or develop

  5. (intr) to assemble; congregate

"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

noun

  1. informal a cigarette made by hand from loose tobacco and cigarette paper

  2. (in the 19th century) a mass meeting of workers on an issue of common concern

  3. archaic the attendance at any fixture

    they had a good roll-up

"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
roll up Idioms  
  1. Accumulate, as in He rolled up a fortune in commodity trading , or She rolled up a huge number of votes in this district . [Mid-1800s]

  2. Arrive in a vehicle, as in They rolled up in a taxi at exactly eight o'clock .


Usage

What does roll-up mean? A roll-up is something that can be easily rolled into a cylinder, such as a rug or a window shade. Informally, a roll-up is also an increase, such as with a roll-up cost. Roll-up can also be spelled rollup. Roll up means to wrap an object around itself or on an axis, as with a map. Informally, roll up can also mean to arrive, especially in a vehicle. Example: Roll up that blanket and throw it in the picnic basket.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

Etymology

Origin of roll-up

First recorded in 1745–55; noun use of verb phrase roll up

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

The tech roll-up relies on aggressive price hikes and bespoke metrics.

From The Wall Street Journal Sep. 11, 2026

The roll-up doors will allow cars to be driven inside and a wall of high-resolution LED panels will project backgrounds in real-time 3-D environments.

From Los Angeles Times Aug. 5, 2026

When police opened the roll-up door, they found 21 Cavalier King Charles Spaniels confined inside, several of which were pregnant.

From Los Angeles Times Jun. 14, 2026

The strategy, sometimes called an AI-enabled roll-up, is increasingly popular in venture capital.

From The Wall Street Journal Jun. 9, 2026

You could recognize a shabby leather jacket, a hairy neck, a black T-shirt or sweatshirt, and his fingers with a roll-up cigarette in them.

From "The London Eye Mystery" by Siobhan Dowd

"But as it is coming for those who came before me, our elders and ancestors, we know how to roll up our sleeves and fight. So that's what we're gonna do."

From Barron's Aug. 8, 2026

Fire crews were ordered to roll up their hoses, despite complaints that a more thorough mop-up was needed.

From Los Angeles Times Jun. 29, 2026

That would be roll up in the case of a call-bull spread or roll down in the case of a bear- put spread.

From MarketWatch Jun. 11, 2026

Roll up, roll up - it's time for BBC Sport's first end-of-season football awards.

From BBC May 28, 2026

We roll up the windows until it gets so steamy and damp in the car that we have to crack them open in order to see out.

From "In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez

The roll-up strategy was starting to come undone, and roll-ups typically don’t work well in reverse.

From The Wall Street Journal Jul. 6, 2026

The FTC began to target roll-ups for the first time under President Joe Biden, according to Garden-Monheit.

From Slate Feb. 10, 2025

"The FTC will continue to scrutinize and challenge serial acquisitions, roll-ups, and other stealth consolidation schemes that unlawfully undermine fair competition and harm the American public," Khan said in a statement on Thursday.

From Reuters Sep. 21, 2023

We were girls who loved puffy stickers, fruit roll-ups, jelly shoes, Madonna bracelets and Cabbage Patch Kids.

From New York Times Apr. 27, 2023

He was bringin’ out a pile of suit-cases and roll-ups, and pretty soon a taxicab drove up with a man inside.

From The Crevice by Will Grefé

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