Adjacent Words

Roof definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

ROOF, n.
1. The cover or upper part of a house or other building, consisting of rafters covered with boards, shingles or tiles, with a side or sides sloping from the ridge, for the purpose of carrying off the water that falls in rain or snow. In Asia, the roofs of houses are flat or horizontal. The same name, roof, is given to the sloping covers of huts, cabins and ricks; to the arches of ovens, furnaces, etc.
2. A vault; an arch; or the interior of a vault; as the roof of heaven.
3. The vault of the mouth; the upper part of the mouth; the palate.
If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth. Psalms 137.
ROOF, v.t.
1. To cover with a roof.
I have not seen the remains of any Roman buildings, that have not been roofed with vaults or arches.
2. To inclose in a house; to shelter.
Here had we now our country's honor roof'd.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a protective covering that covers or forms the top of a building
2: protective covering on top of a motor vehicle
3: the inner top surface of a covered area or hollow space; "the roof of the cave was very high"; "I could see the roof of the bear's mouth"
4: an upper limit on what is allowed; "he put a ceiling on the number of women who worked for him"; "there was a roof on salaries"; "they established a cap for prices" [syn: ceiling, roof, cap] v
1: provide a building with a roof; cover a building with a roof

Merriam Webster's

I. noun (plural roofs) Etymology: Middle English, from Old English hr?f; akin to Old Norse hr?f roof of a boathouse and perhaps to Old Church Slavic strop? roof Date: before 12th century 1. a. (1) the cover of a building (2) material used for a roof ; roofing b. the roof of a dwelling conventionally designating the home itself <didn't have a roof over my head> <they share the same roof> 2. a. the highest point ; summit b. an upper limit ; ceiling 3. a. the vaulted upper boundary of the mouth b. a covering structure of any of various parts of the body <roof of the skull> 4. something suggesting a roof: as a. a canopy of leaves and branches b. the top over the passenger section of a vehicle • roofed adjective • roofless adjective • rooflike adjective II. transitive verb Date: 15th century 1. a. to cover with or as if with a roof b. to provide with a particular kind of roof or roofing — often used in combination <slate-roofed houses> 2. to constitute a roof over • roofer noun

Britannica Concise

Covering of the top of a building. Roofs have been constructed in a wide variety of forms--flat, pitched, vaulted, domed, or in combinations--as dictated by regional, technical, and aesthetic considerations. Thatched roofs, usually sloping, were the earliest type and are still used in rural Africa and elsewhere. Flat roofs have historically been used in arid climates where drainage of water off the roof is not important, as in the Middle East and the SW U.S. They came into more widespread use in the 19th cent., when new waterproof roofing materials and the use of structural steel and concrete made them more practical. Sloping roofs come in many different varieties. The simplest is the lean-to (or shed) roof, which has only one slope. A roof with two slopes that form a triangle at each end is called a gable roof. A hipped (or hip) roof has sloping sides and ends meeting at inclined projecting angles called hips. The gambrel roof has two slopes on each of its two sides, the upper being less steep than the lower. The mansard roof has two slopes on all four sides, a shallower upper part and a steeper lower part. See also hammer-beam roof, lamella roof.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. (pl. roofs or disp. rooves) 1 a the upper covering of a building, usu. supported by its walls. b the top of a covered vehicle. c the top inner surface of an oven, refrigerator, etc. 2 the overhead rock in a cave or mine etc. 3 the branches or the sky etc. overhead. 4 (of prices etc.) the upper limit or ceiling. --v.tr. 1 (often foll. by in, over) cover with or as with a roof. 2 be the roof of. Phrases and idioms: go through the roof colloq. (of prices etc.) reach extreme or unexpected heights. hit (or go through or raise) the roof colloq. become very angry. roof-garden a garden on the flat roof of a building. roof of the mouth the palate. a roof over one's head somewhere to live. roof-rack a framework for carrying luggage etc. on the roof of a vehicle. roof-tree the ridge-piece of a roof. under one roof in the same building. under a person's roof in a person's house (esp. with ref. to hospitality). Derivatives: roofed adj. (also in comb.). roofless adj. Etymology: OE hrof

