roof
Americannoun
plural
roofs-
the external upper covering of a house or other building.
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a frame for supporting this.
an open-timbered roof.
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the highest part or summit.
The Himalayas are the roof of the world.
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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.
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a house.
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Mining. the rock immediately above a horizontal mineral deposit.
verb (used with object)
idioms
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go through the roof,
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to increase beyond all expectations.
Foreign travel may very well go through the roof next year.
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Informal. Also hit the roof to lose one's temper; become extremely angry.
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raise the roof,
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to create a loud noise.
The applause raised the roof.
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to complain or protest noisily.
He'll raise the roof when he sees that bill.
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noun
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a structure that covers or forms the top of a building
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( in combination )
the rooftop
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( as modifier )
a roof garden
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the top covering of a vehicle, oven, or other structure
the roof of a car
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anatomy any structure that covers an organ or part
the roof of the mouth
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a highest or topmost point or part
Mount Everest is the roof of the world
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a house or other shelter
a poor man's roof
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mountaineering the underside of a projecting overhang
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informal
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to get extremely angry; become furious
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to rise or increase steeply
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to create a boisterous disturbance
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to react or protest heatedly
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verb
Usage
Plural word for roof The plural form of roof is roofs (not rooves). Roof is not pluralized by replacing the -f ending with -ves, as is done in many other words ending in -f, such as shelf/shelves, scarf/scarves, and hoof/hooves. The word roof comes from Old English, and like many Old English-derived words ending in -f, it initially had two plural forms: roofs and rooves. It’s not clear why rooves dropped out of use. It might be simply because we don’t use the plural form of roof very often, compared to more common words like leaf/leaves. Other examples of this pluralization pattern include proof/proofs, chief/chiefs, and brief/briefs.
Other Word Forms
- reroof verb (used with object)
- roofer noun
- roofless adjective
- rooflike adjective
- self-roofed adjective
- underroof noun
- unroofed adjective
Etymology
Origin of roof
before 900; Middle English (noun); Old English hrōf; cognate with Dutch roef cover, cabin, Old Norse hrōf
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
While homeowners can’t get federal credits for putting panels on their roofs, those that lease the panels can still benefit from tax breaks.
From Barron's
While homeowners can’t get federal credits for putting panels on their roofs, those that lease the panels can still benefit from tax breaks.
From Barron's
"The tiles and the bathroom roof were literally lifting up and slamming back down - it was just so quick".
From BBC
The family lived in a one-story house with a tin roof, a wood stove and no indoor plumbing.
Following a round of particularly intense Russian barrages two years earlier, Biletsky had convinced his neighbours to chip in together to install solar panels and batteries on the roof of their high-rise apartment block.
From Barron's
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
