| 释义 |
▪ I. roof, n.|ruːf|
Forms: α. 1 hrof, 3 rhof; 1–5 rof, 4–6 roff, rofe, 5 roffe; 4– roof, 4–7 roofe, 6 rooff(e; 5–6 rouf, 6 rouffe, roughe, rowff(e, 6–7 rowfe, roufe. β. 3–6 roue, 4–6 rove; pl. 4–5 roaues (5 -ys), 5, 20 rooves, -is. γ. Sc. 5–6 ruf, rufe (north. ruffe), 6 pl. ruvis, 6, 8–9 ruif (7 ruiff), 9 reef.
[OE. hróf, = OFris. rhoof (Fris. roef), MDu. roof, rouf, roef (Du. roef, cabin, coffin-lid), MLG. and LG. rôf, OIcel. hróf boat-shed; the stem does not appear to be otherwise represented. English alone has retained the word in a general sense, for which the other languages use forms corresponding to OE. þæc thatch.]
1. a. The outside upper covering of a house or other building; also, the ceiling of a room or other covered part of a house, building, etc.
α Beowulf 927 He to healle ᵹeong..ᵹeseah steapne hrof golde fahne. a900Cynewulf Crist 14 Nu ᵹebrosnad is hus under hrofe. Ibid. 495 Cyning ure ᵹewat þurh þæs temples hrof. c950Lindisf. Gosp. Luke xii. 3 Þætte in eare sprecend ᵹie woeron in cottum, aboden bið on hrofum. c1000ælfric Hom. I. 318 Entas woldon aræran..ænne stypel swa heahne þæt his hrof astiᵹe oð heofon. c1200Ormin 11351 Þe deofell..sette himm heȝhe uppo þe rhof. c1290S. Eng. Leg. I. 187/99 Ȝwane is blod spreinde In þe rof an heiȝ. c1300Havelok 2082 A rof shal hile us boþe o-niht. 1390Gower Conf. I. 258 The Sparke fyred Up in the Rof;..whan the wyndes blowe, It blaseth out on every side. c1440Promp. Parv. 435/2 Roof, of an howse, tectum, doma. 1471Cal. Rec. Dublin (1889) I. 347 And put a roffe of oke tymber therupon. c1500Melusine 297 She made it to touche..the rouf of the chambre that was ryght hye. 1535Coverdale 2 Kings xxiii. 12 The altares vpon the rofe of Achabs perler, which the kynges of Iuda had made. 1600J. Pory tr. Leo's Africa vii. 286 The walles of their houses are built of chalke, and the roofes are couered with strawe. 1610Holland Camden's Brit. (1637) 429 The Rowfe covered over with sheets of Lead. 1671Milton P.R. iv. 58 Thou may'st behold Outside and inside both, pillars and roofs Carv'd work. 1717Lady M. W. Montagu Lett. I. xxxvii. 142 The roof was painted with all sorts of flowers. 1795Southey Joan of Arc v, The shatter'd roofs Allow'd the dews of night free passage. 1815J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art I. 254 Among the ancients, in those countries where it seldom rained, roofs were made quite flat. 1841W. Spalding Italy & It. Isl. I. 151 The introduction of columns..for the purpose of strengthening the roof. 1872Yeats Tech. Hist. Comm. 132 Most houses in mediæval times were built high and narrow, with steep pointed roofs.
fig.c1250Death 155 in O.E. Misc. 178 Þi bur is sone ibuld Þat þu schald wunien inne. Þe rof..schal ligge o þine chinne. c1600Shakes. Sonn. x, Seeking that beautious roofe to ruinate, Which to repaire should be thy chiefe desire. 1781Cowper Table-T. 625 The mind..Flew to its first position with a spring That made the vaulted roofs of pleasure ring.
βa1225Ancr. R. 152 Ȝet is ancre iefned her to sparuwe þet is one under roue. c1384Chaucer H. Fame iii. 1948 On the rove men may yet seen A thousand holes. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VI. 55 Constantinus..unheled chirches roves [v.r. rooves] and coppes. c1400Laud Troy Bk. 17845 Aboute the roue That scholde be set the temple aboue. 1445in Anglia XXVIII. 275 Vpon high bankys he makith new roovis. a1500Nut Brown Maid in Arnolde's Chron. (1811) 200 And vs abowe, noon other roue, but a brake bussh or twayne. a1550Image Ipocr. i. 87 in Skelton's Wks. (1843) II. 415 To runne in att the rove. 1903Dialect Notes II. 352 Roof, n. pl. rooves. Common plural in Mass. 1938C. Himes Black on Black (1973) 165 W'en de panic cum an' de Lawd tek yo' food an' yo' clothes an' de rooves off'n yo' haids, den laff. 1939[see council (housing) estate s.v. council 17].
γc1375Sc. Leg. Saints xxvii. (Machor) 60 He saw angelis..one þe ruf of þat house lycht. c1440York Myst. xiv. 18 Þe walles are doune,..Þe ruffe is rayned aboven oure hede. c1475Rauf Coilȝear 672 The rufe reulit about in reuall of Reid. 1513Douglas æneis iv. viii. 112 The nycht oule, Heich on the ruif. Ibid. xii. 47 Of gretting..The rufis did resound. 1570Levins Manip. 183 Y⊇ Ruffe of a house, culmen. 1633Extr. Rec. Stirling (1887) 169 To repair thair grammer scoole..and putt on ane new ruiff thairon.
b. With under, beneath, † within, to denote entering, being or living in, a house.
