roof
Americannoun
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roofs
plural
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the external upper covering of a house or other building.
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a frame for supporting this.
an open-timbered roof.
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the highest part or summit.
The Himalayas are the roof of the world.
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something that in form or position resembles the roof of a house, as the top of a car, the upper part of the mouth, etc.
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a house.
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Mining. the rock immediately above a horizontal mineral deposit.
verb (used with object)
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roofs,
present (3rd person singular)
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roofed,
past participle, past
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roofing
present participle
idioms
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go through the roof,
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to increase beyond all expectations.
Foreign travel may very well go through the roof next year.
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Informal. Also hit the roof to lose one's temper; become extremely angry.
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raise the roof,
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to create a loud noise.
The applause raised the roof.
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to complain or protest noisily.
He'll raise the roof when he sees that bill.
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noun
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a structure that covers or forms the top of a building
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( in combination )
the rooftop
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( as modifier )
a roof garden
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the top covering of a vehicle, oven, or other structure
the roof of a car
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anatomy any structure that covers an organ or part
the roof of the mouth
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a highest or topmost point or part
Mount Everest is the roof of the world
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a house or other shelter
a poor man's roof
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mountaineering the underside of a projecting overhang
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informal
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to get extremely angry; become furious
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to rise or increase steeply
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to create a boisterous disturbance
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to react or protest heatedly
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verb
Usage
Plural word for roof The plural form of roof is roofs (not rooves). Roof is not pluralized by replacing the -f ending with -ves, as is done in many other words ending in -f, such as shelf/shelves, scarf/scarves, and hoof/hooves. The word roof comes from Old English, and like many Old English-derived words ending in -f, it initially had two plural forms: roofs and rooves. It’s not clear why rooves dropped out of use. It might be simply because we don’t use the plural form of roof very often, compared to more common words like leaf/leaves. Other examples of this pluralization pattern include proof/proofs, chief/chiefs, and brief/briefs.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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roofernoun
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underroofnoun
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reroofverb (used with object)
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rooflessadjective
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rooflikeadjective
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self-roofedadjective
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unroofedadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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roofsimple
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roofssimple
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have roofedperfect
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has roofedperfect
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am roofingprogressive
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are roofingprogressive
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is roofingprogressive
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have been roofingperfect progressive
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has been roofingperfect progressive
Past
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roofedsimple
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had roofedperfect
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was roofingprogressive
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were roofingprogressive
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had been roofingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of roof
before 900; Middle English (noun); Old English hrōf; cognate with Dutch roef cover, cabin, Old Norse hrōf
Explanation
The roof! The roof! The roof is on fire! Just kidding. That’s from an ‘80s rap song and it means a party is rocking. A roof is a building's cover. It keeps the rain out of your house party. The roof on your house or apartment building keeps rain, snow, and harsh sunlight out. Vehicles have roofs too: "I could hear sleet hitting the car roof," and so do enclosed spaces like porches or caves. You might even refer to the fact that you have a home as "having a roof over my head." As a verb, to roof means "to install a roof." When you "raise the roof," you make a lot of festive noise.
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 park is expected to cover roughly 100,000 square feet and have a retractable roof for year-round operation.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026
Since then I’ve put in about $90,000 more: a new roof, kitchen appliances, plumbing work and new windows.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 9, 2026
But rooftop solar can be expensive to install on an existing home, and not every roof is amenable.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
Ten years after her own solar roof was installed, and despite the sector's setbacks, Learoyd remains optimistic.
From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026
Over his shoulder, he watched Oslak tying a reluctant Wolf to the same roof post on a short rawhide leash.
From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver
For many people, the first time they'd heard of this product category was in August, when Tesla's website stopped offering solar roofs, external.
From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026
Most Baiga houses have low mud walls, rough timber and bamboo, and tiled or thatched roofs patched with plastic against the rain.
From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026
Communities across all states bordering Wyoming face darkness, breathing difficulties and roofs collapsing under accumulated ash.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 22, 2026
Walmart in 2019 sued Tesla, alleging some of the company’s solar panels sparked fires on the roofs of several stores.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
Then the path curved to the right, and a group of buildings stood bright and yellow under red tiled roofs.
From "Out of Darkness" by Ashley Hope Pérez
“Gambrel roofed Barnhaus,” the listing read, “next door to the best burritos in town.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 21, 2026
Only decades ago many of the cottages in Scotland’s Highlands were roofed in heather, bracken and marram grass.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 14, 2025
Pageau scored his second and capped off the scoring at 14:26 of the third period when he roofed a wrist shot past the glove of Kuemper to extend the Islanders lead to 5-0.
From Washington Times ● Dec. 29, 2023
The team also discovered the remains of a roofed theatre, which could have seated 1,500 people.
From BBC ● Dec. 12, 2023
Across the clay-paved court was a row of stalls roofed with palm fronds.
From "The Golden Goblet" by Eloise Jarvis McGraw
The additional time and paperwork can take a toll on a roofing business, Collardson explains.
From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026
On Saturday, firefighters were still clearing debris and removing collapsed corrugated metal roofing.
From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026
And some features that had previously been eliminated needed to be returned to the home, including original roofing, porches and even light switches.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
I then obtained estimates from three roofing companies.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 10, 2026
The cobblestone house is topped off with Venetian-red roofing and a bricked chimney that reaches to the sky.
From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
