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roach

 [rohch]   Origin

roach

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

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Roach is always a great word to know.
So is racket. Does it mean:
a person or thing that closely resembles another
an easy or profitable source of livelihood of dubious legality
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Dictionary.com Unabridged

roach

2   [rohch]
noun, plural roach·es, (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 < ?

roach

3   [rohch]
noun
1.
Nautical.
a.
the upward curve at the foot of a square sail.
b.
(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]
noun
Maxwell (“Max”), born 1924, U.S. jazz drummer and bandleader.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
roach1 (rəʊtʃ)
 
—n , 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
 
[C14: from Old French roche, of obscure origin]

roach2 (rəʊtʃ)
 
—n
1.  short for cockroach
2.  slang the butt of a cannabis cigarette

roach3 (rəʊtʃ)
 
—n
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
 
[C18: of unknown origin]

Roach (rəʊtʃ)
 
—n
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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

roach
1837, shortened form of cockroach (q.v.), 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.
EXPAND

roach
"small freshwater fish," early 14c., from O.Fr. roche (13c.), perhaps from a Germanic source.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Slang Dictionary

roach definition


  1. n.
    a police officer. (Derogatory. From cockroach.) : A roach caught him while he was at work.
  2. n.
    the butt end of a marijuana cigarette. (Drugs.) : The cops found a roach on the bathroom floor.
  3. n.
    an ugly girl or woman. (Derogatory. From cockroach.) : Who was that roach you were with last night?
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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FOLDOC
Computing Dictionary

roach definition

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)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © Denis Howe 2010 http://foldoc.org
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