Beowulf 403 Þa secᵹ wisode under Heorotes hrof. c950Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. viii. 8 Nam ic wyrðe þæt ðu inngae under rof min. 1382Wyclif Ibid., That thou entre vndir my roof. 1596Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. I. 31 Thay nevir thair heid sett vndir the ruffe of ony hous. 1601Shakes. Twel. N. iv. iii. 25 Vnderneath that consecrated roofe, Plight me the full assurance of your faith. 1726–46Thomson Winter 483 Beneath his low illustrious roof, Sweet Peace and happy Wisdom smooth'd his brow. 1782F. Burney Cecilia vi. i, That since you were now under my roof, I could not refuse to receive their proposals. 1837Lockhart Scott I. ix. 317 They had both seen Scott frequently under their own roofs. 1888Burgon Lives 12 Gd. Men I. iii. 302 For about two years they lived..under the roof of their father's youngest sister.
fig.1642Fuller Holy & Prof. St. iv. xxi. 353 Some maintain that Princes are too high to come under the roof of any Laws.
c. Used by extension to denote: (a) a house or chamber; chiefly poet.; (b) (rhetorically), a home, a household; a dwelling-place.
1591Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, ii. iii. 56, I tell you Madame, were the whole Frame here,..Your Roofe were not sufficient to contayn't. 1600― A.Y.L. ii. iii. 17 Come not within these doores: within this roofe The enemie of all your graces liues. 1623Fletcher & Rowley Maid in Mill ii. ii, My dwelling, sir? 'Tis a poor yeoman's roof scarce a league off. 1757Gray Bard 55 Shrieks of death thro' Berkley's roofs that ring. 1819Shelley Cyclops 83 Whence come they,..approaching in ill hour The inhospitable roof of Polypheme? 1853C. Brontë Villette I. iii. 29 The evening, by restoring Graham to the maternal roof (his days were passed at school), brought us an accession of animation. 1922D. L. Sayers Let. 18 Dec. in J. Brabazon Dorothy L. Sayers (1981) ix. 96 He simply has not a red cent or a roof. 1979J. Rathbone Euro-Killers iii. 34 She had been happy to give them a free roof until they got work.
fig.1617Hieron Wks. II. 370 What is my heart, that Thou shouldest come within the roofe thereof?
†d. A story or floor in a house. Obs.
1617Moryson Itin. i. 18 The building..is all of free stone sixe or seven roofes high. Ibid. 112 The houses of the City are foure roofes high.
e. In phrases (chiefly colloq.). (a) to raise (or lift) the roof: to create an uproar, to make a resounding noise; (b) the roof falls in: something disastrous occurs, everything goes wrong; (c) come off the roof: don't put on airs; (d) to hit the roof = to hit the ceiling (ceiling vbl. n. 5 b); (e) to go through the roof: to become very angry (see also sense 2 a).
(a)1860M. J. Holmes Cousin Maude 57 Ole master'll raise de ruff, case he put 'em away to sell. 1894‘Mark Twain’ in Century Mag. June 233/1 She was here to watch the trial now, and was going to lift up just one ‘hooraw’ over it... ‘When dat verdic’ comes, I's gwine to lif' dat roof, now, I tell you. 1905Eng. Dial. Dict. V. 147/2 Oxf. Do be quiet, or you'll raise the roof (G.O.). 1922Wodehouse Girl on Boat xvi. 253, I couldn't get within ten feet of that dog without its lifting the roof off. 1959Times 19 Jan. 3/3 A good song to raise the roof. 1972J. W. Thompson in W. King Black Short Story Anthol. 255 She flew from the kitchen like a startled sparrow, her hands perched nervously upon her hips—all set to raise the roof!
(b)1866D. Boucicault Flying Scud in Nicoll & Cloak Forbidden Fruit & Other Plays (1940) 172 She undertook with all her veight to sit upon my knee... Fourteen stun six, I thought the roof had fell in. 1958J. Morgan Expense Account ii. 26 And it all worked out exactly right—up to the moment he walked into his office. Then the roof fell in. 1976H. MacInnes Agent in Place xvii. 191 Georges said, ‘I think the roof just fell in.’ Tony had no reply. For once he was quite speechless.
(c)1895W. P. Ridge Minor Dialogues ix. 86 She took up such a 'igh and mighty attitude..so I says to her, I says, ‘Come off the roof.’
(d)1925Fraser & Gibbons Soldier & Sailor Words 245 Roof, to hit the, to get into a temper. 1928J. P. McEvoy Show Girl ix. 133 Milton gave me a couple of drinks early in the evening out of his flask and Jimmy hit the roof. 1971V. Canning Firecrest x. 149 The P.M. and his cabinet..would hit the roof if they knew half of the things that went on.
(e)1958Spectator 25 July 133/1 Would it have hurt if someone had done it to you before? You'd have gone through the roof? 1975J. Symons Three Pipe Problem xviii. 179 The company are simply wild. They have gone through the roof.
2. fig.
a. The highest point or summit of something; that which completes or covers in; = ceiling vbl. n. 6 d. to go through the roof (and varr.), of bids, prices, sales, etc.: to surpass the expected limit, to reach extreme heights.
