Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
- n. A perch on which domestic fowl or other birds rest or sleep.
- n. A place with perches for fowl or other birds.
- n. A place for temporary rest or sleep.
- intransitive v. To rest or sleep on or as if on a perch or roost.
- idiom come home to roost To have repercussions or aftereffects, especially unfavorable ones: The consequences of your mistake will eventually come home to roost.
- idiom rule the roost Informal To be in charge; dominate: In this house my parents rule the roost.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
- n. The place where a bird sleeps (usually its nest or a branch).
- v. sleep.
- v. to come back home
- n. A tidal race.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
- n. Roast.
- transitive v. See roust, v. t.
- n. The pole or other support on which fowls rest at night; a perch.
- n. A collection of fowls roosting together.
- intransitive v. To sit, rest, or sleep, as fowls on a pole, limb of a tree, etc.; to perch.
- intransitive v. Fig.; To lodge; to rest; to sleep.
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A pole or perch upon which fowls rest at night; any place upon which a bird may perch to rest; also, a locality where birds, as pigeons, habitually spend the night.
- n. Hence A temporary abiding- or resting-place.
- n. The fowls which occupy such a roost, collectively.
- n. The inner roof of a cottage, composed of spars reaching from one wall to the other; a garret. Jamieson. [Scotch.]
- To occupy a roost; perch, as a bird.
- To stick or stay upon a resting-place; cling or adhere to a rest, as a limpet on a rock.
- To set or perch, as a bird on a roost: used reflexively.
- See roust.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- v. sit, as on a branch
- n. a shelter with perches for fowl or other birds
- v. settle down or stay, as if on a roost
- n. a perch on which domestic fowl rest or sleep
Etymologies
Examples
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It's a lot of fun, but having the chance to get under a roost is nearly impossible.
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Setting up close to the roost is perfectly ethical.
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The flip is that the show is a dream haven for great comedy writers, and with Carell, Helms, and now John Krasinski breaking into high-profile features, it serves as an ideal primetime launch pad and, unlike SNL, a longterm roost for established talent to boot.
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Thanks to organized protest, general public outcry, and the intervention of both the Audubon Society and the NYC Parks Department, Pale Male and Lola can again roost in peace.
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Running and gunning birds off the roost might be a lttle too much for her at first.
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Calling a gobbler to the gun straight off the roost is a fairly rare occurrence; gobblers almost always roost with hen, so they have "dates" as soon as they hit the ground.
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Last month federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett approved the clearing of land in Perth's south near the Jandakot airport despite the area being known as a roost for Carnaby's cockatoos.
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It took 15 years for the chickens to come home to roost, which is what is behind everything we're seeing.
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A stark example of partisan news ruling the roost is the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
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Globalization has come home to roost (pardon the mixed metaphor, but perhaps one can consider the 'house of cards' to be the 'roost', a very shaky, unsteady one).
chained_bear commented on the word roost
Manx, "bark," equivalent to Old Irish rúsc, Welsh rhisg(l). (Not sure if this means bark as in a tree, or bark like a dog, but I'm guessing the former.)
April 23, 2009