room

[ room, room ]

/ rum, rʊm /

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.

Nearby words

Origin of room

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

SYNONYMS FOR room

5 provision, margin, allowance.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR room ON THESAURUS.COM

Related formsun·der·room, noun

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

Examples from the Web for rooming

When I returned to the rooming house in the late afternoon, I found a handwritten note pinned to the front door.
Knocking on Heaven's Door: True Stories of Unexplained, Uncanny Experiences at the Hour of Death|Patricia Pearson|August 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
From a second-story window of a rooming house covered with red brick-patterned tarpaper comes the sound of a blues harmonica.
Stanley Booth on the Life and Hard Times of Blues Genius Furry Lewis|Stanley Booth|June 7, 2014|DAILY BEAST
His life as the child of a vaudeville couple was one-step above living in the circus—cheap hotels and rooming houses were home.
Mickey Rooney Was Hollywood’s Golden Age Showman|Lorenza Muñoz|April 7, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Robinson signed on for $63.25 a month and moved into a rooming house.
Eddie Robinson, College Football’s Winningest Coach|Samuel G. Freedman|August 23, 2013|DAILY BEAST

He fancied himself a Marxist, lived in rooming houses under aliases and was a furtive, nasty man.
Read This Book to Understand Lee Harvey Oswald|Joseph Finder|August 2, 2013|DAILY BEAST
As Paul Lambrequin was clambering up the stairs of his rooming house, he met a man whose face was all wrong.
My Fair Planet|Evelyn E. Smith
He had become acquainted with him through "Spoon," and recalled that he kept a rooming house for questionable purposes.
The Forged Note|Oscar Micheaux
He dodged a motor-car that was rooming down the hill and crossed to his captain.
The Secret Wireless|Lewis E. Theiss
As far as you know, did Lee ever live in a rooming house around here?
Warren Commission (8 of 26): Hearings Vol. VIII (of 15)|The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy
Did he take a sandwich to the depository, or did he go home to his rooming house for lunch?
Warren Commission (1 of 26): Hearings Vol. I (of 15)|The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy

British Dictionary definitions for rooming

room

/ (ruːm, rʊm) /

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 rooming (1 of 2)

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.

Word Origin and History for rooming (1 of 2)

room

"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 rooming

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)

room

noun

verb (used without object)

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Nearby words

Origin of room

Examples from the Web for rooming

British Dictionary definitions for rooming

room

noun

verb

Word Origin for room

Word Origin and History for rooming (1 of 2)

room

Word Origin and History for rooming (1 of 2)

room

Idioms and Phrases with rooming

room