c888K. ælfred Boeth. xi. §2 Ic eow mæᵹ..ᵹereccan hwæt se hrof is ealra ᵹesælð a. a900Cynewulf Crist 749 Þæt we to þam hyhstan hrofe ᵹestiᵹan, halᵹum weorcum. c950Lindisf. Gosp. Mark xiii. 27 From hrof vel heum eardes wið to..heannise heofnes. c1200Vices & Virtues 95 Ðe faste hope hafð hire stede up an heih, for ði hie is rof and wrikð alle ðe hire bieð beneðen. 1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xix. 324 Of al holywrit he made a rofe after, And called þat hous vnite. 1477Norton Ord. Alch. in Ashm. (1652) 22 Blessed is he that maketh due proofe, For that is roote of cunning and roofe. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 142 The rofe yt couereth all, is the theologicall vertue hope. 1588A. King tr. Canisius' Catech. 80 Ye perfectione and ruif of y⊇ haill wark is Charitie. 1833Tennyson Lotos-Eaters 69 Why should we only toil, the roof and crown of things? 1939Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch 16 Aug. 17/8 Spokesmen for the shellers contended that since the price pegging program put a ‘roof’ on the price they must pay for peanuts they were entitled to a ‘floor’ against possible losses from ‘innocent’ over-buying. 1946E. Hodgins Mr. Blandings builds his Dream House viii. 118 The Knapp sales curves were going through the roof. 1947Forum (Johannesburg) 24 May 15/3 The Labour Party continues to snipe at the Government for refusing to take the roof off the maize price. 1962Listener 28 June 1113/2 (Advt.), Starting salary from {pstlg}11.10.0 per week to {pstlg}12.16.0 per week according to qualifications, rising to roof of {pstlg}14.2.0 per week. 1965New Statesman 16 July 101/4 (Advt.), Starting salary {pstlg}2,185–{pstlg}2,445 according to relevant experience and qualifications rising to a roof of {pstlg}2,835. 1972Times 24 Oct. 10/3 Only a few special treasures were bid through the roof. 1973Times 30 Oct. 19/6 On lots that were rare and undamaged they [sc. prices] went through the roof.
b. Applied to heaven, the upper air, etc., as covering the earth.[c700Cædmon Hymn 6 He aerist scop aelda barnum heben til hrofe.] a900Cynewulf Crist 60 Þas sidan ᵹesceaft, swylce rodores hrof. a1300Cursor M. 22170 Na land þat man kan neuen, Under þe rof o crists heuen. 13..K. Alis. 513 (W.), He schal beo kyng al above Bytwene this and heven rove. 1399Langl. Rich. Redeles iii. 248 Iche rewme vndir roff of þe reyne-bowe. 1602Shakes. Ham. ii. ii. 313 This most excellent Canopy the Ayre,..this Maiesticall Roofe. 1815Shelley Alastor 96 The varying roof of heaven And the green earth. 1821― Epipsych. 542 Under the roof of blue Ionian weather.
c. Something which in form or function is comparable to the covering of a house. Also, spec. in Mountaineering (see quot. 19632).
Cf. OE. þæs helmes hróf, beorȝes hróf (Beowulf).
c1611Chapman Iliad xvii. 326 The cruel steel afflicting all, the strongest did not dwell Unhurt within their iron roofs. 1633Milton Arcades 88 Under the shady roof Of branching Elm Star-proof. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 61 Nor Bees are lodg'd in Hives alone, but..Their vaulted Roofs are hung in Pumices. 1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) VIII. 98 To prevent the earth from falling..they make a sort of roof with their gluey substance. 1817Shelley Rev. Islam vii. xi, In that roof of crags a space was riven. 1834Wordsw. Noonday Hymn 20 A church in every grove that spreads Its living roof above our heads. 1840Gen. Mercer in R. J. Macdonald Hist. Dress R.A. (1899) 54 This elegant coiffure was ornamented with..a cockade in front of the roof. 1963A. Greenbank Instructions in Rock Climbing ix. 98 On the lip of an overhang which has no footholds immediately below... You jockey one boot up the rock, pressing on the flat face, then throw a knee over the edge of the ‘roof’. Ibid. 151 Roof, the underside of an overhang. 1972D. Haston In High Places viii. 94 After an easy first pitch there was a series of overlapping roofs leading to a big ledge, followed by a line of cracks and chimneys to the top. 1976Newmarket Jrnl. 16 Dec., Left-back Mickey Fordham latched on to a pass from Eley to fire home a third into the roof of the net.
d. Mining. The stratum lying immediately over a bed of coal; the stratum lying immediately over material that contains opal (Austral.); the top of a working or gallery.
1686Plot Staffordsh. 147 A roof of loose rotten stone without any certain beding or diping. 1708J. C. Compl. Collier (1845) 30 Leave perhaps about a Foot thick of the Coal top for a Roof. 1778W. Pryce Min. Cornub. 79 When the Miners dig down or along in a large Lode, then the roof, i.e. the upper, the hanging wall, or incumbent wall of the Lode or Fissure, is..over their heads. 1789J. Williams Nat. Hist. Min. Kingd. I. 72 Lime-stone may be reckoned among the very hard roofs of coal. 1833–4J. Phillips Geol. in Encycl. Metrop. (1845) VI. 590/2 This coal seam is covered by a ‘roof’ unlike that of any other coal bed above the mountain limestone in the British Islands. 1883Law. Rep. 10 Q.B. Div. 553 Without leaving any pillars of coal or other support for the roof of the mine. 1931M. S. Buchanan Prospecting for Opal in Australia 8 Almost all the sheet of potch containing opal lies within two ft. from the roof. 1960People (Broadway, New South Wales) 27 Apr. 51 Pipe opal..is mostly found in soft, white clay between one and six inches below the overlying sandstone ‘roof’.
e. A high mountain range or plateau; the highest part (of a region); the roof of the world [tr. Wakhani bam-i-dunya], orig. applied to the Pamirs, later also to Tibet or the Himalayas.
