roll - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

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.

roll (third-person singular simple present rolls, present participle rolling, simple past and past participle rolled)

  1. (ergative) 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.
    • 1697, Virgil, “The Sixth Book of the Æneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 370, lines 267–268:
      Huge Trunks of Trees, fell'd from the ſteepy Crown / Of the bare Mountains, rowl with Ruin down.
    • 1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):
      And her foot, look you, is fixed upon a spherical stone, which rolls, and rolls, and rolls.
    • 1922 February, James Joyce, “[Episode 1: Telemachus]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC, part I [Telemachia], page 13:
      The gentleman aimed the ball once or twice and then threw it up the strand towards Cissy Caffrey but it rolled down the slope and stopped right under Gerty's skirt near the little pool by the rock.
  2. (ergative) 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. (transitive) To bind or involve by winding, as with a bandage; to enwrap; often with up.
    To roll up the vase in bubble wrap.
  4. (ergative, sometimes figurative) 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. (intransitive, of drops of liquid) To pour or trickle.
    Drops of sweat rolled down his face.
  6. (ergative) 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. (ergative) 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. (ergative) To move upon rollers or wheels.
    • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
      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.
    • 2013 June 1, “Ideas coming down the track”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8838, page 13 (Technology Quarterly):
      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 passengers to switch trains by stepping through docking bays.
  9. (intransitive) To tumble in gymnastics; to do a somersault.
  10. (chiefly US, Canada, colloquial, intransitive) To leave or begin a journey; sometimes with out.
    I want to get there early; let's roll.
  11. (chiefly US, Canada, colloquial, intransitive) To compete, especially with vigor.
    OK guys, we're only down by two points. Let's roll!
  12. (chiefly Canada, US, colloquial, intransitive) To walk, especially leisurely or idly; to stroll.
    Let's roll around town on foot and see the sights.
  13. (transitive) To beat with rapid, continuous strokes, as a drum; to sound a roll upon.
  14. (geometry) 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.
  15. (ergative) To turn over in one's mind, as of deep thoughts; to (cause to) be considered thoroughly.
  1. (US, slang, intransitive) To behave in a certain way; to adopt a general disposition toward a situation.
    I was going to kick his ass, but he wasn't worth getting all worked up over; I don't roll like that.
  1. (dice games, intransitive) To throw dice.
  2. (dice games, transitive) To roll dice such that they form a given pattern or total.
    If you roll doubles, you get an extra turn.
    With two dice, you're more likely to roll seven than ten.
  3. (roleplaying games) To create a new character in a role-playing game, especially by using dice to determine properties.
    I'm gonna go and roll a new shaman tonight.
  4. (computing) To generate a random number.
  5. (programming) To perform an operation similar to a bit shift, but with the bit that "falls off the end" being wrapped around to the other end.
  6. (intransitive, aviation, nautical, of an aircraft or vessel) To rotate about the fore-and-aft axis, causing its sides to go up and down. Compare pitch, yaw.
  7. (intransitive, in folk songs) To travel by sailing.
    • 19th c., anonymous author, “Rolling Down to Old Maui”:
      We're homeward bound from the Arctic ground,
      Rolling down to Old Maui
    • early 20th c., anonymous author, “Randy Dandy-O”:
      Now we are ready to head for the Horn
      Way-hey, roll and go!
  8. (transitive) To beat up; to assault.
  1. (ergative, slang) To (cause to) betray secrets or testify for the prosecution.
    The feds rolled him by giving him a free pass for most of what he'd done.
    He rolled on those guys after being in jail two days.
  2. (slang, intransitive) To be under the influence of MDMA (a psychedelic stimulant, also known as ecstasy).
  1. (ambitransitive, of a camera) To (cause to) film.
    The cameras are rolling.
    It's time to roll the cameras.
  2. (transitive, soccer) To slip past (a defender) with the ball.
  1. (intransitive) To have a rolling aspect.
    the hills rolled on
  1. (intransitive) To make a loud or heavy rumbling noise.
    The thunder rolled and the lightning flashed.
  2. (transitive) To utter with an alveolar trill.
    Many languages roll their r's.
  3. (transitive, US) To enrobe in toilet-paper (as a prank or spectacle).
    The kids rolled the principal's house and yard.
  4. (transitive) To create a customized version of.
  1. (transitive, martial arts) To engage in sparring in the context of jujitsu or other grappling disciplines.
  2. (intransitive, shipping) To load ocean freight cargo onto a vessel other than the one it was meant to sail on.
    Containers will be rolled to another mother vessel.
  3. (transitive, music) To briskly arpeggiate (a chord), typically in an upward motion.
  4. (intransitive, video games) To drum on the reverse of a game controller with one's fingers in rapid succession, pushing the controller face into the opposite hand such that a button is rapidly pressed and depressed.

