Examples Word Origin
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. Show More
to provide or cover with a roof. Show More
go through the roof , to increase beyond all expectations: Foreign travel may very well go through the roof next year. Also hit the roof ,Informal to lose one's temper; become extremely angry. raise the roof , Informal to create a loud noise: The applause raised the roof. to complain or protest noisily: He'll raise the roof when he sees that bill. Show More
Origin of roof before 900; Middle English (noun); Old English hrōf; cognate with Dutch roef cover, cabin, Old Norse hrōf
Related forms roof·like , adjective re·roof , verb (used with object) self-roofed , adjective un·der·roof , noun un·roofed , adjective Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words for roofs house ,
ceiling ,
parapet ,
covering ,
shelter ,
slate ,
crown ,
dome ,
cupola ,
summit ,
rafter ,
canopy ,
truss ,
gable ,
palate ,
gambrel Examples from the Web for roofs Contemporary Examples of roofs 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 of roofs 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.
British Dictionary definitions for roofs noun plural roofs (ruːfs , ruːvz ) a structure that covers or forms the top of a building (in combination ) the rooftop (as modifier ) a roof garden the top covering of a vehicle, oven, or other structure the roof of a car anatomy any structure that covers an organ or part the roof of the mouth a highest or topmost point or part Mount Everest is the roof of the world a house or other shelter a poor man's roof mountaineering the underside of a projecting overhang hit the roof or go through the roof informal to get extremely angry; become furious to rise or increase steeply raise the roof to create a boisterous disturbance to react or protest heatedly Show More
(tr) to provide or cover with a roof or rooflike part Show More
Derived Forms roofer , noun roofless , adjective rooflike , adjective Word Origin for roof 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 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.
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v. early 15c., from roof (n.). Related: Roofed ; roofing .
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
The upper surface of an anatomical structure, especially one having a vaulted inner structure. Show More
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Idioms and Phrases with roofs In addition to the idiom beginning with roof
also see:
go through the roof hit the ceiling (roof) like a cat on hot bricks (a hot tin roof) raise the roof Show More
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