1842Chinese Repository XI. 143 The Wakhanis name this plain Bam-i-Duniah, or ‘Roof of the World’, and it would indeed appear to be the highest table-land in Asia. 1876T. E. Gordon (title) The roof of the world, being the narrative of a journey over the high plateau of Tibet to the Russian frontier and the Oxus sources on Pamir. Ibid. ix. 121 We were now about to cross the famous ‘Bam-i-dunya’, ‘The Roof of the World’, under which name the elevated region of the hitherto comparatively unknown Pamir tracts had long appeared in our maps. 1889G. N. Curzon Russia in Central Asia v. 144 Descending from the hidden ‘Roof of the world’, its waters tell of forgotten peoples and whisper secrets of unknown lands. 1902D. G. Hogarth Nearer East 31 The course of this ridge in the Anatolian roof..determines the parting of all the waters. 1953J. Masters Lotus & Wind xix. 235 Few travellers used this route that arched over the roof of the world to link India with Chinese Sinkiang. 1956G. N. Patterson God's Fool i. 13, I sat there in that remote valley in Tibet where no white man had ever been, fifteen thousand feet above sea-level on the roof of the world. 1959Listener 15 Jan. 140/3 If you want to give yourself a test of stamina and skill in map reading you can walk the Roof of Wales. 1968N. Tranter Cable from Kabul ii. 29 Look—this area's called the Roof of the World. It's no place for aircraft. 1973Guardian 20 Oct. 13/3 Identification of Church and State in Tibetan Buddhism dates from the 1640s. But the feel of an independent way of life on the battlemented roof of Asia is immensely older. 1979Yale Alumni Mag. Apr. 2/3 (Advt.), Snow-capped peaks of the Himalayas along the roof of the world.
f. Aeronaut. = ceiling vbl. n. 6 b. ? Obs.
1917[see ceiling vbl. n. 6 b]. 1940S.P.E. Tract lv. 193 Roof is the zenith of a plane's ascent.
3. a. the roof of the mouth, the palate. Also ellipt.
c1000ælfric Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker I. 157 Palatum, uel uranon, goma, uel hrof ðæs muðes. c1340Nominale (Skeat) 30 Iungyues et palet, Gomes and the roof of the mouth. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) II. 257 Men of myddel londes [sowneþ her wordes] in þe roof of þe mouþ. c1450Two Cookery-bks. 78 Kutte a Swan in the rove of the mouthe. 1486Bk. St. Albans c vj b, Put som in the Roofe of her mowth. 1535Coverdale Job xxix. 9 When their tonges cleued to the rofe of their mouthes. a1586Sidney Ps. xxii. ix, My cleaving tongue close to my roofe doth bide. 1611Cotgr., Aluette,..a little peece of flesh in the roofe of the mouth. 1644Z. Boyd in Zion's Flowers (1855) App. 9 The tongues of all, did cleave unto their roof. 1741A. Monro Anat. Nerves (ed. 3) 132 The Base of the Nostrils and Roof of the Mouth. 1847W. C. L. Martin The Ox 56/1 The roof of the mouth and the tongue are black. 1868Daily News 26 Aug., A gold roof for false teeth. 1890[see palate 1 b].
b. Similarly of other parts of the body, etc.
1863Huxley Man's Place in Nat. §ii. 77 In the gorilla,..the roofs of the orbits rise more obliquely into the cranial cavity. 1870Rolleston Anim. Life 12 The removal of the roof of the cranium. 1872Coues N. Amer. Birds 29 The scale forms the floor instead of the roof of the nostrils. 1888Fagge & Pye-Smith Princ. & Pract. Med. (ed. 2) I. 56 The thinning of the roof of an abscess which is about to ‘point’.
4.
†a. Sc. A canopy or tester. Obs.
1505Exch. Rolls Scot. XII. 673 Tua bosteris, vj werdoris, tua ruffis of carsay red and gren. 1533Acc. Ld. H. Treas. Scot. VI. 182 To lyn the rufe of the said curtingis, iij elnis bukrame.
b. The top of a carriage, coach, or other covered vehicle.
1706Phillips (ed. Kersey), Roof, the top of a..Coach. 1806J. Beresford Miseries Hum. Life vi. xiii, Seeing and hearing the roof of a crazy coach groan, crack, and bend, over your head. 1837W. B. Adams Carriages 88 To form the roof, arching timbers are laid across from side to side. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. iii. I. 379 The passengers..were all seated in the carriage. For..it would have been most perilous to mount the roof.
5. The back or ridge (of a bull). rare—1.
The Fris. roef is similarly used.
1808Compl. Grazier (ed. 3) 9 The roof [of a bull ought to be] wide, particularly over the chine and hips, or hooks.
6. slang.
a. A hat.
b. The head.
1857Hughes Tom Brown i. v, Equipped in his go-to-meeting roof. 1897Marshall Pomes 70 (Farmer), He..was bald upon the roof. 1926Maines & Grant Wise-Crack Dict. 7/1 Dropping one's roof, losing one's hat. 1949R. M. Howe H. Gross's Criminal Investigation (ed. 4) viii. 162 Titfa, roof, bonnet or tile, hat.
c. An umbrella. ? Obs.
1844E. Hall Diary in O. A. Sherrard Two Victorian Girls (1966) xi. 106 [A] family roof [umbrella] and a great blanket shawl.
7. attrib.
a. In sense 1, with terms denoting some part, accessory, or feature of the roof, as roof-beam, roof-board, roof-capping, roof comb, roof-coping, roof-cover, roof-crest, roof-deck, roof-decking, roof-glass, roof-outlet, roof-pane, roof-ridge, roof-roller, roof-screen, roof-shelter, roof-slab, roof-space, roof-terrace, roof-thatch, roof-thatching, roof-truss.
1647Hexham, The *roofe beame, den dack balck. 1873Morley Rousseau I. vii. 258 My imagination..languishes and dies in a room and under roof beams.
1848O. S. Fowler Home for All (1851) 90 Since the *roof boards cross these rafters, so as to form an arch the other way, surely no greater solidity or strength can be required. 1940Chambers's Techn. Dict. 730/1 Roof boards, boards laid on a roof to provide a foundation and an undercovering to the covering materials proper, such as slates, tiles, etc. 1968O. S. Nock Railway Enthusiast's Encycl. 246 (caption) G.W.R.: an early example of dining-car service, with rather flamboyant roof⁓boards, c. 1900.
197736 Home Handyman Projects (Austral. Home Jrnl.) 74/1 *Roof capping is usually put on with cement. After a few years of sun, wind and rain the cement cracks and falls out.