to cause something to revolve by turning over and over

to turn over and over

to wrap round on itself

to bind or involve by winding

to press or level with a roller

to move, or cause to be moved, upon rollers or small wheels

to turn over in one's mind

to be under the influence of MDMA

to utter with a trill

roll (plural rolls)

  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
    • 1857, Hugh Miller, The Cruise of the Betsey:
      Leaving behind us the town at the bottom of its deep bay, we set out to explore a bluff-headed parallelogramical promontory, bounded by Thurso Bay on the one hand, and Murkle Bay on the other, and which presents to the open sea, in the space that stretches between, an undulating line of iron-bound coast, exposed to the roll of the northern ocean.
  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. (nautical, aviation) 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. (nautical) 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.
    Coordinate terms: yaw, pitch
    Calculate the roll of that aircraft.
  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.
  13. A winning streak of continuing luck, especially at gambling (and especially in the phrase on a roll).
    He is on a roll tonight.
  14. A training match for a fighting dog.
  15. (US, paddlesport) An instance of the act of righting a canoe or kayak which has capsized, without exiting the watercraft, or being assisted.
    That was a good roll.
  16. (paddlesport) The skill of righting a canoe or kayak which has capsized, without exiting the watercraft, or being assisted.
  17. (finance) Any of various financial instruments or transactions that involve opposite positions at different expiries, "rolling" a position from one expiry to another.
  18. (programming) An operation similar to a bit shift, but with the bit that "falls off the end" being wrapped around to the other end.
  19. (firefighting) A 14-day deployment.

the act of rolling — see also stroll

a roll in gymnastics

that which rolls; a roller

a heavy cylinder used to break clods

a heavy, reverberatory sound

the uniform beating of a drum

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.

roll (plural rolls)

Rolls of maps

  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.
    • 1718, Matthew Prior, Solomon On The Vanity Of The World:
      Busy angels spread / The lasting roll, recording what we say.
  3. An official or public document; a register; a record.
    • 1713 Sir M. Hale, The History of the Common Law of England (posthumously published)
      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
  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.
    • 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 Until the Beginning of the Reign of King James I:
      The roll and list of that army doth remain.
  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.
    • 1936 December 23, Hazel Livingston, “‘Love’s Litany’”, in Walter V. Hogan, editor, The Daily Reporter, volume XX, number 53, White Plains, N.Y.: White Plains Publishing Company, →OCLC, chapter IX, page 18, column 4:
      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!
  8. (obsolete) A part; an office; a duty; a role.
  9. A measure of parchments, containing five dozen.
    • 1882, James Edwin Thorold Rogers, A History of Agriculture and Prices in England, volume 4, page 594:
      Parchement is sold by the dozen, and by the roll of five dozens.

that which is rolled up

an official or public document

Translations to be checked

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

roll m (genitive singular **roll, nominative plural rollanna)

  1. roll

roll (present analytic rollann, future analytic rollfaidh, verbal noun rolladh, past participle rollta)

  1. (ambitransitive) roll
    1. (transitive) form into a roll

roll c

  1. role
  2. roll (the rotation angle about the longitudinal axis)