room

[room, room]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR room ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a portion of space within a building or other structure, separated by walls or partitions from other parts: a dining room.

rooms, lodgings or quarters, as in a house or building.

the persons present in a room: The whole room laughed.

space or extent of space occupied by or available for something: The desk takes up too much room.

opportunity or scope for something: room for improvement; room for doubt.

status or a station in life considered as a place: He fought for room at the top.

capacity: Her brain had no room for trivia.

Mining. a working area cut between pillars.

verb (used without object)

to occupy a room or rooms; lodge.

Origin of room

before 900; Middle English roum(e), Old English rūm; cognate with Dutch ruim, German Raum

Related formsun·der·room, noun

Synonyms for room

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR room ON THESAURUS.COM

5. provision, margin, allowance.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for room

place, area, apartment, office, cave, chamber, den, lodging, suite, cubicle, accommodation, cabin, sweep, vastness, leeway, capacity, latitude, scope, territory, sway

Examples from the Web for room

Contemporary Examples of room

Toomey glides around the room like a Brazilian capoeira dancer.
How Taryn Toomey’s ‘The Class’ Became New York’s Latest Fitness Craze
Lizzie Crocker
January 9, 2015
One day he and some of his roommates were cleaning their room and one of the guys threw the dustpan out into the hall.
The Story Behind Lee Marvin’s Liberty Valance Smile
Robert Ward
January 3, 2015
Barry showed me his room—a one bedroom with a killer view of Riverbank State Park and the Hudson.
His First Day Out Of Jail After 40 Years: Adjusting To Life Outside
Justin Rohrlich
January 3, 2015
Which is why you should: “Clap along, if you feel like a room without a roof.”
Forget the Resolutions; Try a Few Declarations
Kevin Bleyer
January 1, 2015
They locked eyes across the room but they initially said nothing to one another.
A Sunni-Shia Love Story Imperiled by al Qaeda
Ruth Michaelson
December 26, 2014

Historical Examples of room

Uncle Peter stood in a flood of light at the door of his room.
The Spenders
Harry Leon Wilson
He began to pace the floor again from one room to the other.
The Spenders
Harry Leon Wilson
Mauburn had gone to his room to be alone with this bitter news.
The Spenders
Harry Leon Wilson
Jumping over the window sill, the visitor found himself in this room.
Brave and Bold
Horatio Alger
"It is eighteen years since I was last in this room," he said.
Brave and Bold
Horatio Alger

British Dictionary definitions for room

room

noun

space or extent, esp unoccupied or unobstructed space for a particular purposeis there room to pass?

an area within a building enclosed by a floor, a ceiling, and walls or partitionssitting room; dining room

(functioning as singular or plural) the people present in a roomthe whole room was laughing

(foll by for) opportunity or scoperoom for manoeuvre

(plural) a part of a house, hotel, etc, that is rented out as separate accommodation; lodgingsshe got rooms in town

a euphemistic word for lavatory (def. 1)

verb

(intr) mainly US to occupy or share a room or lodgingwhere does he room?

Derived Formsroomer, noun

Word Origin for room

Old English rūm; related to Gothic, Old High German rūm

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 room

Old English rum "space" (extent or time); "scope, opportunity," from Proto-Germanic *ruman (cf. Old Norse, Old Saxon, Old High German, Gothic rum, German Raum "space," Dutch ruim "hold of a ship, nave"), nouns formed from Germanic adjective *ruma- "roomy, spacious," from PIE root *reue- "to open; space" (cf. Avestan ravah- "space," Latin rus "open country," Old Irish roi, roe "plain field," Old Church Slavonic ravinu "level," Russian raviina "a plain," Polish rum "space"). Old English also had a frequent adjective rum "roomy, wide, long, spacious."

Original sense preserved in make room "clear space for oneself" (late 14c.); meaning "chamber, cabin" first recorded early 14c. as a nautical term, and first applied mid-15c. to chambers within houses. The Old English word for this was cofa, ancestor of cove. Room-service is attested from 1913; room-temperature from 1879. Roomth "sufficient space" (1530s) now is obsolete.

"to occupy rooms" (especially with another) as a lodger," 1828, from room (n.). Related: Roomed; rooming. Rooming-house is from 1889. In Old English (rumian) and Middle English the verb meant "become clear of obstacles; make clear of, evict."

Idioms and Phrases with room

room

In addition to the idiom beginning with room

room and board

also see:

not enough room to swing a cat
take up space (room)