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Roof Roof, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Roofed; p. pr. & vb. n. Roofing.] 1. To cover with a roof. I have not seen the remains of any Roman buildings that have not been roofed with vaults or arches. --Addison. 2. To inclose in a house; figuratively, to shelter. Here had we now our country's honor roofed. --Shak.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Roof Roof, n. [OE. rof, AS. hr?f top, roof; akin to D. roef cabin, Icel. hr?f a shed under which ships are built or kept; cf. OS. hr?st roof, Goth. hr?t. Cf. Roost.] 1. (Arch.) The cover of any building, including the roofing (see Roofing) and all the materials and construction necessary to carry and maintain the same upon the walls or other uprights. In the case of a building with vaulted ceilings protected by an outer roof, some writers call the vault the roof, and the outer protection the roof mask. It is better, however, to consider the vault as the ceiling only, in cases where it has farther covering. 2. That which resembles, or corresponds to, the covering or the ceiling of a house; as, the roof of a cavern; the roof of the mouth. The flowery roof Showered roses, which the morn repaired. --Milton. 3. (Mining.) The surface or bed of rock immediately overlying a bed of coal or a flat vein. Bell roof, French roof, etc. (Arch.) See under Bell, French, etc. Flat roof. (Arch.) (a) A roof actually horizontal and level, as in some Oriental buildings. (b) A roof nearly horizontal, constructed of such material as allows the water to run off freely from a very slight inclination. Roof plate. (Arch.) See Plate, n., 10.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(roofs) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. The roof of a building is the covering on top of it that protects the people and things inside from the weather. ...a small stone cottage with a red slate roof... N-COUNT 2. The roof of a car or other vehicle is the top part of it, which protects passengers or goods from the weather. The car rolled onto its roof, trapping him. N-COUNT 3. The roof of your mouth is the highest part of the inside of your mouth. She clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth. N-COUNT: the N of n 4. If the level of something such as the price of a product or the rate of inflation goes through the roof, it suddenly increases very rapidly indeed. (INFORMAL) Prices for Korean art have gone through the roof. PHRASE: V inflects 5. If you hit the roof or go through the roof, you become very angry indeed, and usually show your anger by shouting at someone. (INFORMAL) Sergeant Long will hit the roof when I tell him you've gone off. PHRASE: V inflects 6. If a group of people inside a building raise the roof, they make a very loud noise, for example by singing or shouting. He raised the roof at the conference when he sang his own version of the socialist anthem, The Red Flag. PHRASE: V inflects 7. If a number of things or people are under one roof or under the same roof, they are in the same building. The firms intend to open either together under one roof or alongside each other in shopping malls... PHRASE: PHR after v, v-link PHR

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

roof.

See HOUSE.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. n. 1. Cover (of a house or of a building). 2. Cover, canopy, arch, vault. 3. House. 4. Palate. II. v. a. 1. Cover (with a roof). 2. Shelter, enclose in a house.

Moby Thesaurus

Dymaxion house, French roof, M roof, White House, abiding place, abode, address, adobe house, ancestral halls, apex, barrack roof, bonnet, building, bulkhead, cantonment, cap, casa, ceil, ceiling, chamber, chimney corner, clerestory, cliff dwelling, coif, consulate, cork, country house, country seat, crash pad, crest, crib, crown, cupola, dacha, deanery, dome, domicile, domus, dwelling, dwelling house, dwelling place, eaves, edifice, embassy, erection, fabric, family homestead, farm, farmhouse, fireplace, fireside, foyer, gable roof, geodesic dome, habitation, hall, hat, haven, hearth, hearth and home, hearthstone, home, home place, home roof, home sweet home, homestead, hood, house, houseboat, household, housetop, ingle, inglenook, ingleside, lake dwelling, lantern, living machine, lodge, lodging, lodging place, lodgment, manor house, manse, menage, nest, overhead, pad, parsonage, paternal roof, peak, penthouse, place, place to live, plafond, prefabricated house, presidential palace, ranch house, rectory, residence, ridgepole, roof garden, roof in, roof-deck, roofage, roofing, roofpole, rooftop, rooftree, seat, shed roof, shelter, shield, shingles, skylight, skyscraper, slate roof, slates, sod house, split-level, stopper, structure, summit, surface, thatched roof, tiles, tip, toft, top, top floor, top side, topside, topsides, town house, upper side, upside, vertex, vicarage