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.
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the persons present in a room.
The whole room laughed.
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space or extent of space occupied by or available for something.
The desk takes up too much room.
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opportunity or scope for something.
room for improvement; room for doubt.
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status or a station in life considered as a place.
He fought for room at the top.
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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
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(functioning as singular or plural) the people present in a room
the whole room was laughing
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(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
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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:
He works relentlessly in the weight room gaining strength.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026
"I was startled awake and immediately went to my child's room," he said.
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
The drink still matters, but increasingly it’s part of something larger: the room, the menu, the DJ, the conversation.
From Salon ● Aug. 15, 2026
And even as consumers cycle through fashion trends more quickly thanks to social media, some analysts say there’s still room for more gains.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 15, 2026
While my family is fixated on the news, I quietly run to my room.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
Much of the book describes feuding in the letters pages and common rooms of the British left.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
Or you could do both, followed by a night at River’s End, where a restaurant and five woodsy guest rooms enjoy sweeping views of the river, sea and sea stacks.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
A personality hire, maybe to an outsized degree, naturally cares about making rooms better.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 13, 2026
Roadways become dining rooms, dance floors, bars, and parties.
From Salon ● Aug. 11, 2026
In front of us down the stairs came the people from Tante Jans’s rooms.
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
Malabuyo roomed with the freshman during the last three meets and considers McGowan one of her closest teammates.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 31, 2025
His wife and Maria are close and Donald has roomed with Villegas on the road.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 5, 2024
But I roomed with him for about two whole months, even though he bored me till I was half crazy, just because he was such a terrific whistler, the best I ever heard.
From "The Catcher in the Rye" by J. D. Salinger
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
I visited Richey at the 30-unit rooming house where she pays $925 a month for a bed in a tiny shared unit.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 1, 2024
He’s implemented several team-building exercises, including moving players into on-campus dorms for the opening week of training camp and rooming them with guys from other position groups.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 31, 2023
Upstairs on Tante Jans’s tall mahogany chair sat the lady who ran the rooming house where Otto lived.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
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.
