 Etymology : Middle English rolle, from Old French, from Latin rotulus, diminutive of rota wheel; akin to Old High German rad wheel, Welsh rhod, Sanskrit ratha wagon Pronunciation : 'rOl Function : noun Date : 13th century
1. roughing rolls. 2. To cause to revolve by turning over and over; to move by turning on an axis; to impel forward by causing to turn over and over on a supporting surface; as, to roll a wheel, a ball, or a barrel. 3. To wrap round on itself; to form into a spherical or cylindrical body by causing to turn over and over; as, to roll a sheet of paper; to roll parchment; to roll clay or putty into a ball. 4. To bind or involve by winding, as in a bandage; to inwrap; often with up; as, to roll up a parcel. 5. To drive or impel forward with an easy motion, as of rolling; as, a river rolls its waters to the ocean. 6. To utter copiously, esp. with sounding words; to utter with a deep sound; often with forth, or out; as, to roll forth some one's praises; to roll out sentences. 7. To press or level with a roller; to spread or form with a roll, roller, or rollers; as, to roll a field; to roll paste; to roll steel rails, etc. 8. To move, or cause to be moved, upon, or by means of, rollers or small wheels. 9. To beat with rapid, continuous strokes, as a drum; to sound a roll upon. 10. To apply to another without slipping; to bring all the parts of into successive contact with another, in suck manner that at every instant the parts that have been in contact are equal. 11. To turn over in one's mind; to revolve. 12. To move, as a curved object may, along a surface by rotation without sliding; to revolve upon an axis; to turn over and over; as, a ball or wheel rolls on the earth; a body rolls on an inclined plane. 13. To move on wheels; as, the carriage rolls along the street. 14. To be wound or formed into a cylinder or ball; as, the cloth rolls unevenly; the snow rolls well. 15. To fall or tumble; with over; as, a stream rolls over a precipice. 16. To perform a periodical revolution; to move onward as with a revolution; as, the rolling year; ages roll away. 17. To turn; to move circularly. 18. To move, as waves or billows, with alternate swell and depression. 19. To incline first to one side, then to the other; to rock; as, there is a great difference in ships about rolling; in a general semse, to be tossed about. 20. To turn over, or from side to side, while lying down; to wallow; as, a horse rolls. 21. To spread under a roller or rolling-pin; as, the paste rolls well. 22. To beat a drum with strokes so rapid that they can scarcely be distinguished by the ear. 23. To make a loud or heavy rumbling noise; as, the thunder rolls. 24. The act of rolling, or state of being rolled; as, the roll of a ball; the roll of waves. 25. That which rolls; a roller. 26. A heavy cylinder used to break clods. 27. One of a set of revolving cylinders, or rollers, between which metal is pressed, formed, or smoothed, as in a rolling mill; as, to pass rails through the rolls. 28. That which is rolled up; as, a roll of fat, of wool, paper, cloth, etc. 29. A document written on a piece of parchment, paper, or other materials which may be rolled up; a scroll. 30. Hence, an official or public document; a register; a record; also, a catalogue; a list. 31. A quantity of cloth wound into a cylindrical form; as, a roll of carpeting; a roll of ribbon. 32. A cylindrical twist of tobacco. 33. A kind of shortened raised biscuit or bread, often rolled or doubled upon itself. 34. The oscillating movement of a vessel from side to side, in sea way, as distinguished from the alternate rise and fall of bow and stern called pitching. 35. A heavy, reverberatory sound; as, the roll of cannon, or of thunder. 36. The uniform beating of a drum with strokes so rapid as scarcely to be distinguished by the ear. 37. Part; office; duty; rôle. the act of rolling something a flight maneuver; aircraft rotates about its longitudinal axis without changing direction or losing altitude walking with a rolling gait anything rolled up in cylindrical form photographic film rolled up inside a container to protect it from light a list of names; "his name was struck off the rolls" execute a roll, in tumbling; "The gymnasts rolled and jumped" show certain properties when being rolled; "The carpet rolls unevenly"; "dried-out tobacco rolls badly" take the shape of a roll or cylinder; "the carpet rolled out"; "Yarn rolls well" shape by rolling; "roll a cigarette" pronounce with a roll, of the phoneme /r/; "She rolls her r's" begin operating or running; "The cameras were rolling"; "The presses are already rolling" move by turning over or rotating; "The child rolled down the hill"; "turn over on your left side" cause to move by turning over or in a circular manner of as if on an axis; "She rolled the ball"; "They rolled their eyes at his words" move, rock, or sway from side to side; "The ship rolled on the heavy seas" move about aimlessly or without any destination, often in search of food or employment; "The gypsies roamed the woods"; "roving vagabonds"; "the wandering Jew"; "The cattle roam across the prairie"; "the laborers drift from one town to the next"; "They rolled from town to town" move in a wavy pattern or with a rising and falling motion; "The curtains undulated"; "the waves rolled towards the beach" emit, produce, or utter with a deep prolonged reverberating sound; "The thunder rolled"; "rolling drums" occur in soft rounded shapes; "The hills rolled past".
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