Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb Present participle of roost.

Etymologies

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Examples

  • Monsieur Papalier did not much relish the idea of roosting in a tree for the night; especially as, on coming down in the morning, there would be no friend or helper near, to care for or minister to him.

    The Hour and the Man, An Historical Romance Harriet Martineau 1839

  • I don't know about 'roosting' but I'm in the local area, struggling to find workers, construction materials, sensitive insurance adjusters, and all the other comforts of a refugee.

    Just Checking In Linda L. 2004

  • I say "roosting" because it seemed almost asleep; perhaps not quite.

    The Magician's Nephew Lewis, C. S. 1955

  • And so there that fence remained, beloved of every boy in Scranton, the younger fry only longing for the day to come when passing for the high school they, too, might have the proud privilege of "roosting" on its well-worn rails.

    The Chums of Scranton High Hugh Morgan's Uphill Fight Donald Ferguson

  • Reaching the limb on which the coon was "roosting," he went on it so as to give it a vigorous shaking.

    Before the War, and After the Union; An Autobiography 1929

  • They were rather excited, having found signs of turkey along the mud of a distant branch; and, as they all gathered around a cold luncheon spread beside the wagon, a lively discussion began concerning the relative chances of "roosting" and "yelping."

    The Firing Line 1899

  • There was more discussion concerning "roosting" versus "yelping" with dire designs upon the huge wild turkey-cock whose tracks Gray had discovered in the mud along the branch where their camp was to be pitched.

    The Firing Line 1899

  • She had others of the artless notions of the travelling English, and I fear that they were encouraged not only by the cook, the "second girl," and the man-of-all-work, but by Harry and his chum, Tommy; I know she used to tell how she saw tame buffalo "roosting" on the streets, "w'ich they do look that like common cows a body couldn't tell 'em hapart!"

    Stories of a Western Town Octave Thanet 1892

  • In front its foundation was level with the street, but in the rear it was supported upon posts four feet high, leaving a large vacant space beneath -- a favorite "roosting" place for pigs.

    The Boys of Crawford's Basin The Story of a Mountain Ranch in the Early Days of Colorado Chase [Illustrator] Emerson 1887

  • "She had others of the artless notions of the travelling English, and I fear that they were encouraged not only by the cook, the" second girl, "and the man-of-all-work, but by Harry and his chum, Tommy; I know she used to tell how she saw tame buffalo" roosting "on the streets," w'ich they do look that like common cows a body couldn't tell 'em hapart! "

    Stories of a western town 1893

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