1908Encycl. Relig. & Ethics I. 687/1 On the roof was a *roof comb—one of the most distinguishing features of Maya architecture. 1971Country Life 4 Nov. 1219/2 A three-room temple surmounted by an enormous stone roof-comb originally carved with an impressive seated figure.
1890A. J. C. Hare S.-E. France 577 Yellow and orange houses, each with..ornamented *roof-coping.
1875Knight Dict. Mech. 1973/2 Horizontal slats, slightly raised above the *roof-cover.
Ibid., Other kinds of *roof-coverings.
1862Catal. Internat. Exhib., Brit. II. No. 2329, *Roof, cresting..glazed, and enamelled. Ventilating *roof crest tiles.
1947Archit. Rev. CII. 117 The whole of the area on which this house is built is utilized for outdoor functions; above the living-room-kitchen part is an open *roof-deck, below the bedrooms a car-port. 1979Arizona Daily Star 5 Aug. (Advt. Section) 20/1 The roof deck affords fantastic views.
1960Farmer & Stockbreeder 16 Feb. (Suppl.) 40/1 When used as the *roof-decking to your new buildings or as a suspended ceiling to your existing ones, Stramit keeps temperatures constant.
1978C. Tomlinson Shaft 39 Leaves might fall On to the *roof-glass.
1894J. Watson Jedburgh Abbey (ed. 2) 119 The date of the earliest of the *roof-markings.
1967Gloss. Sanitation Terms (B.S.I.) 41 *Roof outlet, a rainwater fitting, normally provided with a grating, for building into a flat roof to receive rainwater for discharge into a rainwater pipe.
1922Joyce Ulysses 265 Roll of Bensoul⁓benjamin rolled to the quivery loveshivery *roofpanes.
a1878Sir G. Scott Lect. Archit. (1879) I. 53 They could not, under the same *roof-plane, introduce the intersecting vaults.
1833Loudon Encycl. Archit. §153 One of them..is called the *roof plate. a1878Sir G. Scott Lect. Archit. (1879) I. 251 Placed in a side wall and under a level roof⁓plate.
1844Whittier Bridal of Pennacook 259 And, adown the *roof-pole hung,..In the smoke his scalp-locks swung. 1855Longfellow Hiaw. xii. 179 The roof-poles of the wigwam Were as glittering rods of silver.
1849Ecclesiologist IX. 15 The ends of the *roof-rafters.
1874B. F. Taylor World on Wheels 218 There is singing everywhere:..from the second rail of the fence, a gust of melody; from the *roof-ridge, a solo. 1881Ruskin Our Fathers have told us i. (1884) 22 The Cathedral is seen beneath us,..our gained hill-top being on a level with its roof-ridge. 1917Conrad Shadow-Line ii. 79 Here and there in the distance, above the crowded mob of low, brown roof ridges, towered great piles of masonry.
1936Discovery Aug. 251/2 A *roof roller [excavated at Tell Duwein, near Jerusalem] was identical in form with that in use today in Palestine.
1688Holme Armoury iii. xii. 451/1 *Roofe Rooms.
1971Gloss. Terms Fire (B.S.I.) ii. 7 *Roof screen, a vertical screen fitted internally to the roof of a building to divide the roof into bays, so that smoke and hot gases from a fire are contained within the bay of origin.
1848Rickman Styles Archit. p. liii, The pendants, or vaulting shafts,..would here be more correctly called *roof-shafts.
1928D. H. Lawrence Lady Chatterley x. 145 Only one or two [chicks]..still dibbed about in the dryness under the straw *roof-shelter.
1963Gloss. Gen. Building Terms (B.S.I.) 20 *Roof slab, a slab forming the continuous loadbearing structure of a roof and spanning between supports.
1891T. Hardy Tess xxiii. (1900) 55/2 Clinging to the roadside bank like pigeons on a *roof-slope.
1839Ure Dict. Arts 624 Between the *roof-space over the pot..a large passage is opened. 1960Farmer & Stockbreeder 16 Feb. 49/2 (Advt.) Agrecon buildings give..a maximum roof-space. 1970J. Earl Tuners & Amplifiers i. 12 A simple indoor or roofspace aerial would be suitable for the reception of local stations.
1648Hexham ii, Kap-raven, *Roofe-sparrs.
1860Dickens Uncomm. Trav. 78 The rain was jerking in gushes out of the old *roof-spouts.
1848Thackeray Van. Fair lxv, The landlord..led the way up the stairs to the *roof-storey.
1937Archit. Rev. LXXXII. 119 (caption) The *roof-terrace is paved with ‘Paropa’ patent slabs.
1912‘Q.’ Hocken & Hunken xix. 239 With a rampant climber such as Rosa Devoniensis it is advisable to cut out each autumn, and clean remove some of the old wood; and this is no easy job when early neglect has allowed the plant to riot up and over the *roof-thatch.
1968J. Arnold Shell Bk. Country Crafts 329 Hazel rods have many other uses, such as for salmon-traps on the Severn..and pegs for *roof-thatching.
1828–43Tytler Hist. Scot. (1864) I. 137 The third [stone]..shivered its strong *roof-timbers into a thousand pieces.
1839Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl. II. 191/1 *Roof-trusses may be made entirely of cast-iron. 1875Knight Dict. Mech. 1975/1 Roof-truss, the framework of a roof, consisting of thrust and tie pieces. 1964W. L. Goodman Hist. Woodworking Tools 197 It may be, however, that the original French word fermoir has something to do with the ferme or roof-truss.
1805R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. I. 91 Two *roof-windows, at 6s. each.
b. In sense 2 d, as roof-coal, roof-crag, etc.
