roll (rəʊl) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) |
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| —vb (usually foll by around) (often foll by over) |
| 1. | to move or cause to move along by turning over and over |
| 2. | to move or cause to move along on wheels or rollers |
| 3. | to flow or cause to flow onwards in an undulating movement: billows of smoke rolled over the ground |
| 4. | (intr) (of animals, etc) to turn onto the back and kick: the hills roll down to the sea |
| 5. | (intr) to extend in undulations: the hills roll down to the sea |
| 6. | to move or occur in cycles |
| 7. | (intr) (of a planet, the moon, etc) to revolve in an orbit |
| 8. | (intr; foll by on, by, etc) to pass or elapse: the years roll by |
| 9. | to rotate or cause to rotate wholly or partially: to roll one's eyes |
| 10. | to curl, cause to curl, or admit of being curled, so as to form a ball, tube, or cylinder; coil |
| 11. | to make or form by shaping into a ball, tube, or cylinder: to roll a cigarette |
| 12. | (often foll by out) to spread or cause to spread out flat or smooth under or as if under a roller: to roll the lawn; to roll pastry |
| 13. | to emit, produce, or utter with a deep prolonged reverberating sound: the thunder rolled continuously |
| 14. | to trill or cause to be trilled: to roll one's r's |
| 15. | (intr) pitch Compare yaw (of a vessel, aircraft, rocket, etc) to turn from side to side around the longitudinal axis |
| 16. | (of an aircraft) to execute or cause an aircraft to execute a roll to cause (an aircraft) to execute a roll or (of an aircraft) to execute a roll (sense 40) |
| 17. | (intr) to walk with a swaying gait, as when drunk; sway |
| 18. | (of an animal, esp a dog) to lie on its back and wriggle while kicking its legs in the air, without moving along |
| 19. | (intr) to wallow or envelop oneself (in) |
| 20. | (tr) to apply ink to (type, etc) with a roller or rollers |
| 21. | to throw (dice) |
| 22. | (intr) to operate or begin to operate: the presses rolled |
| 23. | informal (intr) to make progress; move or go ahead: let the good times roll |
| 24. | informal chiefly (US), (NZ) (tr) to rob (a helpless person, such as someone drunk or asleep) |
| 25. | slang (tr) to have sexual intercourse or foreplay with (a person) |
| 26. | start the ball rolling, set the ball rolling to open or initiate (an action, discussion, movement, etc) |
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| —n |
| 27. | the act or an instance of rolling |
| 28. | anything rolled up in a cylindrical form: a roll of newspaper |
| 29. | an official list or register, esp of names: an electoral roll |
| 30. | a rounded mass: rolls of flesh |
| 31. | a strip of material, esp leather, fitted with pockets or pouches for holding tools, toilet articles, needles and thread, etc |
| 32. | a cylinder used to flatten something; roller |
| 33. | a small loaf of bread for one person: eaten plain, with butter, or as a light meal when filled with meat, cheese, etc |
| 34. | See also swiss roll a flat pastry or cake rolled up with a meat (sausage roll), jam (jam roll), or other filling |
| 35. | a swell, ripple, or undulation on a surface: the roll of the hills |
| 36. | a swaying, rolling, or unsteady movement or gait |
| 37. | a deep prolonged reverberating sound: the roll of thunder |
| 38. | a rhythmic cadenced flow of words |
| 39. | a trilling sound; trill |
| 40. | a very rapid beating of the sticks on a drum |
| 41. | a flight manoeuvre in which an aircraft makes one complete rotation about its longitudinal axis without loss of height or change in direction |
| 42. | the angular displacement of a vessel, rocket, missile, etc, caused by rolling |
| 43. | a throw of dice |
| 44. | a bookbinder's tool having a brass wheel, used to impress a line or repeated pattern on the cover of a book |
| 45. | slang an act of sexual intercourse or petting (esp in the phrase a roll in the hay) |
| 46. | slang (US) an amount of money, esp a wad of paper money |
| 47. | slang on a roll experiencing continued good luck or success |
| 48. | strike off the roll, strike off the rolls |
| | a. to expel from membership |
| | b. to debar (a solicitor) from practising, usually because of dishonesty |
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| [C14 rollen, from Old French roler, from Latin rotulus a little wheel, from rota a wheel] |