Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To move forward along a surface by revolving on an axis or by repeatedly turning over.
  • intransitive verb To travel or be moved on wheels or rollers.
  • intransitive verb To travel around; wander.
  • intransitive verb To travel or be carried in a vehicle.
  • intransitive verb To be carried on a stream.
  • intransitive verb To start to move or operate.
  • intransitive verb To work or succeed in a sustained way; gain momentum.
  • intransitive verb To go by; elapse.
  • intransitive verb To recur. Often used with around:
  • intransitive verb To move in a periodic revolution, as a planet in its orbit.
  • intransitive verb To turn over and over.
  • intransitive verb To shift the gaze usually quickly and continually.
  • intransitive verb To turn around or revolve on an axis.
  • intransitive verb To move or advance with a rising and falling motion; undulate.
  • intransitive verb To extend or appear to extend in gentle rises and falls.
  • intransitive verb To move or rock from side to side.
  • intransitive verb To walk with a swaying, unsteady motion.
  • intransitive verb Slang To experience periodic rushes after taking an intoxicating drug, especially MDMA.
  • intransitive verb To take the shape of a ball or cylinder.
  • intransitive verb To become flattened by pressure applied by a roller.
  • intransitive verb To make a deep, prolonged, surging sound.
  • intransitive verb To make a sustained trilling sound, as certain birds do.
  • intransitive verb To beat a drum in a continuous series of short blows.
  • intransitive verb To pour, flow, or move in a continual stream.
  • intransitive verb To enjoy ample amounts.
  • intransitive verb To cause to move forward along a surface by revolving on an axis or by repeatedly turning over.
  • intransitive verb To move or push along on wheels or rollers.
  • intransitive verb To impel or send onward in a steady, swelling motion.
  • intransitive verb To impart a swaying, rocking motion to.
  • intransitive verb To turn around or partly turn around; rotate.
  • intransitive verb To cause to begin moving or operating.
  • intransitive verb To extend or lay out.
  • intransitive verb To pronounce or utter with a trill.
  • intransitive verb To utter or emit in full, swelling tones.
  • intransitive verb To beat (a drum) with a continuous series of short blows.
  • intransitive verb To wrap (something) round and round upon itself or around something else. Often used with up:
  • intransitive verb To envelop or enfold in a covering.
  • intransitive verb To make by shaping into a ball or cylinder.
  • intransitive verb To spread, compress, or flatten by applying pressure with a roller.
  • intransitive verb Printing To apply ink to (type) with a roller or rollers.
  • intransitive verb Games To throw (dice), as in craps.
  • intransitive verb Slang To rob (a drunken, sleeping, or otherwise helpless person).
  • noun The act or an instance of rolling.
  • noun Something rolled up.
  • noun A quantity, as of cloth or wallpaper, rolled into a cylinder and often considered as a unit of measure.
  • noun A piece of parchment or paper that may be or is rolled up; a scroll.
  • noun A register or a catalogue.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English rollen, from Old French roler, from Vulgar Latin *rotulāre, from Latin rotula, diminutive of rota, wheel; see ret- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

For verb: From Middle English rollen, from Old French roler, from Medieval Latin rotulare ("to roll", "revolve"), from Latin rotula ("a little wheel"), diminutive of rota ("a wheel").

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Examples

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  • “Sgt. Justus told us the story of a 16-year-old girl whom he convinced to "roll" on her pimp. But before she could testify against him she disappeared -- and her pimp walked free.”

    The Huffington Post, Pornland, Oregon: Child Prostitution in Portland, by Dan Rather, May 18, 2010

    May 18, 2010