1821J. Mander Derbysh. Miner's Gloss., Roof-work, putting Slabs and other pieces of Timber to support the roof of Gabes and works in Mines. 1833–4J. Phillips Geol. in Encycl. Metrop. (1845) VI. 704/1 An idea of the appearances of the Hutton roof crags. 1839Ure Dict. Arts 978 The roof-stratum begins to break by the sides of the pillars. Ibid. 979 When a coal has a following or roof-stone,..this facilitates the labour. 1883Science I. 192/1 The exposure of the roof-shales is not sufficient to prove the absence of such detritus. 1887P. McNeill Blawearie 134 The day on which I got my head crushed wi' the fa' o' roof-coal.
c. In sense 4 b, as roof-irons, roof-seat.
1894Daily News 12 Dec. 8/4 Hansom cabs had got no roof irons to carry luggage. 1897Outing XXX. 108/1 The scared old gent on the front roof-seat. 1900F. Rogers Man. Coaching iv. 73 In the present coach, the roof-seats are fastened on the roof, with their edges fair with the front.
8. Comb.
a. Objective, as roof-building, roof-haunting, roof-levelling, roof-reaching adjs.; roof-draining, roof-raising; roof-tiler, roof walker.
1803H. More Way to Plenty (S.P.C.K.) 46 All the workmen were looking forward to the usual holiday of roof-raising. 1842Tennyson Day-Dream 37 Roof-haunting martins warm their eggs. 1849Ecclesiologist IX. 357 note, The metal-work required for roof-draining. 1860Gen. P. Thompson Audi Alt. clxx. III. 197 A provision..beneath the talents of the roof-building ape. 1863G. M. Hopkins Let. 4 May (1956) 78 Leaving a candle burning, which I thought would keep the roof⁓walker in..suspense. 1895Westm. Gaz. 3 Sept. 8/1 Luxuriant shrubs, and roof-reaching roses. 1920W. B. Yeats Michael Robartes & Dancer 20 And one bare hill Whereby the haystack and roof-levelling wind..can be stayed. 1921Dict. Occup. Terms (1927) §570 Roof tiler. 1973Times 16 Oct. 4/8 Mr Walsh, aged 24, a roof tiler. 1976Star (Sheffield) 29 Nov. 10/2 (Advt.), Roof tiler required in the very near future.
b. Similative, as roof-high, roof-shaped adjs.; roof-like, roof-wise advs.
1611Cotgr. s.v. Haultmuré, A dish of brewes, whose soppes are heaped roofewise one vpon another. 1792Wordsw. Descrip. Sketches 211 Mists..Spread rooflike o'er the deep secluded vale. 1831Carlyle Sart. Res. i. iii, Those thick locks..overlapping roof-wise the gravest face we ever in this world saw. 1832H. Martineau Each & All ii. 27 It will take a life time for our clumps to grow roof-high. 1860Maury Phys. Geogr. (Low) ii. 39 The Gulf Stream is..roof-shaped.
c. Locative, instrumental, etc., as roof-clustered, roof-mired, roof-rent, roof-wrecked adjs.; roofward(s) adv.
a1879W. Howitt in M. Howitt Autobiogr. (1889) I. vii. 227 Clouds of smoke..burst from the windows and streamed up roofwards. 1880‘Mark Twain’ Tramp Abroad xix. 171 A hill..with..its..roof-clustered cap of architecture. 1922Hardy Late Lyrics & Earlier 283 The bower we shrined to Tennyson, Gentlemen, Is roof⁓wrecked. 1932Auden in Rev. Eng. Stud. (1978) Aug. 302 A sleepy liftboy swirled us roofward. 1933C. Day Lewis Magnetic Mountain 50 Yet passing derelict mills and barns roof-rent. 1955A. Clarke Later Poems (1961) 48 A cage⁓bird came among sparrows..Plucked, roof-mired, all in mad bits.
9. Special combs., as roof bolt Mining, a tensioned rod anchoring the roof of a working to the strata above; so roof bolting vbl. n., the practice of using roof bolts; roof-brain, the cerebral cortex; roof-cat, an Indian species of wild cat; roof-climb v. intr., to climb over the roofs of buildings; so roof-climber, roof-climbing vbl. n.; roof-drip, a drip or dripping of water from a roof; roof-garden, (a) a garden, or collection of plants in large pots, etc., on the (flat) roof of a house or other building; freq. applied to a place for eating or entertainment situated on the roof of a building; also attrib.; (b) (see quot. 1932); roof-jack, (a) Canad., a pole supporting the roof of a tent; (b) Canad., a smoke vent of a chimney; (c) U.S., a support for a house painter engaged in painting a roof; roof-lorn a., roofless; roof-man = gutter-man (c) s.v. gutter n.1 8; roof-mask (see quot.); † roof-nail, nails used to secure roofing material; roof-nucleus, Anat., a part of the brain (see quots.); roof organization [tr. G. dachsorganisation], a parent organization; roof pendant Geol., a mass of country rock projecting downwards into an intrusive body such as a batholith; † roof-pincer, a surgical instrument for raising the uvula; roof-rack, a framework upon the roof of a motor vehicle to which luggage is attached; roof-rail (see quots.); roof rat (Sc. roof-rotten), Rattus rattus alexandrinus, a climbing rat which has a brownish back and greyish underparts; roof-scraper (see quot.); roof-snake, an Indian snake infesting roofs; roof-slate, a roofing slate; roof-spotter, an observer posted at the top of a building to give warning of hostile aircraft; so roof-spotting; roof-swell, a variety of organ swell; roof-top; also used attrib. of something situated on top of a building; † roof-trough (with allusion of Chaucer Miller's T. 437); roof-watcher = roof-spotter; roof-water, rain-water collected from or falling from the roof of a building.
