roof

[roof, roo f]

See more synonyms for roof on Thesaurus.com

noun, plural roofs.

the external upper covering of a house or other building.
a frame for supporting this: an open-timbered roof.
the highest part or summit: The Himalayas are the roof of the world.

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.
a house.
Mining. the rock immediately above a horizontal mineral deposit.

verb (used with object)

to provide or cover with a roof.

Idioms

go through the roof,
1. to increase beyond all expectations: Foreign travel may very well go through the roof next year.
2. Also hit the roof,Informal.to lose one's temper; become extremely angry.
raise the roof, Informal.
1. to create a loud noise: The applause raised the roof.
2. to complain or protest noisily: He'll raise the roof when he sees that bill.

Origin of roof

before 900; Middle English (noun); Old English hrōf; cognate with Dutch roef cover, cabin, Old Norse hrōf

Related formsroof·like, adjectivere·roof, verb (used with object)self-roofed, adjectiveun·der·roof, nounun·roofed, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for roofs

Contemporary Examples

Rooftop solar—individual homeowners putting generating systems on their roofs—is also booming in Arizona.
Panel Discussion
The Daily Beast
September 8, 2014
“It pretty much looks like taking a central solar plant and allocating it across 3,000 roofs,” said Rumido.
Panel Discussion
The Daily Beast
September 8, 2014
I know the poorer neighborhoods where the people slept on the roofs and would look at us in awe when we asked for their help.
Mosul's Civilization and Its Discontents
Michael Carson
June 14, 2014
Chili peppers were everywhere, drying on mats, on roofs, and in fields.
A Little Too Off the Beaten Path in Burma
Katya Cengel
June 2, 2014
Homeowners may want them on their roofs—but not for $30,000 upfront.
Solar Panels Now Being Offered as a Prebuilt Feature in California
Daniel Gross
May 20, 2014

Historical Examples

They looked from the windows of the hospital, and from the roofs of houses.
The Grand Old Man
Richard B. Cook
How carefully I packed my pipe, gazing serenely over the roofs of Paris.
Ballads of a Bohemian
Robert W. Service
Gargoyles at the foot of the flying buttresses carried off the water from the roofs.
The Dream
Emile Zola
If they fall upon houses, the roofs are crushed by the weight.
Buried Cities: Pompeii, Olympia, Mycenae
Jennie Hall
The roofs are all gone and all the partitions inside the houses show.
Buried Cities: Pompeii, Olympia, Mycenae
Jennie Hall

British Dictionary definitions for roofs

roof

noun plural roofs (ruːfs, ruːvz)

1. a structure that covers or forms the top of a building
2. (in combination)the rooftop
3. (as modifier)a roof garden
the top covering of a vehicle, oven, or other structurethe roof of a car
anatomy any structure that covers an organ or partthe roof of the mouth
a highest or topmost point or partMount Everest is the roof of the world
a house or other sheltera poor man's roof
mountaineering the underside of a projecting overhang
hit the roof or go through the roof informal
1. to get extremely angry; become furious
2. to rise or increase steeply
raise the roof
1. to create a boisterous disturbance
2. to react or protest heatedly

verb

(tr) to provide or cover with a roof or rooflike part

Derived Formsroofer, nounroofless, adjectiverooflike, adjective

Word Origin

Old English hrōf; related to Middle Dutch, Old Norse hrōf

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

Word Origin and History for roofs

roof

n.

Old English hrof "roof, ceiling, top, summit; heaven, sky," also figuratively, "highest point of something," from Proto-Germanic *khrofam (cf. Old Frisian rhoof "roof," Middle Dutch roof, rouf "cover, roof," Dutch roef "deckhouse, cabin, coffin-lid," Middle High German rof "penthouse," Old Norse hrof "boat shed").

No apparent connections outside Germanic. "English alone has retained the word in a general sense, for which the other languages use forms corresponding to OE. þæc thatch" [OED]. Roof of the mouth is from late Old English. Raise the roof "create an uproar" is attested from 1860, originally in U.S. Southern dialect.

roof

v.

early 15c., from roof (n.). Related: Roofed; roofing.

roofs in Medicine

roof

(rōōf, ruf)

The upper surface of an anatomical structure, especially one having a vaulted inner structure.

Idioms and Phrases with roofs

roof

In addition to the idiom beginning with roof

roof over one's head, a

also see:

roof

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Examples from the Web for roofs

Contemporary Examples

Rooftop solar—individual homeowners putting generating systems on their roofs—is also booming in Arizona.

“It pretty much looks like taking a central solar plant and allocating it across 3,000 roofs,” said Rumido.

I know the poorer neighborhoods where the people slept on the roofs and would look at us in awe when we asked for their help.

Chili peppers were everywhere, drying on mats, on roofs, and in fields.

Homeowners may want them on their roofs—but not for $30,000 upfront.

Historical Examples

They looked from the windows of the hospital, and from the roofs of houses.

How carefully I packed my pipe, gazing serenely over the roofs of Paris.

Gargoyles at the foot of the flying buttresses carried off the water from the roofs.

If they fall upon houses, the roofs are crushed by the weight.

The roofs are all gone and all the partitions inside the houses show.

roof

Word Origin

Word Origin and History for roofs

roof

n.

roof

v.

roof

Idioms and Phrases with roofs

roof

Origin of roof