roach1

[rohch] /roʊtʃ/
noun
1.
a cockroach.
2.
Slang. the butt of a marijuana cigarette.
Origin
1830-40, Americanism; 1940-45, Americanism for def 2; short form of cockroach

roach2

[rohch] /roʊtʃ/
noun, plural roaches (especially collectively) roach.
1.
a European freshwater fish, Rutilus rutilus, of the carp family.
2.
any of various similar fishes, as the golden shiner.
3.
a freshwater sunfish of the genus Lepomis, found in eastern North America.
Origin
1275-1325; Middle English roche < Old French < ?

roach3

[rohch] /roʊtʃ/
noun
1.
Nautical.
  1. the upward curve at the foot of a square sail.
  2. (loosely) a convexity given to any of the edges of a sail; round.
2.
hair combed up from the forehead or temples in a roll or high curve.
verb (used with object)
3.
to clip or cut off (the mane of a horse); hog.
4.
to comb (hair) into a roach.
Origin
1785-95; origin uncertain

Roach

[rohch] /roʊtʃ/
noun
1.
Maxwell ("Max") born 1924, U.S. jazz drummer and bandleader.
Examples from the web for roach
  • If given nutrients and refrigerated, a roach head can last even longer.
  • My brother lived in a complex that seemed to have been built on a roach farm.
  • roach gives you a little more in terms of speed and play-making ability.
British Dictionary definitions for roach

roach1

/rəʊtʃ/
noun (pl) roaches, roach
1.
a European freshwater cyprinid food fish, Rutilus rutilus, having a deep compressed body and reddish ventral and tail fins
2.
any of various similar fishes
Word Origin
C14: from Old French roche, of obscure origin

roach2

/rəʊtʃ/
noun
1.
short for cockroach
2.
(slang) the butt of a cannabis cigarette

roach3

/rəʊtʃ/
noun (nautical)
1.
the amount by which the leech of a fore-and-aft sail projects beyond an imaginary straight line between the clew and the head
2.
the curve at the foot of a square sail
Word Origin
C18: of unknown origin

Roach

/rəʊtʃ/
noun
1.
Hal, full name Harald Eugene Roach. 1892–1992, US film producer, whose company produced numerous comedy films in the 1920s and 1930s, including those featuring Harold Lloyd and Laurel and Hardy
Word Origin and History for roach
n.

shortened form of cockroach, 1837, on mistaken notion that it was a compound. In contemporary writing said to be from a polite desire to avoid the sexual connotation in the first syllable. Meaning "butt of a marijuana cigarette" is first recorded 1938, perhaps from resemblance to the insect, but perhaps a different word entirely.

small freshwater fish, c.1200, from Old French roche (13c.), of uncertain origin, perhaps from a Germanic source. Applied to similar-looking fish in North America.

Slang definitions & phrases for roach

roach

noun
  1. A police officer (1932+ Prison & black)
  2. A racehorse, esp an inferior one; beetle (1940s+ Horse racing)
  3. The stub or butt of a marijuana cigarette: He lighted the toke again, a roach now that he impaled on a thin wire (1938+ Narcotics)
  4. An unattractive woman (1960s+ Students)

[narcotics sense perhaps fr earlier roach mane, a horse's mane clipped very short and tied; perhaps fr the insect]


roach in Technology

jargon
A Bell Labs term meaning destroy, especially of a data structure. Hardware gets toasted or fried, software gets roached.
[Why?]
[Jargon File]
(1999-02-08)