intransitive verb
- to move by turning on an axis or over and over
- to rotate about its axis lengthwise, as a spacecraft in flight
- to move or be moved on wheels
- to travel in a wheeled vehicle
- to travel about; wander
- to pass; elapse: the years rolled by
- to flow, as water, in a full swelling or sweeping motion: the waves rolling against the boat
- to be carried in a flow
- to extend in gentle swells or undulations
- to make a loud, continuous rising and falling sound: thunder rolls
- to rise and fall in a full, mellow cadence: said of sound, speech, etc.
- to trill or warble
- to form a ball or cylinder when turned over and over on itself: said as of cloth or yarn
- to turn in a circular motion or move back and forth: with eyes rolling
- to rock from side to side: the ship pitched and rolled
- to walk by swaying
- to become flattened or spread under a roller
- to make progress; advance: start rolling
- to start operating: the presses rolled
- to take part in a bowling game
- Informal to have plenty; abound (in): rolling in wealth
- ☆ Football to move laterally: said of the passer
Origin:
ME rollen < OFr roller < VL *rotulare < L rotula: see rollthe
noun
- the act or an instance of rolling
- a paper, parchment, etc. that is rolled up; scroll
- something that is, or looks as if, rolled up
- a register; catalog
- a list of names for checking attendance; muster roll
- a measure of something rolled into a cylinder: a roll of wallpaper
- a cylindrical mass of something: a sausage roll
- any of various foods that are rolled during preparation, as
- any small portion of bread, variously shaped
- thin cake covered with fruit, nuts, etc. and rolled: a jelly roll
- beef, veal, etc. rolled and cooked
- a roller (in various senses)
- a swaying or rolling motion
- a rapid succession of light blows on a drum
- a loud, reverberating sound; peal, as of thunder
- a full, cadenced flow of words
- a trill or warble
- a slight swell or rise on the surface of something, as land
- ☆ Slang money; esp., a wad of paper money
- Aeron. a maneuver in which an airplane in flight performs one complete rotation around its longitudinal axis
- Bookbinding a revolving tool used in making an impression or pattern
Origin:
ME rolle < OFr < L rotula, rotulus, dim. of rota, wheel < IE *roto-, var. of base *ret(h)-, to run, roll > OIr rethim, (I) run, OHG rad, wheel