room
Americannoun
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rooms
plural
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a portion of space within a building or other structure, separated by walls or partitions from other parts.
a dining room.
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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.
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Mining. a working area cut between pillars.
verb (used without object)
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rooms,
present (3rd person singular)
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roomed,
past participle, past
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rooming
present participle
noun
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space or extent, esp unoccupied or unobstructed space for a particular purpose
is there room to pass?
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an area within a building enclosed by a floor, a ceiling, and walls or partitions
sitting room
dining room
-
(functioning as singular or plural) the people present in a room
the whole room was laughing
-
(foll by for) opportunity or scope
room for manoeuvre
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(plural) a part of a house, hotel, etc, that is rented out as separate accommodation; lodgings
she got rooms in town
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a euphemistic word for lavatory
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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roomsimple
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roomssimple
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have roomedperfect
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has roomedperfect
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am roomingprogressive
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are roomingprogressive
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is roomingprogressive
-
have been roomingperfect progressive
-
has been roomingperfect progressive
Past
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roomedsimple
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had roomedperfect
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was roomingprogressive
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were roomingprogressive
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had been roomingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of room
First recorded before 900; Middle English roum(e), Old English rūm; cognate with Dutch ruim, German Raum
Explanation
A room is a space in a house or building that's usually enclosed with walls. Your favorite room in your house might be the den where the TV is, or the cozy kitchen. There's the physical area called a room, and then there's the concept of room, which can mean "space" or "opportunity." If you have room in your life for a puppy, it means you can make the time to walk it and feed it and play with it. If you have room in your bedroom for a puppy, it means you have the physical space you need for a dog bed.
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:
As he speaks, multiple Starlink devices -- part of the constellation of thousands of internet satellites launched by US tycoon Elon Musk's SpaceX -- float by on the control room screens.
From Barron's ● Aug. 7, 2026
Thirty-foot glass doors open up onto the Trojans’ practice field from a 12,000-square-foot weight room with towering vaulted ceilings.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
Muriel Spark and children’s literature may seem like an odd pairing, but one morning in the mid-1960s, the Scottish novelist tossed off three such stories in a London hotel room.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
The pair studied together and shared a room at the missionary organisation Youth With A Mission in Switzerland in 2013.
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
Dad asked if I wanted to decorate the basement so it didn’t feel like a dark, hollow room.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
After he landed, he delayed the start of the Congress by more than two hours, communicating it through a printout slid under the doors of delegates’ hotel rooms.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
The action tears through the estate’s lavish rooms, turning paintings, candelabras and fabric into improvised weapons before ending with a splash in the pool.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
In the museum's recreated listening rooms, visitors can hear actors reading out some of the conversations.
From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026
Travelodge later said it was investigating more reports of strangers accessing rooms - after two women told the BBC that people they did not know came into their rooms while they were alone.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
We circled up the steps to Tante Jans’s rooms and Father went to warm up the big table radio.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
I roomed with Stephen Hughes that season but Matt Upson and Alex would come to our room to play PlayStation games when we were in hotels for away matches.
From BBC ● Apr. 17, 2026
All seven members roomed in a single dorm room until 2016.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 20, 2026
After Exeter, he studied the music business at New York University, according to the New York Times, and roomed with rapper Talib Kweli.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 14, 2026
Schallock, then 27, roomed with Berra and was tasked with picking up Berra’s daily delivery of “funnies” as they called them.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 25, 2024
Another time he told me, in an offhand manner, that when he was at Brown he had roomed with the boy who lived down the hall from him.
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
Four months later, co-chairing the February 2020 National Prayer Breakfast, Suozzi and Moolenaar referred to rooming together.
From Salon ● May 29, 2026
Moreover, it’s not just young people fresh out of school who are rooming with others to keep their housing costs low.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 4, 2025
Chisom is rooming with running back Anthony Frias II and has a connecting door attached to the room of linebacker Ben Perry and running back Troy Leigber, providing ample opportunities to learn about new teammates.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2025
She lived in the same run-down area of seedy rooming houses as Raffo, whom she had befriended on the streets.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 30, 2023
The men would stay there all week or perhaps even two, typically rooming with relatives or other Colored families, who would open their homes and charge for rooms and meals.
From "Reaching for the Moon" by Katherine Johnson
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.
