roll

The act or result of rolling, or state of being rolled.

Noun

  1. The act or result of rolling, or state of being rolled.
    • the roll of a ball
    • Look at the roll of the waves.
    • the roll of her eyes
  2. Something formed into a compact shape by being rolled up.
    • a roll of banknotes
  3. A forward or backward roll in gymnastics; going head over heels. A tumble.
  4. Something which rolls.

    1. A heavy cylinder used to break clods.

    2. One of a set of revolving cylinders, or rollers, between which metal is pressed, formed, or smoothed, as in a rolling mill.

      • to pass rails through the rolls
  5. A swagger or rolling gait.
  6. A heavy, reverberatory sound.
    • Hear the roll of cannon.
    • There was a roll of thunder and the rain began to pour down.
  7. The uniform beating of a drum with strokes so rapid as scarcely to be distinguished by the ear.
  8. The oscillating movement of a nautical vessel as it rotates from side to side, about its fore-and-aft axis, causing its sides to go up and down, as distinguished from the alternate rise and fall of bow and stern called pitching; or the equivalent in an aircraft.
  9. The measure or extent to which a vessel rotates from side to side, about its fore-and-aft axis.
  10. The rotation angle about the longitudinal axis.
    • Calculate the roll of that aircraft.

    Coordinate Terms: yaw pitch

  11. An instance of the act of rolling an aircraft through one or more complete rotations about its longitudinal axis.
    • The pilots entertained the spectators at the airshow by doing multiple rolls.
  12. The act of, or total resulting from, rolling one or more dice.
    • Make your roll.
    • Whoever gets the highest roll moves first.

Origin

From Middle English rollen, partly from Old French roller, roler, röeler, röoler, from Medieval Latin rotulāre (“to roll; to revolve”), from Latin rotula (“a little wheel”), diminutive of rota (“a wheel”); partly from Anglo-Latin rollāre, from the same ultimate source. Displaced native English welt and partially displaced English wallow.

Forms

rolls

Derived

aileron roll antiroll anti-roll bar backroll backwards roll barrel roll beadroll bedroll blue roll bookroll borrow roll brushroll cannon roll checkroll chin roll combat roll dead roll death roll dice roll drum roll duckroll Dutch roll Easter egg roll egg roll

Noun Entry 2

  1. That which is rolled up.
    • a roll of fat, of wool, paper, cloth, etc.
  2. A document written on a piece of parchment, paper, or other materials which may be rolled up; a scroll.
    • Busy angels spread / The lasting roll, recording what we say. - 1718, Matthew Prior, Solomon On The Vanity Of The World:
  3. An official or public document; a register; a record.
    • As to the rolls of parliament, viz. the entry of the several petitions, answers and transactions in parliament. Those are generally and successively extant of record in the Tower - 1713 Sir M. Hale, The History of the...
  4. A catalogue or list, (especially) one kept for official purposes.
    • The roll of solicitors contains the names of all admitted solicitors of a jurisdiction.
    • Several people sued the state after finding out that they'd been removed from the voter rolls for having died, despite their not actually being dead.
    • The roll and list of that army doth remain. - c. 1666, John Davies, Historical Relations: Or, a Discovery of the True Causes Why Ireland Was Never Entirely Subdued, Nor Brought Under Obedience of the Crown of England...
  5. A quantity of cloth wound into a cylindrical form.
    • a roll of carpeting; a roll of ribbon
  6. A cylindrical twist of tobacco.
  7. A kind of shortened raised biscuit or bread, often rolled or doubled upon itself; see also bread roll.
    • Well, then, fix it up nice, waiter, and make mine baked hash an’ mashed ’taters and stewed corn and waiter!—plain white bread, no fancy rolls! - 1936 December 23, Hazel Livingston, “‘Love’s Litany’”, in Walter V. Hogan,...
  8. A part; an office; a duty; a role.
    • THE Methods of Government and of Humane Society, muſt be Preſerv’d, where Every Man has his Roll, and his Station Aſſign’d him ; and it is not for One Man to break in upon the Province of Another. - 1692, Roger...
  9. A measure of parchments, containing five dozen.
    • Parchement is sold by the dozen, and by the roll of five dozens. - 1882, James Edwin Thorold Rogers, A History of Agriculture and Prices in England, volume 4, page 594:

Origin

From Middle English rolle, from Old French rolle, role, roule, from Medieval Latin rotulus (“a roll, list, catalogue, schedule, record, a paper or parchment rolled up”); as such, it is a doublet of role and rotulus.

Forms

rolls

Related

Rolls welt

Derived

Alaska roll arctic roll A roll asparagus roll bacon roll banana roll banner roll banqueting roll banquet roll B.C. roll blog roll bog roll bread roll breakfast roll bridge roll B roll bulkie roll bum roll cabbage roll California roll Cali roll call roll camera roll caterpillar roll

Verb

  1. To revolve by turning over and over; to move by turning on a horizontal axis; to impel forward with a revolving motion on a supporting surface.
    • To roll a wheel, a ball, or a barrel.
    • The child will roll on the floor.
    • Huge Trunks of Trees, fell'd from the ſteepy Crown / Of the bare Mountains, rowl with Ruin down. - 1697, Virgil, “The Sixth Book of the Æneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals,...
  2. To wrap (something) round on itself; to form into a spherical or cylindrical body by causing to turn over and over.
    • To roll a sheet of paper; to roll clay or putty into a ball.
    • The cloth rolls unevenly; the snow rolls well.
  3. To bind or involve by winding, as with a bandage; to enwrap; often with up.
    • To roll up the vase in bubble wrap.
  4. To drive, impel, or flow onward with a steady, wave-like motion.
    • This river will roll its waters to the ocean.
    • The years roll on.
  5. To pour or trickle.
    • Drops of sweat rolled down his face.
  6. To utter copiously, especially with sounding words; to utter with a deep sound; — often with forth, or out.
    • To roll forth someone's praises; to roll out sentences.
  7. To press, level, spread, or form with a roller or rollers.
    • to roll a field; to roll paste; to roll steel rails.
    • The pastry rolls well.
  8. To move upon rollers or wheels.
    • We expressed our readiness, and in ten minutes were in the station wagon, rolling rapidly down the long drive, for it was then after nine. We passed on the way the van of the guests from Asquith. - 1897 December...
    • A “moving platform” scheme[…]is more technologically ambitious than maglev trains even though it relies on conventional rails. Local trains would use side-by-side rails to roll alongside intercity trains and allow...
  9. To tumble in gymnastics; to do a somersault.
  10. To leave or begin a journey; sometimes with out.
    • I want to get there early; let's roll.

    1. (chiefly US, Canada, colloquial, intransitive) To compete, especially with vigor.

      • OK guys, we're only down by two points. Let's roll!

    2. (chiefly Canada, US, colloquial, intransitive) To walk, especially leisurely or idly; to stroll.

      • Let's roll around town on foot and see the sights.
  11. To beat with rapid, continuous strokes, as a drum; to sound a roll upon.
  12. To apply (one line or surface) to another without slipping; to bring all the parts of (one line or surface) into successive contact with another, in such a manner that at every instant the parts that have been in contact are equal.

Forms

rolls rolling rolled no-table-tags glossary roll rollest rolledst rolleth -

Derived

a rolling stone gathers no moss as easy as rolling off a log beroll cold roll eye-roll god roll heads will roll hot roll leaf-rolling let's roll let the good times roll like rolling off a log lush-roll misroll off-roll outroll overroll pick and roll press roll rag-roll ready to roll reroll rollability rollable