on roll


verb (used without object)
to extend in undulations, as land.
to trill, as a bird.
to rock from side to side in open water. Compare heave ( def 14b ), pitch1 ( def 20 ).
to sail with a side-to-side rocking motion.
to walk with a swinging or swaying gait.
Informal. to begin to move or operate; start; commence: Let's roll at sunrise.
to curl up so as to form a tube or cylinder.
verb (used with object)
to trill: to roll one's r's.
to spread out flat (something curled up) (often followed by out ): He rolled the map out on the table.
to form (metal) in a rolling mill.
to beat (a drum) with rapid, continuous strokes.
a number of papers or other items rolled up together.
a cylindrical or rounded mass of something: rolls of fat.
some article of cylindrical or rounded form, as a molding.
thin cake spread with jelly or the like and rolled up.
meat rolled up and cooked.
the act or process or an instance of rolling.
a sonorous or rhythmical flow of words.
the trill of certain birds, especially of the roller canary.
the continuous sound of a drum rapidly beaten.
a rolling motion, as of a ship.
a rolling or swaying gait.
(of an aircraft or rocket) the act of rolling.
the angular displacement caused by rolling.
bankroll; funds: People were encouraged to shoot their rolls on mining speculation.
a single cast of or turn at casting the dice.
Verb phrases
roll in, Informal.
to luxuriate in; abound in: rolling in money.
to go to bed; retire: They would roll in later and later every night.
to arrive, especially in large numbers or quantity: When do my dividends start rolling in?
roll out,
to spread out or flatten: to roll out dough.
Informal. to arise from bed; get up: It was nearly impossible to roll out on the first day back after vacation.
Football. to execute a rollout.
Informal. to introduce; unveil: a TV advertising campaign to roll out the new car.
roll over,
to overturn: The truck rolled over, and the driver hung by her seatbelt.
to turn over: I rolled over in my sleep and nearly fell out of bed.
roll up,
to accumulate; collect: to roll up a large vote.
to increase.
on a roll,
(in a gambling game) having a continuing winning streak.
roll with the punches. punch1 ( def 16 ).


rollable, adjective
reroll, verb
unrollable, adjective
well-rolled, adjective

role, roll.

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World English Dictionary
roll (rəʊl)
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
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
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)
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
32.  a cylinder used to flatten something; roller
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
42.  the angular displacement of a vessel, rocket, missile, etc, caused by rolling
43.  a throw of dice
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
[C14 rollen, from Old French roler, from Latin rotulus a little wheel, from rota a wheel]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
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Word Origin & History

early 13c., "rolled-up piece of parchment or paper," from O.Fr. rolle, from M.L. rotulus "a roll of paper," from L. rotula "small wheel," dim. of rota "wheel." Meaning "dough which is rolled before baking" is first recorded 1580s. Meaning "quantity of paper money" is from 1846; sense of "quantity of
(rolled) film" is from 1890. Meaning "act of sexual intercourse" is attested from 1942. The military roll-call is from 1775; rollback "reduction" is attested from 1942, Amer.Eng. Roll over "reinvest" is from 1957.

c.1300 in intrans. sense of "to move by rotating;" late 14c. as "to move (something) by turning it over and over," from roll (n.).
"The rollyng stone neuer gatherth mosse." [John Heywood, "A dialogue conteinying the nomber in effect of all the proverbes in the Englishe tongue," 1546]
Of eyes, from 1510s. Of a movie camera, "to start filming," from 1938. Sense of "to rob a stuporous drunk" is from 1873, from the action required to get to his pockets. To roll with the punches is a metaphor from boxing (1940). Rolling pin is recorded from late 15c. Heads will roll is a Hitlerism:
"If our movement is victorious there will be a revolutionary tribunal which will punish the crimes of November 1918. Then decapitated heads will roll in the sand." [1930]
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Bible Dictionary

Roll definition


Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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