roof
Americannoun
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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)
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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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.
Sociologist Wade Clark Roof described the religious landscape as a “spiritual marketplace.”
From Salon • May 17, 2026
However, she continues to live in the vast Blue Roof mansion in Harare, which was bought by Zanu-PF for Robert Mugabe while he was still in power.
From BBC • Mar. 11, 2026
During the short trip, he counted 25 motels with brands such as Red Roof Inn and Motel 6 and decided China was ready for a budget lodging behemoth.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 21, 2026
Roof and building collapses are common across Pakistan, mainly because of poor safety standards and shoddy construction materials in the South Asian country of more than 240 million people.
From Barron's • Feb. 19, 2026
“Can’t talk now. Roof tomorrow after my math exam? At eleven?”
From "Saints and Misfits" by S.K. Ali
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.
