roost
noun
a perch upon which birds or fowls rest at night.
roost
American
[roost]
/ rust /
noun
-
roosts
plural
-
a perch upon which birds or fowls rest at night.
-
a large cage, house, or place for fowls or birds to roost in.
-
a place for sitting, resting, or lodging.
verb (used without object)
-
roosts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
roosted,
past participle, past
-
roosting
present participle
-
to sit or rest on a roost, perch, etc.
-
to settle or stay, especially for the night.
idioms
-
rule the roost, to be in charge or control; dominate.
It was only too apparent that his grandfather ruled the roost.
-
come home to roost, (of an action) to revert or react unfavorably to the doer; boomerang.
an evil deed that came home to roost and ruined his life.
roost
1
British
/ ruːst /
noun
-
a place, perch, branch, etc, where birds, esp domestic fowl, rest or sleep
-
a temporary place to rest or stay
-
See rule
verb
-
(intr) to rest or sleep on a roost
-
(intr) to settle down or stay
-
to have unfavourable repercussions
Roost
2
British
/ ruːst /
noun
roost
More Idioms
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
roostsimple
-
roostssimple
-
have roostedperfect
-
has roostedperfect
-
am roostingprogressive
-
are roostingprogressive
-
is roostingprogressive
-
have been roostingperfect progressive
-
has been roostingperfect progressive
Past
-
roostedsimple
-
had roostedperfect
-
was roostingprogressive
-
were roostingprogressive
-
had been roostingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of roost
before 1100; Middle English roost (noun), Old English hrōst; cognate with Middle Dutch roest
Explanation
A roost is a place where birds or bats can sleep or rest safely. Backyard chickens need a comfortable, secure roost to stay warm and rested. You can use roost to mean the perch that birds stand on while resting, the structure that contains the perch, or even a random tree branch, in the case of a wild bird. As a verb, it means to sit or to rest: "The chickens began to roost for the evening." When someone says, "Chickens come home to roost," they mean that bad actions eventually have bad consequences. And if you "rule the roost," you're in charge.
Vocabulary lists containing roost
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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:
On Tuesday, they were spotted together in a favorite roost tree.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
He said previously the team would have to climb the trees at night to "try to visually identify a species occupying a bat roost", which was time consuming.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
And he has been patrolling the skies and the lawns since 2008, ruling the roost at the centuries old site.
From Barron's ● Jul. 1, 2026
And your little white lies will come home to roost.
From MarketWatch ● May 26, 2026
In the story, this boy named Wiley went looking for poles to build a hen roost, and the Hairy Man attacked him, but Wiley’s hounds scared him off.
From "The Manifestor Prophecy" by Angie Thomas
Just a few blocks from both the Ritz and Roost, The Marble Room is a steakhouse and raw bar housed in a stunning old bank.
From Salon ● Mar. 30, 2025
Rooster Teeth’s Levin said in his staff memo that the Roost Podcast Network will continue to operate.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 6, 2024
At Red Hen Roost, a 73-acre corn farm in New York that also sells through Handsome Brook, some hens are waiting at the barn doors first thing in the morning, owner Luke Nolt says.
From National Geographic ● Feb. 16, 2024
The $89.95 Roost is my favorite laptop stand.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 28, 2023
And quick as that, Griffin’s Roost was his again, and Jon Connington was once more a lord.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
His team has closely monitored this elusive forest-dwelling species using "smart" roosts equipped with antennas to detect implanted microchips in the bats.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 2, 2025
How about a nocturnal animal like an owl or those nighttime migrants – will they start to rustle from their roosts before they realize it’s not night?
From Salon ● Apr. 6, 2024
At dusk, hundreds of wild parrots, some in large flocks, some singly or in pairs, approach from all directions, squawking loudly and circling overhead before settling on a variety of roosts.
From National Geographic ● Dec. 13, 2023
Two out of the three roosts have been sprayed.
From BBC ● Feb. 12, 2023
We found the lake again just as the sun was setting and bats were screeching out of their hidden roosts.
From "Hollow City" by Ransom Riggs
To test the method, the team examined hundreds of tiny fossil bones left behind by owls that once roosted inside the cave.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 24, 2026
Many of these were condors that had roosted in Arizona’s Vermilion Cliffs, the same place where captive-bred birds were first released in 1996.
From Scientific American ● Aug. 29, 2023
Bats that were fleeing this human-caused disaster roosted above pigsties in Malaysia.
From Salon ● Jan. 19, 2023
His ode to his diet, “The Tea Song,” convinced Young that a peculiar talent roosted upstairs.
From New York Times ● Dec. 8, 2021
On the stable roof, Ella roosted in a pile of old Roman scrolls, her head tucked under her wings.
From "The Son of Neptune" by Rick Riordan
Chicken thighs are roosting in recipes from high-end wellness resorts for top spenders and in the grocery carts of average consumers who are increasingly steering toward poultry because of record-high beef prices in recent months.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 19, 2026
The falconer says the hawk is trained not to attack pigeons or gulls but will instead scare them into roosting and nesting elsewhere.
From BBC ● Dec. 15, 2025
Expect to see and hear more chickens roosting in the next four years.
From Salon ● Mar. 31, 2025
Madison’s annual Fourth of July fireworks extravaganza raised multiple alarms, as the detonations traumatized roosting birds and sent them fleeing, many into traffic, and damaged wetland duck habitats with toxic detritus.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 6, 2024
Palmer finding his pigeon roosting in the closet every night after dinner.
From "Wringer" by Jerry Spinelli
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