1955Trans. Inst. Mining Engineers CXIV. 849 *Roof bolts cannot be used to replace normal supports at the face, but they have been used to advantage to bolt weak immediate beds together or to stronger beds above. 1973L. J. Thomas Introd. Mining vii. 276 It is unwise to rely on roof bolts to hold up the roof bar and the lip of the entrv.
1954Jrnl. Chem., Metall. & Mining Soc. S. Afr. LIV 285/1 It was necessary to resort to *roof and side bolting and pig netting in order to protect the personnel. 1958I. C. F. Statham Coal Mining Pract. II. ii. 144 An inversion of roof bolting, so-called floor bolting, in which bolts are inserted in holes drilled into the floor has proved successful in reducing floor lift.
1940C. S. Sherrington Man on his Nature vii. 222 Observation indicates rather a *roof-brain which overseers subordinate mechanisms. 196020th Cent. Dec. 549 At the beck and call of those more primitive regions..the roof-brain wakes or sleeps.
1895B. M. Croker Village Tales (1896) 52 He lay awake all night long, and listened to the wild *roof-cats stealing down the thatch.
1951‘M. Innes’ Operation Pax vi. vi. 286 If you *roof-climb,..then you just can't..sit in libraries too.
1932Daily Mirror 28 May 6/4 An appeal to undergraduate *roof-climbers is made in the ‘Cambridge Review’. 1932G. Greene Stamboul Train iii. i. 123 He intended to do no more roof-climbing that night.
1970R. Lowell Notebk. 238 Thud of *roofdrip.
1893M. Holley Samantha at World's Fair 286 Why, the very elevator you rode up to the *ruff garden on wuz made by a woman. 1894R. H. Davis Eng. Cousins 112 On the top of the barge is a roof-garden of pretty girls. 1895N.Y. Dramatic News 6 July 2/1 The growth of the roof garden idea has undoubtedly tended toward the obliteration of the regular forms of theatrical amusement during the heated term. 1898Daily News 15 Aug. 3/1 The New York theatres are rejoicing in the possession of..roof gardens. 1911Chambers's Jrnl. Feb. 113/1 Thus the director..has an opportunity to go to any part of the hotel, from the kitchen to the roof-garden, if he wants to look into matters. 1932Santa Fe Mag. Jan. 34/1 A mallet type or a helper engine on a mountain job is a sacred ox or a roof garden. 1959P. Oliver in M. T. Williams Art of Jazz (1960) xii. 110 The musicians and singers who had recently enjoyed a booming success at the..dance-halls and roof-gardens, were now finding themselves ‘laid off’.
1958J. G. MacGregor North-West of 16 iii. 42 Beside the *roof-jack it [sc. some animal] lay all night, and there..was a bulge it made in the roof of the tent. 1970R. & J. Paterson Cranberry Portage xiv. 88 Cranberry settlement squatted beneath a shifting smoke blanket, upheld by blue-grey columns spinning upwards from a hundred galvanized roof jacks. 1975Amer. Speech 1969 XLIV. 23 Roofjack, n. 1. A 12′ to 14′ plank with cleats affixed to shingles or embedded into roof material and which supports the painter; it serves as a platform from which steeply pitched roofs are painted. 2. A platform made for the pitch of a roof, flexible and made of wood; it is raised level against the pitch of the roof and thus allows the roof to be worked.
1804E. de Acton Tale without Title III. 127 To find himself conveyed to a *roof-lorn cottage.
1921*Roof-man [see gutter-man s.v. gutter n.1 8].
1851Ruskin Stones Ven. II. vi. 209 The *roof-mask, which protects this lower roof from the weather.
1350in Riley Mem. Lond. (1868) 262, 2,600 de wyndounail,..23,000 de *rofnail. 1477–9Rec. St. Mary at Hill (1905) 87 For sprigge, xij d, & for Rofe nayle, viij d.
1875Encycl. Brit. I. 872/1 Two grey masses, named *roof nuclei. 1886Buck's Handbk. Med. Sci. II. 329 The so-called roof-nucleus..of the cerebellum.
1948W. R. Benét Reader's Encycl. 541/2 s.v. Institute of France, It is a *roof organization and embraces these five academies.
1906R. A. Daly in Bull. Geol. Soc. Amer. XVII. 336 The whole forms a huge irregular block of roof rock almost completely surrounded and probably underlain by..granite. Such a block, once a downwardly projecting part of a roof in stock or batholith, may be named a ‘*roof pendant’; it is analogous to the pendant of Gothic architecture. 1934C. R. Longwell et al. Outl. Physical Geol. ix. 173 Batholith: partly uncovered by erosion; P and P′ are masses of invaded country rock projecting deeply downward into the batholith. They are termed roof-pendants. 1961Amer. Mineralogist XLVI. 249 Erosion has lowered the surface to the point where only patches of the metamorphics have been preserved, embedded in a matrix of the quartz diorite as roof pendants or ‘curtains’.
1690Blancard Lex. Med. 591 Staphylepartes,..the *roof pincer.
1960News Chron. 29 Apr. 10/5 Anyone..can..have his car fitted with..a *roof-rack. 1976P. Cave High Flying Birds i. 13 Just load the kites on to my roof-rack, drive down to the nearest Channel ferry service and go looking for the perfect hill.
1930Motor Body Building LI. 105/1 ‘Coachwork Nomenclature’ Front *roof rail, the cross bar joining the front ends of the cant rail. Rear roof rail, the cross bar at the back of the top of the body joining the rear ends of the cant rail. 1969Jane's Freight Containers 1968–69 18/3 6. Freight container components... 6.8. Roof rails, longitudinal structural member situated at the top edge on either side of the freight container.
1882D. C. Beard Amer. Boys Handy Bk. xxiii. 210 The *roof rat in the Southern States came originally from Egypt. 1926Genetics XI. 456 The roof rat..is common in the southern states, especially along the seaboard. 1957O. Breland Animal Friends & Foes i. 17 The two most important kinds of house rats are the brown, or Norwegian, rat and the black, or roof, rat. 1971New Scientist 15 Apr. 178/2 The term ‘rat’ could refer to..the black rat..and its colour varieties such as the roof rat.
1819Edin. Mag. July 506 Black rotten, *Roof Rotten.
1909J. R. Ware Passing Eng. 210/2 *Roof scrapers (Theatrical), gallery boys—especially those standing behind the highest row of seats—and therefore nearer the roof.
1803J. Plymley Agric. Shropsh. 43 The *roof-slate, or schistus tegularis, which contains more silex than argill.
1884Chambers' Jrnl. Apr. 215/2 There are few bungalows the thatched roof of which is not the occasional abode of..the saukor, or *roof-snake.
1940Manch. Guardian Weekly 18 Oct. 288 If we are appointed *roof-spotters to our office, then we must have sharp eyes, good ears, shrewd judgment, and a knowledge of aeroplane types. Ibid. 1 Nov. 322 The reports to the Ministry show that the *roof-spotting system is welcomed by the workers.
Ibid., In the aggregate many thousands of man-hours have been saved by efficient roof-spotting.
1852Seidel Organ 27 The *roof or door swell,..when accurately constructed (of oak wood), is the best sort.
1611Speed Hist. Gt. Brit. ix. xiv. §1. 746 Those fires..taking hold of the *roof-tops of both the royall houses. 1887Bowen Virg. æneid iv. 185 When day comes, on the roof-top tall or the tower she alights. 1935Discovery Apr. 94/2 He was cautious as to the advent of roof-top landings and city aerodromes. 1961Conyn & Marten Bali Ballet Murder xxi. 220 One of those roof-top nightclubs [in New York]. 1963House & Garden May 55/2 A rooftop garden in the Palazzo Wolkov. 1972F. Forsyth Odessa File i. 9 The underground car park..200 yards from the house where he had his roof-top flat. 1979Tucson Mag. Apr. 65 Distinguished by its..rooftop solar collectors, the system has 621 square feet of flat plate collectors.
1665R. Brathwait Comment Two Tales 23 Every one is to enter into their *Roof-trough or Kimelyn.
1941*Roof-watcher [see Jim Crow2].
1879Harper's Mag. June 134/1 During storms the *roof water increases this action. 1910W. De Morgan Affair of Dishonour iv. 55 To him who drinks no water, roof-water and well-water are welcome alike.
▪ II. roof, v.|ruːf|
Forms: 5 rof(e, rove, 7 roofe, rooff(e, 6– roof.
[f. the n. Cf. older MG. roeven, rueven (Teutonista), Flem. roeven.]
1. a. trans. To provide or cover with a roof. Also with in, over.
c1475Crabhouse Reg. (1889) 61 She..new rofyd it, and leyde therupon a fodyr of led. 1482Paston Lett. III. 281, I wulle that the seid ele..be newe rofed, leded, and glased. 1705Addison Italy (Bohn) I. 444 Ancient Roman buildings..roofed with either vaults or arches. 1726Pope Odyss. xxiii. 196 Around the tree I rais'd a nuptial bower, And roof'd defensive of the storm and shower. 1775New Hampshire Prov. Papers (1873) VII. 673, I think it would be much preferable to roofing them. 1819Scott Ivanhoe xlii. note, The builders had attained the art of using cement, and of roofing a building. 1851Carlyle Sterling i. xii, Next day, I had the passage at the entrance of the house repaired and roofed. 1886H. F. Lester Under two Fig Trees 5 If you roof over the area, how on earth are they to get any light in the kitchen?
refl. and fig.1634Heywood Maidenh. well lost i. Wks. 1874 IV. 109 He has..many a stormy night Beene forc'd to roofe himselfe i'th open field. 1872Tyndall Forms of Water 133 The sea freezes, roofing itself with ice of enormous thickness.
b. To set as a roof over something.
1818Shelley Prometh. Unb. iv. 113 The temples..Of Man's ear and eye, Roofed over Sculpture and Poesy.
2. a. To be or form, to lie as, a roof over (something or (occas.) someone). Also fig. and with in, over.
1615G. Sandys Trav. 130 The stones so great, that eight floores it, eight rooffes it. 1662Rowley Birth of Merlin iv. i, Know'st thou what pendulous mischief roofs thy head? 1819Byron Juan ii. 115 As the new flames gave Light to the rocks that roof'd them. a1820Blake Jerusalem xix, in Compl. Writings (1972) 642 And Los was roof'd in from Eternity in Albion's Cliffs. 1833Tennyson Eleänore 99 As thunder-clouds that..Roof'd the world with doubt and fear. 1865Kingsley Herew. ii, Huge fir-trees roofed it in, and made a night of noon. 1891E. Arnold Light of World 10 The impartial skies Roof one race in. 1935A. J. Cronin Stars look Down i. xxii. 211 The inrush had roofed in the Swelly: for fifty yards a barrier of water blocked the ropeway. 1972R. Adams Watership Down ix. 36 Far around..stood the orderly rows of beans,..roofing them over.
b. To shelter, house.
1820Shelley Sensit. Pl. i. 57 Flow'rets which..Fell into pavilions,..To roof the glow-worm from the evening dew. 1883Jefferies Story of my Heart 156 That his children may..have sufficient to eat, drink, clothe, and roof them.
3. intr. To dwell under one roof. rare—1.
1606Heywood Challenge v. i, Farewell world,..thou wilt not suffer Vertue And Beauty roofe together.
4. trans. To sit on the roof of (a coach).
1844W. H. Maxwell Sports & Adv. Scot. xxxi. (1855) 250 The accustomed process of roofing a stage-coach.
▪ III. roof
obs. f. roe n.2; obs. pa. tense rive v.1 |