roost
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.
to sit or rest on a roost, perch, etc.
to settle or stay, especially for the night.
Idioms about 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.
rule the roost, to be in charge or control; dominate: It was only too apparent that his grandfather ruled the roost.
Origin of roost
1Other words from roost
- un·roost·ed, adjective
- un·roost·ing, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use roost in a sentence
In perfect security around and beneath the Castle walls roosted and nested a perfect colony of sea-birds.
Baron Bruno | Louisa MorganOne night twelve hens roosted in an outhouse with a defective latch at John Skehan's farm.
Lives of the Fur Folk | M. D. HavilandThe very old rooster and most of the hens roosted in the apple-trees in the orchard, but some of the hens roosted in other trees.
The Sandman: His Farm Stories | William J. HopkinsSometimes they roosted at night upon the very trees under which our Frenchmen slept.
The Lily and the Totem | William Gilmore SimmsBy day it could be stood upright, and the children roosted on its various steps.
British Dictionary definitions for roost (1 of 2)
/ (ruːst) /
a place, perch, branch, etc, where birds, esp domestic fowl, rest or sleep
a temporary place to rest or stay
rule the roost See rule (def. 20)
(intr) to rest or sleep on a roost
(intr) to settle down or stay
come home to roost to have unfavourable repercussions
Origin of roost
1British Dictionary definitions for Roost (2 of 2)
/ (ruːst) /
the Roost a powerful current caused by conflicting tides around the Shetland and Orkney Islands
Origin of Roost
2Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with roost
see chickens come home to roost; rule the roost.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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