roof

[roof, roo f] /ruf, rʊf/
noun, plural roofs.
1.
the external upper covering of a house or other building.
2.
a frame for supporting this:
an open-timbered roof.
3.
the highest part or summit:
The Himalayas are the roof of the world.
4.
something that in form or position resembles the roof of a house, as the top of a car, the upper part of the mouth, etc.
5.
a house.
6.
Mining. the rock immediately above a horizontal mineral deposit.
verb (used with object)
7.
to provide or cover with a roof.
Idioms
8.
go through the roof,
  1. to increase beyond all expectations:
    Foreign travel may very well go through the roof next year.
  2. Also, hit the roof. Informal. to lose one's temper; become extremely angry.
9.
raise the roof, Informal.
  1. to create a loud noise:
    The applause raised the roof.
  2. to complain or protest noisily:
    He'll raise the roof when he sees that bill.
Origin
before 900; Middle English (noun); Old English hrōf; cognate with Dutch roef cover, cabin, Old Norse hrōf
Related forms
rooflike, adjective
reroof, verb (used with object)
self-roofed, adjective
underroof, noun
unroofed, adjective
Examples from the web for roof
  • And now that roof is rotting, threatening the structural integrity of the building.
  • In the background is the incongruous yet constant beat of a percussion section on the building's roof.
  • The proposed roof bubble detracts from the pure shape and statement of the building's original designers.
  • One did a lot of damage and dumped a couple of school buses on the roof of a school building.
  • The owners escaped the fire by climbing the stairs to the roof and then over to the building next door.
  • If your building needs a new roof, the average donor sees that as something that should come out of the existing operating budget.
  • But an ideal roof would salvage the fresh water runoff into a cistern for plumbing for the building and irrigation needs.
  • The hotter the roof, the more energy it takes to cool the building beneath it.
  • If a large building is not available, get into an enclosed vehicle with a metal roof and sides.
  • The building had curved, roughly plastered concrete walls and a swelling roof that resembled a nun's wimple.
British Dictionary definitions for roof

roof

/ruːf/
noun (pl) roofs (ruːfs; ruːvz)
1.
  1. a structure that covers or forms the top of a building
  2. (in combination): the rooftop
  3. (as modifier): a roof garden
2.
the top covering of a vehicle, oven, or other structure: the roof of a car
3.
(anatomy) any structure that covers an organ or part: the roof of the mouth
4.
a highest or topmost point or part: Mount Everest is the roof of the world
5.
a house or other shelter: a poor man's roof
6.
(mountaineering) the underside of a projecting overhang
7.
(informal) hit the roof, go through the roof
  1. to get extremely angry; become furious
  2. to rise or increase steeply
8.
raise the roof
  1. to create a boisterous disturbance
  2. to react or protest heatedly
verb
9.
(transitive) to provide or cover with a roof or rooflike part
Derived Forms
roofer, noun
roofless, adjective
rooflike, adjective
Word Origin
Old English hrōf; related to Middle Dutch, Old Norse hrōf
Word Origin and History for roof
n.

Old English hrof "roof, ceiling, top, summit; heaven, sky," also figuratively, "highest point of something," from Proto-Germanic *khrofam (cf. Old Frisian rhoof "roof," Middle Dutch roof, rouf "cover, roof," Dutch roef "deckhouse, cabin, coffin-lid," Middle High German rof "penthouse," Old Norse hrof "boat shed").

No apparent connections outside Germanic. "English alone has retained the word in a general sense, for which the other languages use forms corresponding to OE. þæc thatch" [OED]. Roof of the mouth is from late Old English. Raise the roof "create an uproar" is attested from 1860, originally in U.S. Southern dialect.

v.

early 15c., from roof (n.). Related: Roofed; roofing.

roof in Medicine

roof (rōōf, ruf)
n.
The upper surface of an anatomical structure, especially one having a vaulted inner structure.

Slang definitions & phrases for roof

roof

Related Terms

fall off the roof, raise the roof


Idioms and Phrases with roof

roof

In addition to the idiom beginning with
roof
also see: