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单词 rolling
释义

rollingn.1

Brit. /ˈrəʊlɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈroʊlɪŋ/
Forms: see roll v.2 and -ing suffix1; also Scottish pre-1700 rolleing, pre-1700 roveing, pre-1700 roweing, pre-1700 rowlling.
Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: roll v.2, -ing suffix1.
Etymology: < roll v.2 + -ing suffix1.The precise meaning of the following quot. is unclear. It is uncertain whether rolyng should be interpreted here as showing an early example of the present word (apparently in the sense ‘noise, disturbance’; perhaps compare sense 4), or whether this instead shows a different word ( Middle Eng. Dict. at roilinge interprets this as a derivative of roil v.1 in the otherwise unrecorded sense ‘making a disturbance’; perhaps compare roiling n.1):a1450 York Plays (1885) 279 Do rappe on the renkis Þat we may rayse with oure rolyng.
I. The action of rolling or being rolled, and related senses.
1. Churning or agitation of the stomach.
ΚΠ
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. vii. xlviii. 397 If ventosite is in þe cause, hit is iknowe by rotinge and rollinge, and hurlinge and noise, and vnsauery bolkynges, by þe whiche bolkinges þe pacient raueþ.
a1413 in J. Norri Names of Sicknesses in Eng. 1400-1550 (1992) 145 He hath grete indigestioun, rowlyng and gnawying yn hys wombe.
1582 S. Batman Vppon Bartholome, De Proprietatibus Rerum v. xxxviii. f. 56v If the water be to much, it maketh roring & rolling in the wombe.
1724 J. Crawford Cursus Medicinæ ii. v. 286 The more remote cause [of vomiting] is inflammation, a rolling of the guts, an aposthume, [etc.].
1836 Periscope Jan. in Medico-chirurg. Rev., & Jrnl. Pract. Med. 24 169/2 A sense of rolling in the stomach, with intense acidity.
1903 Med. Advance July 308 Soon I began to feel sick all over, then came a rumbling and rolling in the stomach, followed very shortly by an upheaval of large quantities of mucus and bile.
2009 M. Nunn Beautiful Place to Die 286 Emmanuel found that he sounded calm despite the sick rolling of his stomach.
2.
a. The action of turning over and over, rotating about an axis; the action or an act of travelling or covering distance in this manner. Also with about.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > revolution or rotation > [noun] > turning over and over or rolling
rolling1440
trollingc1440
volution1610
rolling over1675
the world > movement > progressive motion > specific manner of progressive motion > [noun] > rolling along
rolling1440
trendling1495
volutationa1623
Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 436 Rollynge, or turnynge a-bowte, volucio.
a1450 ( tr. Vegetius De Re Militari (Douce) f. 103 (MED) Muskelus..rammeth þe loos erþe to make sad grounde and even wey ffor rennynge & rollynge of þe somercastelles to þe walles wiþ-oute lettinge.
1548 T. Cooper Bibliotheca Eliotæ (rev. ed.) Petaurum,..a kynde of game vsed in old tyme, wherin men by rollyng of wheles were cast vp alofte.
1594 T. Nashe Terrors of Night sig. Gv As the firmament is still moouing and working, so vncessant is the wheeling and rolling on of our braines.
1602 T. North tr. S. Goulart Lives Epaminondas, Philip of Macedon 78 The other in his wandrings and rollings about can well reforme his errors.
1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage ii. xiii. 151 Their rolling through the deepe and hidden vaults of the earth.
1631 ‘A. B.’ tr. L. Lessius Rawleigh his Ghost i. 22 What doth that continual rowling about of the Orbes profit, or aduantage the Sunne, or the other stars?
1662 H. Hibbert Syntagma Theologicum 174 In an unconstant man there is..uncertain rollings of spirit.
1714 L. Theobald tr. Sophocles Electra ii. ii. 25 The very Ground resounded under the rolling of the Chariot Wheels and stamping of the Horses.
1760 N. Tindal tr. P. Rapin de Thoyras Hist. Eng. Eccl. & Civil (ed. 5) X. 258/2 The reputation he had gained, would have caused his army to increase like the rolling of a snow-ball.
1841 Penny Cycl. XX. 33/2 Stone tramways consist of wheel-tracks formed of large blocks of stone, usually granite, the surface of which is made so smooth as to offer very little resistance to the rolling of the wheels.
1847 W. C. L. Martin Ox 37/2 A grinding of the teeth, and a rolling about as if from extreme agony or colic.
1879 W. Thomson & P. G. Tait Treat. Nat. Philos. (new ed.) I: Pt. i. §110 This motion is what we call rolling, or simple rolling, of the moveable body on the fixed.
1920 Landscape Archit. Jan. 70/1 The grass must be kept cut, so as to not interfere with the rolling of the ball.
1964 Pop. Mech. Sept. 165/1 Smooth rolling calls for ball bearing casters and rubber wheels.
2006 T. Tél & M. Gruiz Chaotic Dynamics ix. 292 Shimmy is a lateral vibration of towed wheels which leads to unstable rolling.
b. The action of moving or turning the eyes in their sockets, esp. in a circular motion from one side to another, in later use typically as a sign of surprise or disapproval; an instance of this.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > head > face > eye > [noun] > movements of eye
rollinga1500
volubility1603
flexion1626
roving1658
eye-rolling1837
run1837
sursumversion1897
extorsion1899
vergence1902
eye-roll1928
a1500 tr. Lanfranc Sci. Cirurgie (Wellcome) f. 22 (MED) When woundys be made in þe hede with brekyng of skull, take hede if þe brekyng of þe skule be percyde and passith inward, þat þou myght wyt in many maner, by..shorte lokyng hedus and rollyng of his eyen.
?1566 J. Alday tr. P. Boaistuau Theatrum Mundi sig. Q iv b He had reproued..the mouing or rowling of their eyes.
1610 W. Attersoll in Notes & Queries (1899) 9th Ser. IV. 104 Many vse in their teaching,..hemming in the throat, rouling of the eyes [etc.].
1647 N. Bacon Hist. Disc. Govt. 105 Not onely the opening of the eye, but also the rowling of it about.
1728 E. Young Love of Fame: Universal Passion (ed. 2) vi. 49 Mark well the rollings of her flaming eye.
1778 R. Cumberland Battle of Hastings v. 81 Why that disorder'd rolling of thine eye? What ails thee, prince?
1844 A. W. Kinglake Eothen xviii. 308 The peculiar rolling of the eyes which I had remarked.
1847 C. Dickens Dombey & Son (1848) xxxi. 318 The Native..who alarms the ladies..by the rolling of his eyes.
a1911 D. G. Phillips Susan Lenox (1917) I. xiii. 228 Mabel Connemora noted the Tempest's..rumplings of his oily ringlets and rollings of his hollow eyes.
1935 O. Sitwell Penny Foolish 94 What a craning is there of uniform necks, what a rolling of Pekingese eyes.
2004 Ottawa Citizen (Nexis) 21 Mar. a13 My frequent attempts to donate books..are usually met with frowns, heavy sighs of irritation, and much rolling of eyes.
†c. Diversion, meandering. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > aspects of travel > travel from place to place > [noun] > without fixed aim or wandering
wandering1362
roamingc1390
roving?1520
error1594
rangling1594
wanderment1597
rambling1622
rolling1624
vagancy1641
roverya1653
pervagation1656
oberration1658
vagrancya1677
stravaiging1825
scamander1873
outwandering1880
1624 R. Montagu Gagg for New Gospell? To Rdr. Let him come..to the poynts controuerted, without rowling, rambling, rauing.
d. Continuation, progression; elapsing. With on, round.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > duration > [noun] > long duration or lasting through time > lengthening in duration or prolonging > a continuation
pursuita1393
remanenta1500
continuance1552
continuation1580
prosecutiona1641
rolling1800
1800 T. Churchill tr. J. G. Herder Outl. Philos. Hist. Man xv. 459 This very confusion is the offspring of ages, which could have arisen only from the unwearied rolling on of one and the same thing.
1860 E. B. Pusey Minor Prophets 386 The swift changes of man's condition in the rolling-on of time.
1920 A. M. Rihbany Hidden Treasure of Rasmola v. 95 Later, the rolling on of the years made me forget the matter.
2006 A. A. Gill Previous Convictions (2008) viii. 61 You're taking part..in something that communes with the past and fits in with the rolling round of the seasons.
e. Surfing. With over. The action of dropping beneath the board in order to ride through a wave which has broken.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > water sports except racing > surfing > [noun] > actions of surfer
kick-out1801
ride1883
side-slip1913
surf1917
slide1935
pull-out1957
quasimodo1960
head dip1962
nose-riding1962
rolling1962
spinner1962
stalling1962
toes over1962
cutback1963
Eskimo roll1964
re-entry1968
right1968
rollercoaster1968
barrel roll1971
hold-down1982
railing1983
cross-stepping1990
cross-step1994
turtle roll2001
1962 T. Masters Surfing made Easy 65 Rolling over, rolling beneath the board to get past larger broken waves.
1963 S. Szabados in J. Pollard Austral. Surfrider ii. 20/2 For the big ones start ‘rolling over’. This is done by dropping underneath your board and hanging on by the ‘rails’, the sides, when a wave has broken and the white water is coming towards you.
3. The movement of waves, the sea, etc., in an undulating manner; an instance of this.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > flow or flowing > wave > movement of waves > [noun] > surging, rolling, or heaving
walteringc1400
washing?1473
rolling1485
walterc1540
surging1585
boil1805
welteringa1807
seethe1816
ride1822
whelm1842
welter1849
washing in1877
wash1883
1485 W. Caxton tr. Lyf St. Wenefryde sig. av v By the rollynge of the wawes and stremes of the see it was broughte to the yate of his monasterye.
1622 R. Hawkins Observ. Voiage South Sea lix. 140 The windermost shippe, by opening her sayle, may be vpon the other before shee be looked for, either for want of steeridge, not being vnder way, or by the rowling of the Sea.
1632 J. Hayward tr. G. F. Biondi Eromena 158 The motion and rowling of the sea.
1659 J. Gauden Ἱερα Δακρυα ii. xxvi. 222 However they may have their storms and tossings sometime..by innate fluctuancy, as the rollings and tidings of the sea.
1715 A. Pope in tr. Homer Iliad I. ii. Observ. 154 The first [similitude] alludes to the Noise and Tumult of the People, in the breaking and rolling of the Billows.
1721 J. Perry Acct. Stopping Daggenham Breach 7 Being met by the continued direct rolling in of the Waves of the Sea towards the Shoar.
1832 F. Marryat Newton Forster II. vi. 76 The rolling of the surf.
1896 J. R. Seeley Introd. Polit. Sci. (1901) v. 105 He had always been an admirer of the free motion of the clouds across the sky, and of the free rolling of the waves on the surface of the ocean.
1923 B. G. Guerney tr. I. A. Bunin Dreams of Chang 11 Even when lulled by the rolling of the waves, he had not slept as heavily as he sleeps now.
1955 J. M. Cohen tr. F. Rabelais Hist. Gargantua & Pantagruel iv. i. 452 Not one of the assembly..had any qualms in his stomach or his head from the rolling of the sea.
2004 J. R. Spotila Sea Turtles v. 86 It is a fierce, undeniable attraction that draws us to the rhythmic rolling of the waves, the endless view of the horizon, the mystery of the deep.
4.
a. A deep, reverberating sound, as produced by the motion of a wheeled vehicle, or by thunder; the action of producing such a sound.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > continuous or protracted sound > [noun] > roll or rumble
humblingc1384
bubblinga1398
hurlinga1398
grolling1398
rumblec1405
rumblingc1405
rolling1535
blumbering1556
roll1602
rumblement1604
grumblinga1616
lumbering1621
volutation1640
lumber1752
growlery1830
growl1833
growling1834
grumble1899
strumble1938
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Nahum iii. A There a man maye heare scourginge, ruszshinge, the noyse of the wheles, the crienge of the horses, & the rollinge of the charettes.
1611 B. Rich Honestie of Age (1844) 18 Your eares againe shall be so incumbred with the rumbling and rowling of coaches.
1680 J. Crowne Misery Civil-war i. 11 I've been like a dark Cloud, Where scorching heat has been ingendring Thunder: The grumbling and the rowling you have heard.
a1754 W. Hamilton Poems & Songs (1850) 135 There forever would thy friend remain, Rather than change once more the frantic scene, And distant hear the rollings of the main.
1836 E. B. Barrett Lett. to M. R. Mitford (1983) I. 7 The dire necessity of having every window in the house open to the ceaseless rolling of carriages.
1881 W. Besant & J. Rice Chaplain of Fleet I. vi. 138 The noise..began in the early morning with the rolling of the carts.
1910 Rep. Court of Appeals Kentucky 133 249 Tell the jury whether or not you heard any rumbling of cars, or rolling of cars, in the yard just before the accident.
1958 V. Loggins Where Word Ends 209 From two to ten hours every day he and his colleagues listened to the rolling of car wheels.
1994 B. Chevannes Rastafari i. 23 Peasants jokingly explain to children the rolling of thunder as Big Maasa rocking his chair.
b. The action of beating a drum in a rapid and continuous manner, esp. the playing of single or double strokes alternating rapidly between the left and right hands; the sound made by this.
ΚΠ
1751 M. Flemyng Nature Nerv. Fluid 35 There are few such motions in the human body carried on with greater agility, than that manner of beating the drum, term'd rolling.
1786 T. Busby Compl. Dict. Music (at cited word) Rolling, that rapid pulsation of the drum by which the sounds..beat upon the ear with a rumbling continuity of effect.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. 481 The clash of cymbals, and the rolling of drums.
1876 W. Thornbury Hist. & Legendary Ballads & Songs 222 A rolling of the muster drums Was heard along the line.
1918 E. S. Farrow Dict. Mil. Terms Drum fire, a common name given to the artillery barrage or curtain of fire. Continuous bombardment, like the rolling of drums.
1993 M. Peters Fund. Method for Timpani ii. 88 If hard sticks are used for rolling, concentrate on maintaining a particularly relaxed grip.
†c. The rapid repetition by a songbird of a single note as a trill. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > arboreal families > family Fringillidae (finch) > [noun] > subfamily Carduelinae > genus Serinus > serinus canaria (canary) > sound made by
rollingc1890
tour1906
c1890 tr. Russ's Canary Birds 99 They either depart from the ‘rolling’, or they do not achieve the desired duration and roundness of the melodies.
5.
†a. A curve; a spiral. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > curvature > coil > [noun]
rundlec1300
waif1513
enwrapping1543
convolution1545
entrail?a1549
wreath1555
roundness1572
spire1572
rolling1576
enfold1578
infold1578
obvolution1578
gyre1590
whorl1592
enfoldment1593
twine1600
turn1625
volume1646
volution1752
swirl1786
coil1805
swirling1825
convolute1846
whirl1862
enfolding1873
snaking1888
1576 A. Fleming Panoplie Epist. Epitome sig. Aiv Flames in rowlings rounde, to sweepe the starres, the mouth dooth cast.
1660 tr. H. Blum Bk. Five Collumnes Archit. (new ed.) E j Voluta hath a Circle, or rowling about of one part.
b. The action of turning or wrapping something in on itself; a turning, a folding. Also with in.Recorded earliest in rolling up n. at Compounds 3.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > folding or folded condition > [noun] > action of folding
reduplication?a1425
foldingc1440
pranking1440
replication1538
convolution1597
rolling1601
fold1609
doubling1634
foldure1823
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World I. xiii. xii. 393 The joiners glue and that made of gums, is brittle, and will not abide the rolling up of these sheets into quiers.
1604 T. Bilson Suruey Christs Sufferings 484 Your remoouing is like the roling of paper to make pipes withall.
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Roulement, a rowling, turning, foulding vp or inwards.
1712 Projector of Mine-adventure Detected 109 The Charges of 100000 Tickets, Rolling, Cutting, Paper, Pens, Ink, Candles, &c.
1847 C. D. Badham Treat. Esculent Funguses 96 In consequence of the rolling in of the margin, the pileus is almost spherical.
1883 T. H. Huxley & H. N. Martin Course Elem. Biol. 96 The movements which occur in contraction; the coiling up of the stalk; the rolling in of the disc.
1908 Pop. Mech. Mar. 197/1 These rolls are divided longitudinally into halves so that the end of the paper can be clutched between them when the rolling of the paper is started.
1921 Surgery, Gynecol. & Obstetr. 32 390/2 The Stiles operation is merely the rolling in of the entire thickness of the intestinal wall around the ureter.
2007 Farmington (New Mexico) Times (Nexis) 22 July It isn't just the blending of the tobacco or the selection of the cigars or the rolling of the cigarettes that Billington enjoys about her store.
c. North American colloquial. A hand-rolled cigarette. Also: paper and tobacco for rolling a cigarette. Usually in plural.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > tobacco > smoking > [noun] > making or rolling a cigarette
rolling1913
1913 Collier's 1 Feb. 28 Forty ‘rollings’ in each 5 cent muslin sack [of tobacco].
1940 Amer. Speech 15 213/1 The day before payday, the camp's ‘smoking’ has become scarce and ‘rollings’ or ‘makings’ are at a premium.
1965 Vancouver Sun 31 Dec. 27/1 (heading) ‘Rollings’ are safer... Dr. E. R. Threthewie..said..that home-made cigarettes burn at a lower temperature..[which] reduces the amount of cancer-producing substances produced.
1994 G. Daws Prisoners of Japanese 124 After the miserable evening meal, they could check their butt tin to see if they had the rollings of a skinny smoke.
1998 B.C. Business Mag. (Nexis) Dec. They smoked rollings, their bodies were permanently stooped from leaning over typed stories, looking for errors, misspellings and bad punctuation.
6.
a. The swaying or rocking of something, esp. a vessel, from side to side; rotary movement of a vessel about an axis parallel to its direction of motion; an instance of this. Also in figurative contexts (rare).
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > action or motion of vessel > [noun] > rolling and pitching
working1575
rolling1578
travail1687
roll1697
pitching1714
sally1718
labouring1748
pitch1751
tumblification1833
send1836
porpoising1974
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > alternating or reciprocating motion > oscillation > [noun] > swaying
swimblec1386
swagging1566
rolling1578
swaling1824
swaying1837
sway1846
1578 G. Best True Disc. Passage to Cathaya ii. 36 We were constrained with a bunte of oure saile, to try it out, and ease the rolling of oure shippe.
1622 T. Gataker Spiritual Watch 61 It is the rolling of the great ship they thinke that maketh them so euill: and so out of the ship they get them into the boat or the barke.
1635 A. Stafford Femall Glory 20 The rowling of the cradle put her in minde that she was newly enter'd into the tempest of this life.
1696 tr. A. Duquesne New Voy. E.-Indies xliii. 164 These delays were very uneasiy to us, by reason of the continual rains, and excessive rowlings of the ship.
1714 I. Hawkings Ess. Discov. Longitude at Sea 73 This Power, viz. the Rolling or Pitching of the Ship, being very strong and violent.
1750 J. Morgan tr. L. de Tassy Compl. Hist. Barbary 111 What with the Rolling of the Ship, and the Hurry usual on such Occasions, the Pinnace was foul of the Rigging.
1836 J. C. Maitland Lett. from Madras (1843) 24 Nothing but rolling by day and by night: but we are all looking forward to a week at the Cape to set us right again.
1887 J. Ball Notes Naturalist in S. Amer. 3 Forced to hold on with both hands during the rolling of the ship.
1955 A. MacLean H.M.S. Ulysses xiii. 224 Nicholls steadied himself against the canted bridge and the rolling of the cruiser.
2001 R. Frump Until Sea shall free Them i. iii. 41 An exhausted crew had not slept in days because of the emergency and the severe rolling.
b. An analogous turning movement of an aircraft, spacecraft, or motor vehicle about an axis parallel to its direction of motion.In the case of aircraft this may be inadvertent or a deliberate manoeuvre: see the note at roll n.2 7b.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > air or space travel > specific movements or positions of aircraft > [noun] > motion round longitudinal axis
rolling1906
roll1912
1906 Automobile 15 Nov. 635/1 Santos-Dumont made a series of experiments with his perfected aeroplane in the Bois de Boulogne this morning... He was..completely successful in preventing the rolling motion of the machine.
1908 H. G. Wells War in Air in Pearson's Mag. Aug. 148/1 The rolling, the pitching, the struggle ceased... The Vaterland was no longer fighting the gale.
1922 Encycl. Brit. XXX. 18/1 French pilots again pointed the way in the art of ‘rolling’, a manoeuvre in which the aeroplane is rolled about its longitudinal axis.
1974 H. Ashley Engin. Anal. Flight Vehicles i. 4 Rolling is accomplished by ailerons and/or spoilers, placed near each wing tip and deflected in an antisymmetrical manner.
1992 Pop. Mech. May 82/1 The less energy your engine needs to simply overcome the vehicle's resistance to rolling, the better its performance.
2007 Pilot's Encycl. Aeronaut. Knowl. (U.S. Federal Aviation Administration) vii. 14/2 The airplane may be so stable laterally that it resists any intentional rolling motion.
II. The action of rolling something, and related senses.
†7. The action of bandaging or binding a part of the body; an instance of this. Also: a bandage or ligature (rare). Cf. roller n.1 10. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > medical appliances or equipment > bandage > [noun] > rolled bandage
rolla1400
roller?a1425
rollingc1450
roller bandage1771
woolder1823
roll bandage1834
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > covering > wrapping > [noun] > swathing
swathing1375
rollingc1450
swaddlingc1522
enswathement1877
c1450 Med. Recipes (BL Add. 33996) in F. Heinrich Mittelengl. Medizinbuch (1896) 233 Ȝyf þe skyn be broke, or holes on, Recipe oþer medycynes & ȝyf hyt nede, as on þe leg, rollyngges.
?1541 R. Copland Guy de Chauliac's Questyonary Cyrurgyens iii. sig. Ljv Howe many maners of lygatures or rollynges ben there?
1575 G. Turberville Bk. Faulconrie 264 This ligature and rolling of the member, must be continued..xxx. dayes.
1676 R. Wiseman Severall Chirurg. Treat. v. i. 344 By this Rowling, Parts are kept from joyning together.
1722 D. Turner Art of Surg. II. vii. 227 Having try'd, by suitable Compress and good Rolling, to press forth the matter, and unite the Cavity.
1830 Lancet 29 May 308/2 After using a certain portion of the bandage to accomplish the circular rolling of the limb..some surgeons employ the rest in carrying it round the splints.
8.
a. The action of turning something over and over, or of causing it to roll; an instance of this. Also figurative and in figurative contexts. Also with about.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > revolution or rotation > [noun] > turning over and over or rolling > causing
rollingc1451
pitchpoling1851
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > bowls or bowling > [noun]
bowls1495
row-bowls1501
bowling1535
rolling1583
c1451 J. Capgrave Life St. Gilbert (1910) 93 Þat þe onyment of vertue whech was with-inne him schuld be stered & rolled with many tribulaciones, þat aftyr þat rollyng it schuld haue þe mor odour.
1483–4 in J. T. Fowler Extracts Acct. Rolls Abbey of Durham (1899) II. 414 In 1 hoggeshede vini..cum cariag. et rollyng.
1583 in J. D. Marwick Extracts Rec. Burgh Edinb. (1882) IV. 265 Proclamatioun to be maid discharging..all catchpulling, rolling, playing, drinking and taverning.
1615 H. Crooke Μικροκοσμογραϕια 629 The Muscles of the Tongue are assistant vnto it in..his Functions of Speaking, Tasting and Rowling of the Meate.
1633 R. Capel Tentations ii. 258 These horrible tentations..are Gods and our greatest enemies..this rowling of them up and downe in our heads, doth show that there is an insensible likening of them in our hearts.
1645 J. Tombes Anthropolatria 13 The rowling in sugar doth make the stomache swallow bitter pills.
1692 R. L'Estrange Fables vi. 6 What's a Man's Contending with Insuperable Difficulties, but the Rolling of Sisiphus's Stone up the Hill, which is soon before-hand, to Return upon him again?
1727 S. J. Vineyard 111 The frequent rolling about, likewise Heats and Meliorates these Wines.
1770 in J. Bulloch Pynours (1887) 76 To put a total stop to the rolling of all sorts of Casks.
1862 D. T. Ansted & R. G. Latham Channel Islands ii. xi. 286 The only reason why all are not rounded is that the work of rolling and wearing is still going on upon recently fallen material.
1893 Century Mag. Aug. 549/1 And then what a rolling of barrels, and shouldering of sacks, and singing of Jim Crow songs, and pacing of Jim Crow steps.
1909 I. E. Miller Psychol. of Thinking xv. 195 The rolling of the ball had been a matter of indifference to the child.
1946 Pop. Mech. May 110/1 Immediately following the rolling of the first ball, the alternate set of pins has been lifted by mechanical clamps from the line-up.
2007 J. Brogan Yesterday's Fatal ii. 13 He placed his whole rack on the pass line and everyone's breathing halted as they waited for the rolling of the dice.
b. U.S. = log-rolling n. 1a.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > social event > social gathering > [noun] > gatherings for specific activity
apple paring1656
house raising1704
quilting1768
bee1769
sing-song1769
reading party1781
rocking1786
cotton-picking1795
rolling1819
picking bee1828
candy pulling1834
candy pull1845
taffy-join1854
barn-raising1856
taffy pulling1863
coffee shop1880
log-rolling1883
taffy pull1883
petting party1920
play date1975
1819 W. Keyes Jrnl. 21 May in Wisconsin Mag. Hist. (1920) III. 463 Attended a rolling bee this morning.
1836 P. B. Wilcox Condensed Rep. Supreme Court Ohio 217 Proved that they were at the rolling of the logs; that the defendant then said that the reason why the rolling was had at so early a stage of the work was that the plaintif was going to remove from his house, and that plaintif's wife could not then cook for the hands.
1839 in H. Howe Hist. Coll. Ohio (1847) 358 Many times were we called from six to eight miles to assist at a rolling or raising, and cheerfully lent our assistance to the task.
1922 D. T. Herndon Centennial Hist. Arkansas I. 209 The trees were felled, cut, or burned into lengths so that they could be handled, and then the neighbors were invited to the ‘rolling’.
2007 R. Sisson et al. Amer. Midwest 875/1 Logs were rolled to a specified spot, where they were lifted to erect a cabin. Rollings to clear land continued beyond the log cabin era.
c. North American slang. Robbery, esp. committed upon intoxicated or unconscious persons. Cf. roll v.2 18e. Recorded earliest in drunk rolling.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > robbery > [noun]
reiflockOE
reiflOE
robberya1200
rapea1325
reaveryc1325
robbing1340
ravinc1384
stouthreif1493
ravenya1500
bribery1523
reft1552
pillardise1598
involationa1680
mail robbery1797
hustling1823
push1874
blag1885
rolling1895
strong-arming1948
1895 Los Angeles Times 22 Nov. 13/3 (headline) A serious case of drunk ‘rolling’ reported.
1907 J. London Road 170 The rolling of a stiff is ofttimes an amusing sight, especially when the stiff is helpless and when interference is unlikely.
1939 C. R. Cooper Designs in Scarlet i. 21 The ‘rolling’ or robbing of a man with whom they had been in company, on their alleged promise of sexual intercourse.
1969 Jeremy 1 iii. 24/1 ‘Rolling’ occurs most often in the lavatories of cinemas.
2000 J. Lardner & T. Reppetto NYPD iv. 84 Such men..were often mixed up in the rolling of drunks or in the transport of stolen property.
9. The operation of compressing, smoothing, or levelling a surface or material by means of a cylinder or roller; an instance of this.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > manufacturing processes > [noun] > processing > rolling
rolling1530
society > occupation and work > industry > working with specific materials > working with metal > [noun] > rolling
rolling1530
milling1613
hot rolling1853
cogging1878
roll-forming1922
skin pass1932
1530 in H. M. Paton Accts. Masters of Wks. (1957) I. 33 For xii vedgis rowyn.
1615–16 in H. M. Paton Accts. Masters of Wks. (1957) I. 373 To the quarieris..for schairping of thair pickes and rowing of thair wages [= wedges].
1682 N. Grew Anat. Plants i. iii. 28 That which is sometimes also effected in Rowling of Corn.
1762 A. Dickson Treat. Agric. ii. xxi. 308 When land is laid down in grass for hay, rolling is of use in smoothing the surface.
1786 J. Abercrombie Gardeners Daily Assistant 185 Give a good rolling after rain.
1801 Farmer's Mag. Apr. 129 After the..land has been effectually cleaned, by its harrowings, rollings, and pickings.
1809 J. Pinkerton Gen. Coll. Voy. & Trav. VI. 457 In another building two cylinders in metal, for rolling of copper into sheets.
1868 F. H. Joynson Metals in Constr. 79 It is usually subjected to repeated hammerings and rollings at a low heat.
1920 Amer. City 23 168/2 The rolling of the pavement after it is completed is a matter which appears to be slighted frequently.
1952 L. W. White & W. H. Bowles Pract. Groundsmanship iii. 73 Ensure that no caking has taken place during the earlier rollings.
2007 G. Patent Baker's Odyssey iv. 149 Refrigerating the dough between rollings and foldings also makes the dough easy to handle.

Compounds

C1. General attributive, esp. in sense 6.
rolling action n.
ΚΠ
1771 M. Peters Winter Riches p. viii A finall rolling action to a plough may be seen at the Society of Arts in the Strand.
1857 Mechanics' Mag. 21 Feb. 170 The rolling action of the packing ring diminishes the friction.
1915 A. Fage Aeroplane v. 68 We ignored the rolling action due to the difference between the relative wind speeds of the wings.
2003 Trail Nov. 75/1 What I particularly like is the easy rolling action of the stiff sole, which makes it ideal for tackling the rubble.
rolling motion n.
ΚΠ
1603 J. Florio tr. M. de Montaigne Ess. i. xxii. 47 What Philosphers deeme of the celestiall musicke, which is, that the bodies of it's circles, being solide smooth, and in their rowling motion, touching and rubbing one against another, must of necessitie produce a wonderfull harmonie.
1789 tr. G. F. Magné De Marolles Ess. Shooting x. 143 Into these the ball is moulded, and any rolling motion along the sides of the barrel in its passage out, thereby prevented.
1870 Daily News 31 Aug. 2 This [new pack saddle] together with a new mode of girthing, professes to prevent the rolling motion which generally galls the backs of animals.
1923 Rep. & Mem. Aeronaut. Res. Comm. No. 846. 1 It was found necessary..to augment considerably the damping of the rolling motion.
2004 A. Sileika Woman in Bronze 64 Inside the workshop, he sharpened the gouge with a rolling motion against the stones.
rolling movement n.
ΚΠ
1811 Spirit of Public Jrnls. 14 328 Scarcely have the solemn nightly flames of the Chemist been compelled..to ‘pale their ineffectual fires’, when the loud ‘thumps’ and rolling movement of the Callenderer succeed.
1912 Techn. Rep. Advisory Comm. Aeronaut. 1911–12 103 The one claim that is made for the ‘lower centre of gravity aeroplane’ is that, although it rolls, the rolling movement is a steady one.
2000 Marie Claire July 269/2 Sessions involve vigorous rocking and rolling movements by the therapist.
rolling oscillation n.
ΚΠ
1841 J. S. Russell Nature, Properties, & Applic. Steam, & Steam Navigation 301 It produces a rolling oscillation, when the wind is in any degree on the beam.
1915 A. Fage Aeroplane vi. 86 If the moments of inertia of the machine about the longitudinal and normal axes be small, the yawing and rolling oscillations will be rapid.
2007 A. Tewari Atmospheric & Space Flight Dynamics xv. 511 (caption) The bank angle..and the roll rate..display an increasing amplitude rolling oscillation that reaches a limit cycle in about 60 s.
rolling stability n.
ΚΠ
1917 F. S. Barnwell in F. S. Barnwell & W. H. Sayers Aeroplane Design 60 The third form of stability—that is, ‘lateral’ or ‘rolling’ stability.
1938 Aircraft Engin. Jan. 15/1 The effect on rolling stability of lowering the flaps..is quite small.
2003 M. E. Ostrow Goldfish (new ed.) 86/2 Some goldfish varieties have long dorsal fins that..interfere with swimming and rolling stability.
C2.
a.
rolling axis n. an axis about which something rolls or turns; spec. = roll axis n. at roll n.2 Compounds.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > air or space travel > a means of conveyance through the air > aeroplane > qualities and parameters of aircraft > [noun] > axes of specific moments
rolling axis1731
longitudinal axis1744
pitching axis1920
roll axis1945
pitch axis1952
yawing axis1953
yaw axis1959
1731 J. Trapp tr. Virgil Æneis iv, in tr. Virgil Wks. II. 260 The rolling Axis studded o'er with Stars.
1794 J. Smeaton Exper. Enq. Nat. Powers of Wind & Water iii. 40 This pendulum hangs upon a cylindrical wire, whereon it vibrates, as on a rolling axis.
1953 New Biol. 14 66 Stability can be related to any of the three axes—the rolling axis (parallel to its direction of flight), the yawing axis.., and the pitching axis.
2003 T. R. Yechout Introd. Aircraft Flight Mech. v. 212 The rudder and vertical tail are normally above the rolling axis of the aircraft.
rolling bee n. a gathering or event at which people participate in logrolling.
ΚΠ
1819Rolling bee [see sense 8b].
1898 G. Wyman Public Land & Mining Laws Alaska & Brit. Columbia xi. 607 When all is ready, neighbors are invited to the rolling bee to help in placing the logs on the pit.
1995 R. Kirk & C. Alexander Exploring Washington's Past (rev. ed.) 442/2 With ‘rolling bees,’ they helped each other clear the land by cutting trees and levering them into heaps for burning.
rolling chamber n. a compartment for water ballast extending across the beam of a ship, to prevent rolling.
ΚΠ
1887 Times 21 Dec. 6/5 They will be provided with a rolling chamber similar in character, though much improved in form, to that which has been fitted in some of our large warships to reduce their excessive rolling.
1900 Geogr. Jrnl. Jan. 34 The ship has a rolling chamber to keep her steady.
rolling contact n. contact between two surfaces one of which rolls over the other, without sliding or rubbing.
ΚΠ
1843 Penny Cycl. XXVII. 315/2 They diminish resistance by converting what would other wise be a rubbing into a rolling contact.
1869 W. J. M. Rankine Man. Machinery & Millwork iv. 82 The pitch surface of a toothed wheel..is an ideal smooth surface..which, by rolling contact with the pitch surface of another wheel, would communicate the same velocity-ratio that the teeth communicate by their sliding contact.
2003 M. P. Norton & D. G. Karczub Fund. Noise & Vibration Anal. for Engineers (ed. 2) viii. 850 Results are presented..on the identification of rolling-contact bearing damage.
rolling drag n. = rolling resistance n.
ΚΠ
1962 Pop. Sci. Oct. 113/2 The trailing axle..can be raised when the truck is empty, to reduce tire wear and rolling drag.
2004 D. G. Wilson Bicycling Sci. (ed. 3) iv. 146 A reliable on-bicycle power meter is the next-best method for measuring aerodynamic and rolling drag.
rolling friction n. = rolling resistance n.
ΚΠ
1839 Observ. Imperfections Present Syst. constructing Railways 9 Friction is of two kinds, rolling friction, or that produced by the resistance of the rail to the rolling of the periphery of the wheel upon its surface... The other sort of friction is called rubbing friction.
1905 H. T. Bovey Theory of Structures (ed. 4) vi. 385 The harder and smoother the surfaces, the less is the rolling friction.
1998 Skydiving July 6/2 (caption) The creeper's unique four-wheel design makes it lighter and produces less rolling friction.
rolling house n. U.S. (now historical) a warehouse, used for inspection or storage, to which tobacco is conveyed by rolling.
ΚΠ
1705 Plain & Friendly Perswasive in Va. Mag. Hist. & Biogr. (1897) Jan. 271 All Tobacco is brought to Landings or Rowling-Houses.
1884 Cent. Mag. Jan. 446/2 The commonest mode of moving tobacco was yet more naked; the cask was strongly hooped, and then rolled..to the inspector's warehouse, known for this reason as a ‘rolling-house’.
1950 Jrnl. Southern Hist. 16 311 For those persons at great distances from the ports, rolling houses were to be established at convenient places.
2000 R. Hoffman Princes of Ireland iii. 119 The theft of hogsheads from rolling houses, losses in weight, and the cost of retaining clerks to assist him in keeping tenants' accounts certainly reduced his intake.
rolling instability n. Aeronautics a form of instability in an aircraft whereby any rolling tends to continue or to increase in magnitude.
ΚΠ
1913 Nature 30 Jan. 602/2 Such a surface..might, however, make the machine liable to rolling instability.
2005 M. J. Abzug & E. E. Larrabee Airplane Stability & Control (ed. 2) xi. 181 In tests reaching a Mach number of 1.79 serious rolling instability occurred.
rolling moment n. a moment (moment n. 8b) that tends to produce rolling of a ship or aircraft, acting about its direction of motion.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > air or space travel > specific movements or positions of aircraft > aerodynamic forces and concepts > [noun] > moments acting on aircraft
pitching moment1880
rolling moment1880
yaw1916
1880 J. R. Soley Rep. Foreign Syst. Naval Educ. 187 Technical knowledge of..rolling moments and pitching moments.
1914 Techn. Rep. Advisory Comm. Aeronaut. 1912–13 117 Measurements of..rolling moment, for varying angles of yaw.
2004 G. M. Siouris Missile Guidance & Control Syst. iii. 62 The three moment components are the pitching moment, the rolling moment, and the yawing moment.
rolling paper n. (a) U.S. (in plural) documents granting permission to travel in a vehicle, esp. a freight vehicle (rare); (b) originally U.S. a small piece of thin paper, now usually with a gummed edge, for making hand-rolled tobacco or marijuana cigarettes.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > tobacco > smoking > articles or materials used in smoking > [noun] > thing which may be smoked > cigarette > tobacco and paper for rolling > cigarette paper
cigarette paper1860
Zig-Zag1909
papera1911
Rizla1916
Rizla paper1939
rolling paper1943
tissue1952
skin1967
1943 Chicago Tribune 1 Feb. 22/3 The ‘rolling papers’ must be shown by the driver of any partly loaded truck when requested by police or federal inspectors.
1945 Hartford (Connecticut) Courant 21 June 14/8 Police recovered a crumpled piece of cigarette rolling paper on which were allegedly written the names of horses.]
1948 F. F. Manfred Chokecherry Tree ii. 16 Reluctantly Pa reached into the tobacco counter and tossed him a package of Bull Durham and a packet of rolling papers.
1951 Railroad Mag. Dec. 97/2 McTodd ran to the depot from twenty cars back,..received his rolling papers and away we went for Amelia, six miles beyond.
1979 Christian Sci. Monitor 21 Nov. (Eastern ed.) b2/2 The sale of rolling papers at supermarkets and the open sale of drug paraphernalia at head shops tend to signal children that the drug culture must be okay.
2007 A. L. Hall Rhythm of Road iii. 37 He took out the items one at a time: PG Tips. Hovis bread. Milk. Rizla rolling papers.
rolling resistance n. the frictional resistance between a rotating wheel and the surface over which it travels.
ΚΠ
1831 N. Wood Pract. Treat. Rail-roads (new ed.) vi. 229 The rolling resistance of the wheels is supposed to be equal to the 1000th part of the weight.
2007 Procycling June 79 (advt.) Our 3C Technology utilizes three distinct compounds to provide increased traction in the corners..and a hard center tread for low rolling resistance.
† rolling pear n. Obsolete a variety of pear which is improved by bruising.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular types of fruit > [noun] > pear > other types of
calewey1377
honey peara1400
pome-pear1440
pome-wardena1513
choke-pear1530
muscadel1555
worry pear1562
lording1573
bon-chrétienc1575
Burgundian pear1578
king pear1585
pound pear1585
poppering1597
wood of Jerusalem1597
muscadine1598
amiot1600
bergamot1600
butter pear1600
dew-pear1600
greening1600
mollart1600
roset1600
wax pear1600
bottle pear1601
gourd-pear1601
Venerian pear1601
musk pear1611
rose pear1611
pusill1615
Christian1629
nutmeg1629
rolling pear1629
surreine1629
sweater1629
amber pear1638
Venus-pear1648
horse-pear1657
Martin1658
russet1658
rousselet1660
diego1664
frith-pear1664
maudlin1664
Messire Jean1664
primate1664
sovereign1664
spindle-pear1664
stopple-pear1664
sugar-pear1664
virgin1664
Windsor pear1664
violet-pear1666
nonsuch1674
muscat1675
burnt-cat1676
squash pear1676
rose1678
Longueville1681
maiden-heart1685
ambrette1686
vermilion1691
admiral1693
sanguinole1693
satin1693
St. Germain pear1693
pounder pear1697
vine-pear1704
amadot1706
marchioness1706
marquise1706
Margaret1707
short-neck1707
musk1708
burree1719
marquis1728
union pear1728
Doyenne pear1731
Magdalene1731
beurré1736
colmar1736
Monsieur Jean1736
muscadella1736
swan's egg1736
chaumontel1755
St Michael's pear1796
Williams1807
Marie Louise1817
seckel1817
Bartlett1828
vergaloo1828
Passe Colmar1837
glou-morceau1859
London sugar1860
snow-pear1860
Comice1866
Kieffer pear1880
sand pear1880
sandy pear1884
snowy pear1884
1629 J. Parkinson Paradisi in Sole iii. xxi 592 The Rowling peare is a good peare, but hard, and not good before it bee a little rowled or bruised, to make it eate the more mellow.
1682 N. Grew Idea Philos. Hist. Plants 15 in Anat. Plants Some Apples mend their Taste, by Scoaping, and Pears by Rowling, especially that called the Rowling Pear.
rolling room n. a room at a mint in which the metal for coins is rolled into strips.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > money > coining > [noun] > mint > parts of
bullion1336
melting house1431
rolling room1816
1816 Ann. Reg. 1815 Chron. 84/2 The silver or rolling room.
1872 Manufacturer & Builder Mar. 57/1 It will be remembered that in the rolling-room the strips of gold were once annealed; but that afterward they underwent a renewed series of laminations.
1900 Overland Monthly Dec. 573/1 The large scale in the rolling room, which will weigh 3,000 ounces at once, will tip with a small scrap torn from the edge of a newspaper.
1992 C. E. Challis New Hist. Royal Mint iv. 527 The old rolling room was retained largely unchanged for silver and bronze.
b. Nautical.
rolling chock n. (a) a piece of wood fastened to the centre of a yard and secured by a parrel, in order to steady the yard against the rolling movements of the ship; (b) a fin-like projection fitted under the bilge or along the hull in order to counteract the hull's tendency to roll.
ΚΠ
1846 A. Young Naut. Dict. Rolling-Chock, or Rolling-Cleat, a piece of wood fastened to the middle of an upper yard, with a piece cut out of its centre so that it may half encircle the mast, to which it is secured by an iron parrel.
1902 J. Conrad Typhoon ii. 9 The Nan-Shan, with her flat bottom, rolling chocks on bilges, and great breadth of beam, had a reputation of an exceptionally steady ship in a seaway.
1938 Times 25 June 23/3 Result of survey, three plates starboard side very heavily bulged and four frames with breakage of rivets rolling chock shifted.
2007 J. Christley US Nucl. Submarines 41 (caption) Modern submarines are built specifically to travel completely submerged—their round hulls with no rolling chocks and their low bridges make them miserable in any significant seaway.
rolling cleat n. now rare = rolling chock n. (a).
ΚΠ
1846Rolling-cleat [see rolling chock n.].
1864 R. Kipping Rudimentary Treat. on Masting, Mast-making & Rigging of Ships (ed. 9) xiii. 116 The yard is next hove up, and the parral is passed round the aft part of the mast and seized to the rolling cleats, or jaws fixed to the aft side, the middle or slings of the yard.
1903 H. Holmes Life & Adventures 29 There were no patent trusses to the lower yard or rolling cleats to the topsail yards.
rolling rope n. now rare a rope attached to a yard in order to steady it.
ΚΠ
1831 Lady's Bk. June 296/1 While I put on the rolling rope, Jack had got half way down the topmast rigging.
1868 S. B. Luce Seamanship (ed. 4) x. 164 It would be well to remember, that if it be kept aloft, and the rolling ropes passed securely over the topmast-cap, a considerable degree of support might be given to the top-gallant mast.
1918 W. J. Thompson Wooden Shipbuilding 143 Rolling Rope, a rope that is used to steady light yards.
rolling tackle n. tackle used to strengthen the yards against the strain produced by the rolling of the vessel; a device used for this purpose.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > masts, rigging, or sails > spar > [noun] > yard > devices used to strengthen yards
rolling tackle?1752
?1752 J. Lowrey Narr. Proc. 26 Neither the Braces, nor the rolling Tackle, were hawl'd Tort.
1769 W. Falconer Universal Dict. Marine Rolling-tackle, a pulley or purchase fastened to that part of a sail-yard which is to the windward of the mast, in order to confine the yard close down to..leeward when the sail is furled.
1822 W. H. Ireland Sailor-boy (ed. 2) ii. 60 The rolling-tackle, travellers, and jears, With parrel to hold yard in as wind veers.
1932 Times 2 Sept. 15/6 With rolling tackles on spars, we worked round Ushant and spent the next day plying palm and needle.
2002 J. L. Nelson Pirate Round (2003) 120 Rolling tackles that kept the heavy yards from slamming side to side as the ship rolled were rigged and bowsed taut.
C3. With following adverb, forming nouns of action corresponding to phrasal verbs (see roll v.2).
rolling back n. the action or an act of rolling back; spec. the reduction of something to a previous state or level; an instance of this.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > decrease or reduction in quantity, amount, or degree > [noun]
waningc900
littlingOE
lessingc1350
abating1370
diminutionc1374
minishinga1382
decrease1383
remissiona1398
shrinkinga1398
decreasing1398
adminishing?c1400
abbreviation?a1425
lessening?a1425
minoration?a1425
disincrease1430
abatement1433
restrictiona1450
batea1475
diminuation1477
limitation1483
abate1486
minute1495
minishment1533
mitigation1533
diminishinga1535
extenuation1542
slacking1542
reduce1549
diminishment1551
perditionc1555
debatementa1563
rebatement1573
obstriction1578
imminution1583
contracting1585
contraction1589
rabate1589
rebating1598
retrenchmentc1600
decession1606
ravalling1609
reducement1619
decrement1621
bating1629
shrivellinga1631
decretion1635
dejection1652
abater1653
rolling back1658
limiting1677
batement1679
reduction1695
depression1793
downdraw1813
descent1832
decess1854
lowering1868
shrinkage1873
dégringolade1883
minification1894
degrowth1920
downrating1950
society > trade and finance > monetary value > price > fluctuation in price > [noun] > decline in prices
fall1551
falling1571
sag1891
rolling back1942
turnback1977
1658 E. Phillips New World Eng. Words Revolution, a rowling back.
1792 W. Withering Bot. Arrangem. Brit. Plants (ed. 2) III. 27 A ripe Capsule opened by the rolling back of the Valves.
1863 Sat. Rev. 6 June 729 When all this is brought into connexion with the rolling back of the stream, and the miraculous passage of the Israelites.
1942 Canad. Jrnl. Econ. & Polit. Sci. 8 438 The rolling back of costs had meant the lowering of gross profit margins all along the line.
1979 Daily Tel. 2 Nov. 1 Stronger control of the economy and a rolling back of Socialist extravagance.
2002 Guardian (Nexis) 29 Oct. Features section 2 One of the great ironies of society's saturation with sexual imagery and detail is that it doesn't tally with any great rolling back of inhibition.
rolling off n. the action or an act of rolling off; rolling that constitutes completion or finishing in some way.
ΚΠ
1712 I. Newton Let. 14 Feb. in Corr. (1975) V. 224 The rolling off and some other Graving Work..comes to 7£. 4s.
1808 Repertory of Arts 2nd ser. 13 152 When the roller-plates E E have six rollers mounted on them, three of them may be used for the operation of rolling on, and three of them for rolling off with.
1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 635 The body is..then dipped and rolled in the hot liquor... This is technically called rolling off, or roughing.
1853 tr. E. Swedenborg Heaven & Hell in Compend. Theol. & Spiritual Writings 161 Afterwards something is felt to be rolled off softly from the face... That rolling off from the face is also an appearance, for by it is represented that he comes from natural thought into spiritual thought.
1917 Jrnl. Iron & Steel Inst. 95 275 He says he remembers the rolling off of the steel rail, but cannot give dates.
2008 M. Richardson Zen & Now xii. 177 Curves marked for 40 miles per hour can be taken easily at 60, and those that advise 35 need just a rolling off of the throttle and a steady hand at 55.
rolling over n. the action or an act of rolling over, or of rolling something over.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > revolution or rotation > [noun] > turning over and over or rolling
rolling1440
trollingc1440
volution1610
rolling over1675
1675 R. Baxter More Proofs Infants Church-membership i. 84 The rowling over of your wearisom dry denials and confident absurdities.
a1684 R. Leighton Serm. (1692) vi. 104 No other but a recumbency or reliance, rolling over of the soul upon free mercy.
1759 J. Wilkinson Seaman's Preserv. 10 They drowned by the rolling over, and tossing of the very lumber they were compelled to rely upon for their security.
1815 Eclectic Rev. Feb. 178 The rolling over of a point in a straight direction marks out the track of a straight line.
1886 Fores's Sporting Notes III. 155 And then among the reeds is a rolling over, a confusion, and a worry.
1930 Times 10 Oct. 15 The rolling over of the huge cylinders of dark water.
1992 D. Weale Them Times 22 The rolling over, punching down and rising up of the bread-dough.
2006 C. McHose & K. Frank How Life Moves viii. 68 See if your fish body is able to lengthen so far that the head movement initiates a rolling over.
rolling up n. (a) the action or an act of rolling something up; (b) Printing a stage in the preparation of a lithographic plate involving the application of ink by means of a roller.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > extension in space > reduction in size or extent > [noun] > folding up or rolling up
rolling up1601
furdling1658
telescoping1844
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > printmaking > surface and planographic printing > printing from metal or plastic plates > [noun] > techniques
counter-etching1960
counter-etch1967
rolling up1968
1601Rolling up [see sense 5b].
1798 T. Pennant View Hindoostan I. 225 The Greeks called it Κιννάμωμον..from the pipe-like form it assumed by the rolling up.
1852 Househ. Words 8 May 180/2 The drawing is then carefully washed with rain-water, and is now ready for ‘gumming in’ and ‘rolling up’.
1860 S. M. Eckley Oldest of Old World xvi. 148 The packing of canteens, the rolling up of tents, go on while we are sipping our coffee in empty space.
1968 Canad. Antiques Collector June 6/2 The stone having been coated with ‘etch’ is left for 24 to 48 hours and then the original drawing is completely removed (washed out) and the crayons, inks, etc. replaced by the special printing inks required in the process. This stage is called ‘rolling up’ and is accomplished with a hand-made leather covered roller.
2008 T. Santopietro Sinatra in Hollywood 42 There was no problem that couldn't be solved with a little elbow grease and a rolling up of the sleeves.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

† rollingn.2

Forms: see roll v.3 and -ing suffix1.
Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: roll v.3, -ing suffix1; roll n.1, -ing suffix1.
Etymology: Partly < roll v.3 + -ing suffix1, and partly < roll n.1 + -ing suffix1. Compare later enrolling n.
Obsolete. Chiefly Scottish.
The action of entering upon a roll; enrolling, enrolment.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > record > list > [noun] > entering in list
rollinga1400
a1400 (c1303) R. Mannyng Handlyng Synne (Harl.) 9801 (MED) Syker ys þat yn rolle ys leyde, For þan may hyt neuer be wyþseyde; þe rollyng fordoþe croppe and rote And ryȝt of þo þat wulde þe mote; Rollyng and þe grete assyse, Aftyr hem may no lawe ryse.
1465 in Manners & Househ. Expenses Eng. (1841) 298 My mastyr paid for the rollenge [of his patent], iij s. iiij d.
a1550 Vox populi 43 in W. C. Hazlitt Remains Early Pop. Poetry Eng. (1866) III. 269 By roulyng and by dating.
1552 in J. H. Burton Reg. Privy Council Scotl. (1877) 1st Ser. I. 32 That thair be Commissaris deput..to vesy the rolling of the futmen.
1621 Acts Parl. Scotl. (1816) IV. 619/2 For wreating rolling and extracting of a schireffis compt.
1647 Edinb. Test. LXIII. f. 215, in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue (at cited word) Twintie twa scooll inkhornes..four dussane and nyne rolling inkhornes.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2019).

rollingadj.adv.

Brit. /ˈrəʊlɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈroʊlɪŋ/
Forms: see roll v.2 and -ing suffix2; also 1800s roleing.
Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: roll v.2, -ing suffix2.
Etymology: < roll v.2 + -ing suffix2.
A. adj.
1.
a. Turned inwards in a coil or curl. Also: turned over.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > curvature > coil > [adjective]
rollingc1400
whorling1578
wreathing1584
twininga1593
wreathy1644
volvulous1657
coiling1718
vining1806
swirling1807
convolutionary1903
c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness (1920) 790 (MED) Bolde burnez were þay boþe..Royl rollande fax, to raw sylk lyke.
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Volute, the rolling shell of a Snayle.
1842 Fraser's Mag. Dec. 657/1 To a white satin vest, fancy sprig, rolling collar, 1l. 15s.
1876 Encycl. Brit. IV. 496/2 To this old manner of forming shutters must be added the rolling shutters of Clark..and others.
1883 Cent. Mag. Sept. 725 The rolling scrolls, borrowed from the Romans.
1959 Pop. Mech. Oct. 191/2 The corner cabinet can be made with rolling shutters of the tambour type.
2004 T. J. Manning Mindful Knitting 106 Blocking: Process to even out the tension of stitches and to flatten rolling edges of a knit fabric.
†b. Of a stocking: that has a top which may be rolled up or down on the leg. Obsolete. (Cf. roll-up n. 1.)
ΚΠ
1683 London Gaz. No. 1834/4 A pair of new rowling Worsted Stockings.
1686 London Gaz. No. 2155/4 A Parcel of Rouling Silk Hose..supposed to be stolen.
1696 London Gaz. No. 3226/4 5 dozen of superfine Rolling Frame Knit Hose.
1704 London Gaz. No. 4067/7 A dark-coloured Coat, and rolling Stockings.
1731 T. Salmon Mod. Hist. XIV. 64 Rolling Stockings were long in Fashion, but now pretty much disus'd.
2. That moves or runs on wheels.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > vehicles according to means of motion > vehicle moving on wheels > [adjective]
rollinga1450
wheeling1596
wheeleda1616
a1450 ( tr. Vegetius De Re Militari (Douce) f. 103v (MED) A somer castel or a rollyng tour is a gyn of werre moche & large & of grete cost.
1565 T. Cooper Thesaurus at Voluens Plaustra voluentia, rollynge wagons.
1648 H. Hexham Groot Woorden-boeck Een Rol-wagen, a Roling wagon, to carry wares or commodities upon.
1685 C. Cleeve Songs Moses & Deborah xviii. 39 Five hundred rowling Carrs, with Spikes and Iron bound, Came on, and as they pass'd, they furrow'd all the Ground.
1725 J. Glanvill tr. Horace in Poems 221 In rolling Carrs did trav'lling Houses drive.
a1754 E. Tollet Poems Several Occasions (1755) 102 Lybians and Indians, marching to the War, May scorn the fiery Steed, and rolling Car.
1813 J. H. Wiffen Poems by Three Friends 56 Drive not thou thy rolling car, From the black tempest of the war, Till, hurled in triumph, wide and far, Have blazed the bolts of victory!
1891 Daily News 7 July 2/5 I have not thought it necessary to make rolling-load tests personally.
1920 Amer. Rev. of Reviews June 620/2 New York City tried with some success the experiment of ‘rolling stores,’ and Boston has recently reported a ‘book store on wheels.’
1940 Jrnl. Marketing 4 254/1 Traffic arrangement permitted a constant diversion of rolling cars to the more profitable markets selected by local shippers.
2003 N.Y. Times Mag. 4 May 70/1 This high-tech rolling cart expands like a Swiss Army knife and is filled with swing-out units.
3.
a. Revolving, rotating, moving round; turning on an axis or round a central point.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > revolution or rotation > [adjective] > revolving or rotating
rolling?1518
turning1558
gyreful1566
gyring1590
revoluble1598
ambient?1614
vertiginous1680
revolving1681
rotating1757
veering1798
gyratory1815
peristrephic1816
peristrephical1827
gyral1828
gyrating1837
volutory1839
volvent1898
?1518 A. Barclay tr. D. Mancinus Myrrour Good Maners sig. Hi It semeth nat to iette, with roulyng countenaunce with legges and armes: shakyng on euery syde.
a1542 T. Wyatt Coll. Poems (1969) 85 And off this world so rownd within that rollyng case There be two pointes that neuer move, but fermely kepe ther place.
1581 J. Bell tr. W. Haddon & J. Foxe Against Jerome Osorius iii. f. 288v Ye Court of Rome (playeng as it were vpon a rollyng Stage) albeit it chaunged their See now and then, yet neuer founde any place of assured rest.
1605 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. i. i. 14 Let them denie..End and beginning to th' Heau'ns rowling roundnes.
1670 J. Milton Hist. Brit. i. 11 Goddess of Shades.., who at will Walk'st on the rowling Sphear.
1707 M. Prior Simile 6 Didst Thou never see..A Squirrel spend his little Rage In jumping round a rowling Cage?
1785 W. Cowper Task v. 814 The God Who..wheels his throne upon the rolling worlds.
1847 C. Dickens Dombey & Son (1848) xxix. 290 Aldermen and knights to boot: at whose sage nod..the rolling world stands still.
1879 H. George Progress & Poverty 1911 ii. iii. 133 The whole human race, were they to labor to infinity, could not make this rolling sphere one atom heavier or one atom lighter.
1916 W. Irwin Suffering Husbands (1920) ii. 88 A very natural likeness of the rolling planet upon which we live and quarrel.
2006 M. Alexander Raw Silk 14 In times of grief our rolling earth grows small.
b. Of the eyes: moving rapidly; revolving in their sockets, (in later use) typically as a sign of surprise or disapproval.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > head > face > eye > [adjective] > movements of eye
walling1513
rolling1532
roving1567
wandering1578
inconstant1598
loose1603
unrolling1647
voluble1661
1532 R. Whittington tr. Erasmus De Ciuilitate Morun Puerilium sig. C.3v It is no good maner with rollyng eyen to marke what euery man eateth.
1597 M. Drayton Englands Heroicall Epist. f. 10 Whilst I behold thy Globe-like rouling eye.
1725 A. Ramsay Gentle Shepherd ii. iv. 32 Thy..rowing Eye that smiling tells the Truth.
1765 J. Beattie Judgment of Paris 14 Elate she mark'd his wild and rolling eye.
1837 Earl Harold i. ii. 13 Ah, he awakes! look at his rolling eyes!
1875 F. T. Buckland Log-bk. Fisherman 195 Great rolling eyes.
1896 W. C. F. Molyneux Campaigning in S. Afr. & Egypt 173 [The horse] galloped about with rolling eyes, savaging every horse or man it could reach.
1959 Listener 22 Jan. 183/2 Svengali..with his face-fungus and rolling eyes.
2005 Florida Times Union (Nexis) 25 May d1 Whenever Weaver speaks of needing more cash to run the club, he is met with rolling eyes and snide remarks.
c. Of a thought: passing through the mind repeatedly; roving, wandering. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > thought > product of thinking, thought > [adjective] > continuous
rolling1650
sequacious1828
1650 R. Leighton Let. 4 Feb. in D. Butler Life & Lett. (1903) viii. 213 This is the relief of my rolling thoughts, that while I am writing this, this moment is passing away.
1677 C. Sedley Antony & Cleopatra v. i. 54 Her rowling Thoughts on some dire Mischief bent.
1725 E. F. Haywood Lasselia 26 It wou'd have been impossible for Lasselia,..to conceal the swift Vicissitudes of her rolling Thoughts while reading.
1860 J. Hoag Jrnl. x. 137 In all these rolling thoughts, there was nothing in me that would consent that God was not perfect goodness.
2002 S. Wilson Fortune Teller's Daughter 319 The rolling thoughts that had kept her blocked last time seemed tempered now.
4.
a. That turns over and over, esp. so as to move forward on a surface or down a slope. a rolling stone gathers no moss: see moss n.1 6.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > revolution or rotation > [adjective] > turning over and over or rolling
trendling1495
rollinga1522
trolling1581
the world > movement > progressive motion > specific manner of progressive motion > [adjective] > rolling along
rollinga1522
trundlinga1637
a1522 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid (1959) vi. ix. l. 38 And rolland stanys rumland deip and how.
a1535 T. More Fortune 218 in R. Hill Songs, Carols (1908) 78 The rollyng dise in whom your lukk doth stonde.
1600 W. Shakespeare Henry V iii. vi. 27 That Godes [sc. Fortune] blinde that stands vpon the rowling restlesse stone.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 98 Sisyphus that labours up the Hill The rowling Rock. View more context for this quotation
1720 T. Boston Human Nature vi. 350 A rolling Stone gathers no Fog.
1747 T. Gray Ode Eton Coll. 4 What idle Progeny succeed To chase the rolling Circle's Speed?
1791 W. Cowper tr. Homer Iliad xiii. in Wks. (1835–7) XII. 8 Hector led himself Right on, impetuous as a rolling rock.
1847 R. W. Emerson Goethe in Wks. (1906) I. 382 Nature will be reported... The rolling rock leaves its scratches on the mountain.
1882 G. M. Minchin Uniplanar Kinematics 71 The length of the arc..measured on the surface of the rolling body.
1934 Mod. Psychologist June 39/2 It will grow by the automatic reinvestment of these dividends like the proverbial rolling snowball.
1954 G. Jordan Home Below Hell's Canyon vii. 92 A rolling rock could have crushed him, or a gun misfired.
2008 M. Francis Flyer ii. 34 Pilots stationed in Malta tested themselves by ‘walking the plank’, which involved balancing on a short board resting on a rolling log.
b. Of time or seasons: steadily moving onwards, elapsing. Also: moving round, recurring.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > [adjective] > passing or elapsing
overslippinga1522
rolling1656
by-running1674
shedding1816
elapsing1830
lapsing1841
the world > time > period > cycle of time > [adjective] > revolving
revolute?a1475
overturning1532
orby?1609
revolving1612
rolling1656
wheeling1725
1656 A. Cowley Davideis iv. 129 in Poems Five hundred rolling years hath this stiff Nation strove To 'exhaust the boundless stores of our unfadom'd Love.
1679 J. Dryden & N. Lee Oedipus iv. 60 There's a time when ev'n the rowling year Seems to stand still.
1695 M. Prior Ode to King ii Oft as the rolling Years return.
1700 N. Rowe Ambitious Step-mother i. i Rolling Time, that gathers as it goes.
c1760 T. Smollett Ode to Blue-ey'd Ann 19 When rolling seasons cease to change.
1835 W. Wordsworth Extempore Effusion Death J. Hogg 13 Nor has the rolling year twice measured..its steadfast course, Since [etc.].
1850 Ld. Tennyson In Memoriam l. 73 Ye watch..the rolling hours With larger other eyes than ours. View more context for this quotation
1916 W. D. Howells Years of my Youth i. 56 We did not care much for fishing, though of course that had its turn in the pleasures of our rolling year.
1952 G. N. Kates Years That were Fat 14 We breasted one by one every conceivable problem through the rolling seasons.
2006 E. J. Perkins & C. Cronley Mr. Ambassador 58 We can recite..with an awful clarity, bigoted behavior too painful to be softened by even the rolling decades.
†c. Progressive; increasing, accumulating. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > increase in quantity, amount, or degree > [adjective] > increasing progressively
feeding1641
rolling1719
snowballing1861
spiralling1944
escalatory1965
1719 W. Wood Surv. Trade (ed. 2) 41 The 17 or 18 millions lost..by the French Trade..would by a continued rolling Encrease, have added more than sufficient to double the 56 Millions.
1887 Times 22 Apr. 7/6 He established rolling annuities which do credit to the ingenuity of the right honourable gentleman.
d. Originally and chiefly U.S. Of a strike, power cut, etc.: staggered, rotating; taking place in different places in succession.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > relative time > the future or time to come > succession or following in time > [adjective] > characterized by or involving succession > staggered
rolling1949
1949 N.Y. Times 8 July 13/2 In a denunciation of the corporation's policies, Mr. Murray said his ‘rolling strike’ would start with a walkout of 500,000 men... The number of steelworkers on strike across the nation would then increase each week.
1967 N.Y. Times 7 June 46/2 The clear first lesson of the first rolling blackout in New York and New England..was that the grid system on which power companies count to draw electricity from one area to another in response to peak demands can be a menace as well as a lifesaver.
1969 Age (Melbourne) 24 May 3/8 The secretary of the Trades Hall Council..condemned threats of further rolling strikes.
1974 Ebony Feb. 36/1 If this phase fails, we will have no choice except to turn to mandatory cutbacks, and then perhaps rolling blackouts.
2005 K. Ascher The Works: Anat. of City iii. vii. 99 If demand continues to exceed supply, the ISO will order rolling blackouts.
e. Ongoing; subject to periodic review; responsive to changing conditions.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > continuing > [adjective]
continuing1393
ongoing1841
rolling1959
1959 Daily Tel. 8 July 10/3 Western policy, particularly as foreseen by Mr. Macmillan and Mr. Selwyn Lloyd, can be expressed as ‘rolling negotiations’.
1971 Guardian 31 Mar. 13/6 The new rolling three year contract which gives the Authority an opportunity to warn a company to do better.
1972 Times 14 Sept. 18/5 The Post Office..has a five-year rolling programme (meaning that it is regularly reviewed) to spend £3,000 m on overall improvements and developments.
2003 Metro 16 Dec. (London ed.) 31/3 It scrapped its two-year rolling contracts for executive directors.., replacing them with single-year deals without compensation.
5.
a. Of a style or manner of speaking: fluent, smooth-flowing. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > loquacity or talkativeness > [adjective] > voluble (of the tongue)
tickle1377
readya1400
aspen1532
rolling1549
rounda1568
voluble1604
well hanged1632
well-hung1648
slippery1699
1549 J. Ponet tr. B. Ochino Tragoedie Unjuste Usurped Primacie sig. D.i He displeased me so with suche a rolling rhetorical vanitie of wordes.
1577 J. Grange Golden Aphroditis sig. F.ij This praysing of N.O. his rolling tongue did encourage him not a little by polished phrase of filed style to feede his Ladies appetites or humors with some one thing or other.
1579 G. Harvey Let.-bk. (1884) 71 The rowlinge tongue..of..ouer fine Cambridge barber.
1587 J. Hooker Chron. Ireland 94/2 in Holinshed's Chron. (new ed.) II He was..in countenance amiable,..a rolling tongue and a rich utterance.
1643 T. Neale Treat. Direct. 51 So often perisheth with his unprofitable, and rowling eloquence, that unhappy travellour, whose aime and vaine-glory, is to be knowne & honored by his rowling tongue.
a1665 J. Quarles Self-conflict (1680) 101 My rolling tongue I've threatned to take heed, That from it no licentious words proceed.
1715 D. Ryder Diary 6 Aug. (1939) (modernized text) 71 He has a most admirable voice and a fluent rolling tongue that everything he says comes off from his mouth very clean and easy.
1850 D. G. Mitchell Reveries of Bachelor iv. 283 We..listen to the melodious rolling tongue of the Venetian gondolier.
2004 Federal News Service (Nexis) 15 July I said that a rolling tongue is more dangerous than a loaded handgun.
b. Producing a continuous, deep sound; reverberating, resounding. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > resonance or sonority > [adjective] > reverberating or echoing
rebounding1555
rolling1575
repercussive1604
doubling1605
reverberate1608
reparable echo1616
revoicing1631
reverberating1632
rewording1657
re-echoing1668
repeating1685
phonocamptic1694
echoing1702
anacamptic1706
anacamptical1706
reactive1712
rebellowing1712
redoubling1717
repulsive1744
reverberative1807
reverbering1822
reboant1830
echoy1841
reverberant1847
reboantic1853
verberant1864
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > continuous or protracted sound > [adjective] > rolling or rumbling (of sound) > making rolling or rumbling sound
rumbling1566
rolling1575
rumbelow1582
rumbled1582
lumbering1678
rumbly1829
1575 U. Fulwell Flower of Fame sig. G.ii With noyse of Gunnes and sound of Trumpe, and stroke of rollyng Drum.
1652 J. Wright tr. J.-P. Camus Nature's Paradox ii. 37 Seeing..the Rowling Thunder grumble, and the stormy clowds burst under his feet.
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory (1905) iii. xix. 154/2 The manner of which beatings [of a drum] is performed by..down right and rowling blows.
1715 S. Wesley Hist. Old Test. in Verse I. cxxv. 236 The rolling Thunder gives the sign of War.
1781 W. Cowper Expostulation 499 Thy Druids.., while the victim..bled to death, Upon the rolling chords rung out his dying breath.
1842 Ld. Tennyson Sir Galahad vii, in Poems (new ed.) II. 178 A rolling organ-harmony Swells up, and shakes and falls.
1893 L. Wallace Prince of India vi. viii. 652 In the midst of the holy ministration, a sound like distant rolling thunder penetrated the chapel.
1917 J. Koettgen tr. German Deserter's War Experience xiv. 111 We judged from the rolling thunder that the battle had not yet decreased in violence, and the sky was everywhere red from the burning villages and farm houses.
1952 B. P. Thomas Abraham Lincoln xiii. 258 Stern-faced young men formed ranks in city streets and on village greens and marched to twittering fifes and rolling drums.
2007 Miami Herald (Nexis) 4 Nov. a1 The poem's 258 words were answered with a rolling applause.
c. Of a consonant, esp. an r: pronounced with a vibration of the tongue or vocal cords.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > linguistics > study of speech sound > speech sound > speech sound by manner > [adjective] > sonant > liquid > trill
rolling1831
hirrient1832
trilled1848
rolled1852
1831 Encycl. Americana VII. 361 It must be observed, that the rolling r is different from the l only in this, that the former is pronounced with a vibration of the tongue.
1849 A. M. Bell New Elucidation Princ. Speech & Elocution 164 There is a difficulty..to unaccustomed organs, in producing a rolling or vibrated R.
1947 Billboard 2 Aug. 13/2 The teacher had a thick Teutonic accent complete with rolling r's.
2006 Belleville (Illinois) News-Democrat (Nexis) 6 Aug. m3 When he talks about his father,..his Spanish accent emerges with the rolling r's.
d. Of birdsong: sounded with a trill.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > [adjective] > making a sound
merryOE
warbling1549
singing1798
rolling1839
1839 D. H. Storer & W. B. O. Peabody Rep. Fishes, Reptiles & Birds Mass. 356 The bird lowers its head, opens its bill, and sends forth the air contained in these receptacles, in a succession of rolling notes.
1872 E. Coues Key to N. Amer. Birds 151 Its rolling notes recall those of the Carolina wren, but are stronger.
1920 C. W. Townsend Suppl. to Birds of Essex County Mass. iii. 84 Nearly all the birds appeared to be emitting a rapidly repeated rolling note.
1996 K. Kaufman Lives N. Amer. Birds 487 At some seasons its presence is revealed mainly in its rolling call notes, heard especially at dawn and dusk.
6.
†a. Of sands: moving, shifting. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
1553 J. Brende tr. Q. Curtius Rufus Hist. iv. f. 48 And had to contend not only wyth the heate and want of water, but also wyth the rowlynge sande, whych was so deape, and woulde so sink vnder there feet that it should be great empediment vnto ther trauaile.
1632 W. Lithgow Totall Disc. Trav. vi. 293 A fiery faced plaine, scorch'd with burning heate, and deepe rolling Sand.
1665 T. Herbert Some Years Trav. (new ed.) 32 Afrique, where the greatest part is rowling sands, which permit no foundation of Towns nor long stations.
1719 W. Oldisworth in Horace Odes 27 O courteous Sailor! see me gently laid, And heap the rolling Sands on my devoted Head.
1758 R. Dodsley Cleone v. i. 70 A husband once—a father too I had—but lost, quite lost—deep in my brain Bury'd they lie—in heaps of rolling sand—I cannot find them.
1815 J. Cottle Messiah viii. 220 We fear no rolling sands, no scorching blast, The terrors of the desert, all, are past!
b. Of waves, currents, etc.: heaving, surging, flowing strongly and steadily onwards; undulating. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > flow or flowing > wave > movement of waves > [adjective] > swelling
proud1535
swellingc1550
rolling1562
redundanta1651
1562 T. Sternhold et al. Whole Bk. Psalmes cxiv. 291 Ye rowlyng waues of Iordans floud, why ran ye backwardly?
1633 T. James Strange Voy. 29 There came a great rowling Sea.
1695 Ld. Preston tr. Boethius Of Consol. Philos. i. 31 Toss'd on the rowling Waves Of giddy Chance.
1721 A. Ramsay Prospect of Plenty 28 Herrings..like best to play..In rowan ocean, or the open bay.
1773 J. Wesley Jrnl. 23 Mar. (1827) II. 474 We had..a strong gale, and a rolling sea.
1846 C. Dickens Dombey & Son (1848) iv. 29 Think of the pitch-dark nights, the roaring winds, and rolling seas.
1850 Ld. Tennyson In Memoriam cxxviii. 200 Thy voice is on the rolling air. View more context for this quotation
1877 W. Black Green Pastures (1878) xxviii. 221 Crashing its way through the rolling waves of a heavy ground-swell.
1903 E. R. Williams Hill Towns Italy xiv. 390 Beyond, over the rolling waves, skimmed the redsailed fishing boats of the Adriatic.
1939 A. M. Lindbergh Diary 25 July in War within & Without (1980) 19 There was something terrifyingly secure about them—a calm island in the midst of rolling seas of trouble.
2005 Toronto (Time Out) 230/1 You can see..the plume of mist spilling up hundreds of metres from the rolling waters of the Niagara river.
c. Of clouds, smoke, etc.: ascending or moving in curls or rolls.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > gas > [adjective] > of the nature of fumes or vapour > rising or risen up > rising and moving in rolls
rolling1599
the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > heat > burning > products of burning > [adjective] > relating to smoke > emitting smoke > rising in rolls
rolling1599
1599 Hist. Syr Clyomon & Clamydes sig. E3v Ye rowling Clowdes giue Rumor roome, both ayre and earth below, By sea and land, that euery eare may vnderstand and know.
1664 H. Power Exper. Philos. i. 21 A tremulous Motion and Agitation of rowling fumes.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost i. 671 A Hill..whose griesly top Belch'd fire and rowling smoak. View more context for this quotation
1728 A. Pope Dunciad i. 196 He..lights the structure..; The rowling smokes involve the sacrifice.
1770 O. Goldsmith Deserted Village 191 Round its breast the rolling clouds are spread.
1815 W. Scott Field of Waterloo 22 Steel-gleams broke Like lightning through the rolling smoke.
1869 Putnam's Mag. June 685/2 In the body of the hall the crackling platform-stage fell in, the hissing flames quivered, the rolling smoke rose, and all that awful hell of fire glared in my sight.
1906 Temple Bar Jan. 18 The old man looked..through the window at the rolling mist.
1952 B. Marshall White Rabbit i. 6 The Champs-Elysées were deserted, invisible almost in the fog of rolling smoke.
1993 K. S. Robinson Green Mars (new ed.) 114 And here it came,..a low dark mass topped by a rolling cloud of dust.
†7. Of a person or a personal attribute or opinion: changeable, shifting, inconstant. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > change > changeableness > [adjective]
slidinga900
wankleeOE
windyc1000
unsteadfastc1200
fleeting?c1225
loose?c1225
brotelc1315
unstablec1340
varyingc1340
variantc1374
motleyc1380
ungroundedc1380
muablea1393
passiblea1393
remuablea1393
changeablea1398
movablea1398
variablec1397
slidderya1400
ticklec1400
variantc1412
flitting1413
mutable?a1425
movingc1425
flaskisable1430
flickering1430
transmutablec1430
vertible1447
brittlea1450
ficklea1450
permutablec1450
unfirmc1450
uncertain1477
turnable1483
unsteadfast1483
vagrantc1522
inconstant1526
alterable?1531
stirringc1540
slippery1548
various1552
slid?1553
mutala1561
rolling1561
weathery1563
unconstant1568
interchangeable1574
fluctuant1575
stayless1575
transitive1575
voluble1575
changeling1577
queasy1579
desultory1581
huff-puff1582
unstaid1586
vagrant1586
changeful1590
floating1594
Protean1594
unstayed1594
swimming1596
anchorless1597
mobilec1600
ticklish1601
catching1603
labile1603
unrooted1604
quicksilvered1605
versatile1605
insubstantial1607
uncertain1609
brandling1611
rootless1611
squeasy1611
wind-changinga1616
insolid1618
ambulatory1625
versatilous1629
plastic1633
desultorious1637
unbottomed1641
fluid1642
fluent1648
yea-and-nay1648
versipellous1650
flexile1651
uncentred1652
variating1653
chequered1656
slideable1662
transchangeative1662
weathercock-like1663
flicketing1674
fluxa1677
lapsable1678
wanton1681
veering1684
upon the weathercock1702
contingent1703
unsettled?1726
fermentable1731
afloat1757
brickle1768
wavy1795
vagarious1798
unsettled1803
fitful1810
metamorphosical1811
undulating1815
tittupya1817
titubant1817
mutative1818
papier mâché1818
teetotum1819
vacillating1822
capricious1823
sensitive1828
quicksilvery1829
unengrafted1829
fluxionala1834
proteiform1833
liquid1835
tottlish1835
kaleidoscopic1846
versative1846
kaleidoscopical1858
tottery1861
choppy1865
variative1874
variational1879
wimbly-wambly1881
fluctuable1882
shifty1882
giveable1884
shifty1884
tippy1886
mutatory1890
upsettable1890
rocky1897
undulatory1897
streaky1898
tottly1905
tipply1906
up and down1907
inertialess1927
sometimey1946
rise-and-fall1950
switchable1961
the world > time > change > changeableness > [adjective] > of persons
ficklea1275
mutablec1425
fleeting1553
rolling1561
unbottomed?1674
motley1755
mobile1778
1561 T. Norton tr. J. Calvin Inst. Christian Relig. iii. f. 179 Faith is not contented with a doutfull and rowling opinion.
1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage (ed. 2) ii. xix. 219 Of which you haue heard their rolling opinion before.
a1651 N. Culverwell Elegant Disc. Light of Nature (1652) i. ix. 72 Had I met with this in a fluctuating Academick, in a Rowling Sceptique.
1731 in tr. Coluthus Rape of Helen Pref. p. vi A man that has a rolling fancy, and can adapt his conceptions with pompous words and sounding epithets, is sure to carry the prize.
a1759 T. Bradbury Myst. Godliness (1795) I. i. 14 Such a floating, rolling, shifting thing is human wisdom.
8. Of a ship or boat: that sways or rocks (violently) from side to side. Formerly also of a cradle.
ΚΠ
1579 T. North tr. Plutarch Liues 94 Sitt thou at helme, as gouernour to steere to guyde our course, and rule the rowling shippe.
1607 R. Pricket Iesuits Miracles sig. B4v His infant birth, a rowling Cradle shakes.
1685 J. Graile Three Serm. Norwich iii. 109 Britain seemed then no fixed Island, but as it were a rolling Ship in the boistrous Ocean.
1758 A. Bushe Socrates 8 Till clearer thoughts Have calm'd the tumult of a working soul, It cannot rest, but like a rolling ship Tost on tempestuous waves, resigns the helm.
1858 H. Curling Frank Beresford i. 9 Five o'clock on a raw Scottish morning saw himself and about half a dozen passengers on board the rolling ferry-boat.
1893 J. M'Gregor-Robertson Elem. Text-bk. Physiol. (rev. ed.) vii. 268 A man standing on the deck of a rolling ship maintains his equilibrium in spite of the unsteadiness of the surface on which he stands.
1942 Berkshire County Eagle (Pittsfield, Mass.) 28 Nov. 5/6 If you never performed an appendectomy in a rolling cruiser on the high seas,..then you've never really had an operation on your hands.
2007 Sarasota (Florida) Herald-Tribune (Nexis) 12 May e1 Some quickly learned to move around a pitching, rolling sailboat. Some got seasick.
9. Of a walk or gait: swaggering; staggering, swaying.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > alternating or reciprocating motion > oscillation > [adjective] > swaying
nodding1693
rolling1753
swaling1824
swaying1847
swingy1943
1753 J. Witherspoon Eccl. Characteristics v. 24 Some there are, who may be easily known to be ministers, by their very dress, their grave demur looks..as sailors, who are known by their rolling walk, and tailors, by the shivering shrug of their shoulders!
1755 S. Johnson Dict. Eng. Lang. at Wallow A kind of rolling walk.
1823 Ld. Byron Island ii. xx. 42 His foremast air, and somewhat rolling gait..spoke his former state.
1865 Sat. Rev. 19 Aug. 240/1 It is not the drunkenness of the unsteadied hand, the rolling gait, and stammering tongue.
1899 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. VII. 580 Extreme vertigo, a rolling gait, and lateral nystagmus.
1908 J. London Martin Eden i. 1 The wide rooms seemed too narrow for his rolling gait.
1949 E. Goudge Gentian Hill i. ix. 141 He wore his grey hair in a pigtail and walked with a rolling gait.
1995 J. Houston Confessions Igloo Dweller lxxxi. 272 The rolling gait of the polar bear.
10. Of land, scenery, etc.: having a succession of gentle undulations; wavy, undulating.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > high land > rising ground or eminence > [adjective] > undulating or undulated
wavy1774
undulating1794
rolling1795
undulated1821
undulatory1845
surging1847
1795 G. Mason Ess. Design in Gardening (rev. ed.) 118 Where the hand of Nature has anticipated the skill of the artist, by the formation of her rolling hills intersected with dales and vallies.
1804 W. Clark in Lewis & Clark Exped. (1904) I. 45 Found the prarie composed of good Land and plenty of water roleing & interspursed with points of timber land.
1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Colonial Reformer (1891) 154 A rolling, rugged down, flecked with patches of..heath.
1903 G. B. Shaw Man & Superman iii. 71 Rolling slopes of brown with olive trees instead of apple trees in the cultivated patches.
1949 Boston Sunday Globe 1 May (Fiction Mag.) 3/2 This was rolling prairie with mottes of timber and brush thickets.
1977 Time 14 Mar. 48/2 (advt.) The majestic mountain views of Trinchera Peak and Mount Blanca..stand as silent sentinels protecting the rolling foothills.
2003 K. Moritsugu Glenwood Treasure viii. 134 Mounted inside it was a work of oil-stick on paper, a madly colourful landscape of rolling rural hills with a Mediterranean flavour.
11. Film and Television. Designating text, such as a title or caption, which moves steadily across the screen in sequence, typically from bottom to top or right to left. Cf. roll v.2 27d.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > broadcasting > television > [adjective] > types of title, caption, etc.
rolling1947
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > cinematography > a film > [adjective] > types of title, caption, etc.
rolling1947
1947 J. J. Gibson Motion Picture Testing & Res. (Aviation Psychol. Program Res. Rep.) ix. 234 Rolling title over still scene of runway.
1977 Chicago Tribune 8 May vi. 6/1 [Her] name has risen this year from a script consultant..to one of two producers listed on the ‘Mary Hartman’ rolling credits.
1997 Vancouver Sun (Nexis) 30 Aug. b3 The station will notify KCTS viewers of the channel switch with a rolling caption at the bottom of the screen.
B. adv.
1. rolling drunk: so drunk as to be swaying or staggering; extremely drunk.
ΚΠ
1831 J. Shipp Mil. Bijou I. 99 The colonel..soon found his clerical friend rolling drunk.
1898 Dubuque (Iowa) Daily Herald 2 Sept. 4/3 He was rolling drunk, and said he had 'listed.
1935 Musical Times 76 745/1 Rolling drunk, he collapsed into the fountain.
1960 W. Madsen Virgin's Children xiii. 213 The men who attend wakes customarily get rolling drunk, which is one reason they attend them.
2009 Cape Argus (Nexis) 15 Jan. 16 If Coke contains alcohol then my husband would be rolling drunk all day, every day!
2. rolling fat chiefly U.S. regional, so fat as to be able or likely to sway or stagger; very fat.
ΚΠ
1846 Observer 25 May 1/2 The appearance of the fair field was the theme of general admiration, crowded as it was..by flocks of rolling fat Sheep.
1861 South. Lit. Messenger 33 140 When I sen dis horse away, he was rolling fat.
1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Colonial Reformer (1891) 244 Grand~looking bullocks, all ‘rolling fat’.
1920 Fur News & Outdoor World Nov. 7/1 It was quite a chore to remove the pelt, as the bear was rolling fat, and after it was off there was much fat adhering to be scraped off.
1965 Corpus Christi (Texas) Caller-Times 25 Apr. g12/6 (advt.) Appaloosa stallion and big red quarter gelding, rolling fat and well trained.
2003 L. J. Brooksby Arizona Strip Gambler x. 91 You're a mighty good cook, ma'am. Your punchers must be rolling fat from eating grub like this.

Compounds

C1.
rolling barrel n. now historical a rotating barrel used for agitating or mixing something; esp. one containing metal balls, used for mixing gunpowder.
ΚΠ
1829 London Encycl. V. 697/1 The barrel churn, a kind of rolling barrel, with such dashers within as are calculated to quicken the process of making butter.
1841 Ordnance Man. for Use of Officers (U.S. Army Ordnance Dept.) viii. 150 In order to lessen the duration and danger of pounding in the mortars, the materials may be pulverized and mixed in rolling barrels, before being put under the pestles.
1874 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. I. 238/1 Barrel, a cylindrical vessel moving on an axis, for..making gunpowder. In the latter case it is partially filled with bell-metal balls, and is called a rolling-barrel.
1957 C. P. Russell Guns Early Frontiers v. 221 Some powder makers..placed the ingredients (except the saltpeter) in a ‘rolling barrel’.
† rolling book n. Obsolete a scroll.
ΚΠ
1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica 244 An expression proper unto the paginall books of our times, but not so agreeable unto volumes or rolling bookes in use among the Jews. View more context for this quotation
rolling boil n. Cookery a continuous rapid boil.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > cooking > [noun] > boiling
seethinga1387
playing?c1425
boiling1481
walm1558
rolling boil1940
1940 Pop. Mech. Nov. 758/1 Fill the tank two-thirds full of water and bring to a hard, rolling boil.
1969 Daily Tel. 5 Sept. (Colour Suppl.) 31 Heat fermented barley mash..to a ‘rolling boil’ in a portable boiler above the stove.
1972 K. Lo Chinese Food i. 20 This soup is then brought to a rolling boil.
1995 Sci. Amer. Feb. 80/2 Slowly heat the water and keep it at a rolling boil for 15 minutes.
rolling bridge n. a bridge whose roadway or whole structure can be moved horizontally by means of rollers or other mechanism.
ΚΠ
1666 London Gaz. No. 36/1 The preparations of Waggons, Rowling bridges and other Instruments of Warr.
1771 Encycl. Brit. II. 16/1 These rolling-bridges consist of a number of cylindrical rollers which turn easily on pivots.
1876 B. Bucknall tr. E. Viollet-le-Duc Ann. Fortress viii. 131 When the rolling bridge attained the ridge of the vallum of the quay, not a single Burgundian remained behind this defence.
1999 Sci. News 155 410/2 A gantry, or rolling bridge, hovering above the table allows up to seven conservators to work, lying flat on their stomachs.
rolling chair n. (a) a wheelchair; (b) a chair on rollers.
ΚΠ
1700 J. Dryden tr. Ovid Of Pythagorean Philos. in Fables 515 By slow degrees he [sc. a child] gathers from the Ground His Legs, and to the rowling Chair is bound.
1819 Lady Morgan in Passages from Autobiogr. (1859) 275 This it was which sent me (dressed up in my rolling chair) to thank him on the eve of his departure.
1886 W. J. Tucker Life E. Europe 114 His Excellency,..entering his rolling-chair, was wheeled off to bed.
1946 S. J. Perelman Keep it Crisp 207 Don't play beanbag with your arteries, brother, or you'll wind up in a rolling chair at French Lick.
2001 A. E. Hunt Note vii. 103 Shoving her rolling chair away from the computer, Julie swiveled and picked up the telephone.
rolling coulter n. a wheel which is fixed in front of the share in a plough, and has bladed edges for making vertical cuts in the soil.
ΚΠ
1797 M. H. Bartholomew Let. 28 Dec. in Lett. & Papers Agric. (Bath & West of Eng. Soc.) (1799) 9 ix. 111 The plough, from the rolling coulter, was put into a ditch that mounded the ground.
1875 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. Rolling-colter, a sharp-edged wheel which is attached to the beam of a plow, and cuts downwardly through the grass and soil.
1949 Pop. Mech. Aug. 163/2 A five-inch I-beam supports the plow and a rolling coulter cuts roots and lifts the blade over obstructions.
1997 Weed Technol. 11 749/2 Corn was planted at 39,800 seeds/ha with a flexible no-till slot planter equipped with rolling coulters.
† rolling croquet n. Croquet Obsolete a stroke which causes two balls to cover approximately the same distance, achieved by trailing the mallet after the initial contact has been made.
ΚΠ
1866 Croquet: Implem. & Laws 12 A rolling croquet is effected by placing the two balls in the same way as in the first kind of loose croquet..but after the initial stroke fairly made, the mallet follows the ball and causes the two to roll nearly together to the positions aimed at.
1877 Encycl. Brit. VI. 609/2 Rolling croquet, in which the balls are sent together in nearly the same line, is made by trailing the mallet after the balls as soon as the stroke or tap is made.
rolling cultivator n. an agricultural implement featuring a set of wheels with sharp projections which dig into the soil as they are turned.
ΚΠ
1859 Jrnl. Royal Agric. Soc. 20 177 The idea of attaching radial cutters about a shaft or drum having a rotary motion not derived from its own rolling is very old, although newer than that of rolling cultivators.
1975 N.Z. Jrnl. Agric. Sept. 18/1 (advt.) Yet the fact remains that the Lilliston-Lehman rolling cultivator continues along in a class by itself.
2006 Integrated Pest Managem. Potatoes Western U.S. (ed. 2) 127 Use a rolling cultivator behind hilling blades to increase the uprooting of early-emerging weeds during hilling operations.
† rolling girth n. Printing two thongs or bands of webbing on the carriage of a hand printing press by which it is moved back and forth. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
1612 S. Sturtevant Metallica x. 74 The brasse plate and the rouling girth are necessarie..additions in the engin of the Printing Presse.
rolling grass n. Australian and New Zealand a dioecious Australasian grass, Spinifex hirsutus, producing large globular flowers which detach from the plant and roll around in the wind; more fully spring rolling grass, spiny rolling grass; cf. spinifex n. 2.
ΚΠ
1880 J. Buchanan Indig. Grasses N.Z. 15 Spinifex hirsutus. Spiny Rolling Grass.
1904 W. E. Roth Domestic Implements, Arts, & Manuf. 28 The baskets..are made from Panadus sp., Spinifex hirsutis, Labill. (‘Spring Rolling Grass’).
2009 M. Corrick & B. A. Fuhrer Wildflowers Southern W. Austral. (ed. 3) 150/2 Spinifex hirsutus... The large globular inflorescence of the female plants..may break loose and roll along before the wind, giving rise to the alternative name Rolling Grass.
rolling ground n. an anchorage in shallow water, which is subject to groundswells.
ΚΠ
1659 Publick Intelligencer No. 171. 344 This evening also came a Letter, dated aboard the Maidston-Frigat in the Rowling-grounds near Harwich.
?1760 New & Compl. Channel Pilot i. 19 To sail into the Rolling Ground, or Harwich, round the West Rocks, (which is much the safest way) you steer away, from the Gunfleet Buoy.
1883 W. H. Parker Recoll. Naval Officer iii. 22 On the third day toward sunset we succeeded in anchoring on the ‘rolling ground’ just outside the harbour [of Rio de Janeiro], and the most dangerous anchorage we could have selected.
1959 Internat. Hydrogr. Bull. 8 241 Subsequently when anchored in other offshore rolling grounds on the New Zealand coasts, Lachlan's ship's company comforted themselves with the memory that this was not so bad as the Zephyr.
rolling hitch n. (originally) a type of knot tied with two round turns and two half hitches; (now) a type of knot tied with two round turns and one half hitch (cf. Magnus hitch n.).In modern usage the terms rolling hitch and Magnus hitch are largely synonymous, though in a rolling hitch the final half hitch moves around the object in the same direction as that of the first turn, whereas in a Magnus hitch the final half hitch is made in the opposite direction to that of the first turn.
ΚΠ
1769 W. Falconer Universal Dict. Marine at Hitch A rolling-hitch.
1841 R. H. Dana Seaman's Man. 40 A bend, sometimes called a rolling hitch, is made by two round-turns round a spar and two half-hitches round the standing part.
1883 Man. Seamanship for Boys' Training Ships Royal Navy (1886) 87 Q. What is a rolling-hitch used for..? A. Bending a small rope to a large one, putting a tail jigger on a backstay.
1976 P. Kemp Oxf. Compan. Ships & Sea 719/2 A rolling hitch properly tied will never slip.
2003 D. Alderson & M. Pardy Handbk. Safety & Rescue (Sea Kayaker Mag.) Appendix 188/2 A rolling hitch works well for tarps and tents.
rolling lamp n. a lamp suspended at the common centre of gravity of two movable circles of metal, inside a spherical framework of metal bars, which may be rolled along a surface without the lamp turning over.
ΚΠ
1725 P. Shaw Philos. Wks. R. Boyle III. Index 717/2 Lamp, a rolling lamp.
1797 Encycl. Brit. IX. 517/1 Rolling Lamp:..though the whole machine be rolled along the ground,..the flame will always be uppermost.
1886 Army & Navy Mag. May 84 There are specimens of brass-work from Jeysalmere, including a rolling lamp.
2005 K. Slaughter Indelible 157 She looked around, finding a rolling lamp in the corner.
rolling library n. a library accommodated in a vehicle or on wheels so as to be transportable and able to operate in different places.
ΚΠ
1916 San Francisco Chron. 16 Apr. 32/4 It was this passionate hunger for reading matter that has resulted in perfecting the ‘rolling libraries’.
1998 E. J. Renahan Lion's Pride ii. xii. 150 Rolling libraries were a part of every Leave Area, and occasionally were sent to the front.
rolling lift bridge n. a type of bascule bridge with an elevated pivot point around which the shore end rotates on a bearing when the span is raised, reducing friction in the operation of the bridge.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > route or way > other means of passage or access > [noun] > bridge > lifting-bridge
leaf bridge1838
lift-bridge1850
lifting-bridge1851
hoisting-bridge1860–4
hoist-bridge1875
bascule-bridge1884
rolling lift bridge1894
1894 Jrnl. Assoc. Engin. Societies 13 227 His [sc. William Scherzer's] last engineering work, and a very important and interesting one, was the design of two rolling lift bridges.
1933 Discovery Apr. 129/2 The scheme must..provide for rail and road cross-river traffic by means of viaducts and rolling lift bridges.
2003 T. L. Koglin Movable Bridge Engin. vii. 101 To some extent the advantage of a rolling lift bridge can be negated by the application of safety appliances.
rolling machine n. a machine in which a material or object is rolled as part of processing.
ΚΠ
1778 D. Loch Ess. Trade Scotl. II. i. 50 He..invented a rolling machine for dressing his yarn.
1885 C. G. W. Lock Workshop Receipts 4th Ser. 229 For modern work [in bookbinding], the rolling machine is..better than the hammer.
1914 R. H. Grant Manuf. Steel Balls (‘Machinery’ Ref. Bk. No. 116) ii. 25 Mr. John J. Grant,..who had improved the Simonds rolling machine, proceeded to devise a machine which made it possible to produce balls far superior to any ever made.
2005 H. Götz et al. in H. Bach & D. Krause Low Thermal Expansion Glass Ceramics (ed. 2) iii. 93 The parent glass melt is cooled down to the processing temperature in the fore hearth, homogenized and fed to the rolling machine.
rolling maul n. Rugby Union a maul in which the attacking team move forward by constantly shifting the point of attack to the left or right; also in extended use.
ΚΠ
1978 Times 27 Mar. 13/2 Nelmes scored a try from a rolling maul to give Cardiff the lead.
1998 Independent (Nexis) 17 Jan. 16 Policemen seeking out offenders who have disappeared into the rolling maul of their fellow troublemakers.
2007 Rugby World Mar. 145/2 Dacey crashed over from a rolling maul to seal a conclusive win.
rolling muscle n. Anatomy †(a) a muscle that rolls food in the mouth (obsolete); (b) a muscle that rolls the eye (rare).
ΚΠ
1615 H. Crooke Μικροκοσμογραϕια 629 There are three kinde of Muscles..which wee may call Locutorij, Gustatorij and Cibi reuolutores, the Speaking, the Tasting and the Rowling Muscles.
1668 N. Culpeper & A. Cole tr. T. Bartholin Anat. (new ed.) iii. viii. 145/2 These two last are termed Amatorij, love Muscles, and Circumactores, rowling Muscles the upper and lower. For by the help of these Muscles lovers cast Sheeps-Eyes one at another.
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory ii. 382/1 The Cibi-revolutores Muscles, are such Muscles and Nerves, which help the motion of the tongue; it is also called the Rowling Muscles.
1963 A. Kestenbaum Appl. Anat. Eye viii. 211 According to convention, only the superior muscles (rectus and oblique)..are called inward rolling muscles, while the inferior muscles (rectus and oblique)..are called outward rolling muscles.
rolling news n. Broadcasting (originally British) news reports that are broadcast 24 hours a day; frequently attributive, esp. designating a service, channel, or station devoted to this.
ΚΠ
1982 Economist 25 Sept. 36 Rolling news... It chose LBC..then rushed it onto the air..to develop a radio news service as well as Britain's first all talk station.
1997 M. Kieran Media Ethics iii. 45 The constant pressures of deadlines and time constraints of rolling news services can exacerbate the tendency merely to report without really finding out and conveying what exactly is going on.
2003 Press Gaz. 19 Dec. 20/1 Concerns about ‘embedment’ are put on hold as rolling news channels broadcast live action shots from the front.
rolling pendulum n. a pendulum consisting of a heavy cylinder able to roll backwards and forwards on a concave cylindrical surface.
ΚΠ
1805 Jrnl. Nat. Philos. Mar. 156 It is probable that the rolling pendulum would be found superior to that in common use.
1919 Sci. Abstr. A. 22 50 Describes and gives the mathematical theory of a rolling pendulum with isochronous motion.
2008 F. C. Moon Appl. Dynamics (ed. 2) iv. 204 In the rolling pendulum..the fixed revolute joint of the classical pendulum is replaced with a rolling circular arc.
rolling plant n. = rolling stock n.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > rail travel > rolling stock > [noun]
rolling stock1847
rolling plant1848
1848 Mechanics' Mag. 4 Nov. 439/1 Per centage on the capital (c) necessary to carry on the traffic, i.e. on the value of rolling plant, furniture, stores, and materials.
1864 Webster's Amer. Dict. Eng. Lang. Rolling-plant, the locomotives and vehicles of a railway.
1904 Canad. Law Times 259 The words ‘plant and appliances’, following the specific term ‘rolling stock’, are to be read as restricted to the same genus as the latter, the whole thing having the meaning of rolling stock, rolling plant, [etc.].
rolling purchase n. now historical a type of crossbow which allows the bow to be bent by means of a ratchet on a small wheel turned by a windlass.
ΚΠ
1869 C. Boutell tr. J. P. Lacombe Arms & Armour viii. 141 Of these cross-bows..there were three varieties, severally named—the hind's foot, the lever, and the rolling purchase [Fr. arbalète à tour].
2003 A. Baker Knight 42 Later, aids to reloading were developed, leading to the ratchet and rolling purchase crossbows, which used elaborate levers, gears, and pulleys to draw back the string.
rolling refinery n. slang a truck which hauls gas or oil.
ΚΠ
1975 L. Dills CB Slanguage Dict. 51 Rolling refinery, truck hauling gas or oil (SW).
1976 R. L. Perkowski & L. P. Stral Joy of CB 174 Rolling refinery, a truck hauling gasoline or oil.
rolling start n. (originally in cycling and motor racing) a start made while already in motion, rather than from a fixed position; also in extended use; cf. standing start n. at standing adj. and n.2 Compounds 2.
ΚΠ
1882 Hartford (Connecticut) Daily Courant 4 Aug. 1/3 Taylor made a mile with a rolling start the other day in 2·12 4-5.
1937 Manch. Guardian 13 Aug. 3/6 [He] made an attempt on his own midget car record for four laps from a rolling start.
1973 Los Angeles Sentinel 13 Sept. (Entertainm. Suppl.) 1/3 With protests coming in from everywhere Dick Clark and the network stopped before they really got off to a rolling start.
2003 M. Guthrie Coaching Track & Field Successfully vii. 85/2 Allow all of your other runners to run from a rolling start, thus running faster.
† rolling stroke n. Croquet Obsolete = rolling croquet n.
ΚΠ
1868 Gentleman's Mag. Sept. 509 These rushing and rolling strokes are, to our mind, the most valuable in the game.
1874 J. D. Heath Compl. Croquet-player 35 It is a mistake to suppose that a very great amount of force is required for rolling strokes.
rolling trench n. now historical (a) a framework on wheels, covered with canvas and painted so as to resemble a mound of earth or parapet, and used as a defence when advancing towards an enemy; (b) a parapet or large mound of earth, moved forwards by taking earth from the lower part and transferring it to the top, protecting those behind the mound as they advance towards the enemy.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > defence > defensive work(s) > earthwork or rampart > [noun] > moving trench or hill
rolling trench1581
rolled hill1688
1581 H. Goldwell Briefe Declar. Shews sig. A vv Thereto had prouided a frame of wood which was couered with Canuas, & painted outwardly in such excellent order, as if it had bene very naturall earth or moulde, and caried the name of a Rowling trench, which went on wheeles, which way soeuer ye persons with in did driue it.
1603 R. Knolles Gen. Hist. Turkes 797 The Turks..with a rowling trench drew neerer and neerer vnto the castle.
1641 J. Milton Animadversions Pref. 2 As if he had the surety of some rouling trench, [he] creeps up by this meanes to his relinquish't fortresse of divine authority.
1723 Impartial Hist. Peter Alexowitz 21 The said General Gordon undertook to carry a rolling Trench, or rather a rolling Parapet, which by the help of a multitude of Hands..he brought to such perfection, that it terrify'd the Beseiged.
1856 G. W. Thornbury Shakspere's Eng. II. xv.374 Before them came what they call a rolling trench: it was a wooden framework covered with canvas, painted to resemble earth, and driven forward on wheels by persons concealed within its walls.
1975 J. Weld Meaning in Comedy i. ii. 74 On the first day the besiegers entered in a rolling trench of canvas.
rolling weed n. chiefly North American = tumble-weed n. at tumble- comb. form 1.
ΚΠ
1861 N. A. Woods Prince of Wales in Canada & U.S. x. 310 On a breezy day hundreds and thousands of these large rolling weeds may be seen in all directions tumbling swiftly across the huge expanse of land.
1913 C. C. Woods Beauty Meadow & Mountain xviii. 266 The wind was strong and irregular, and sent the rolling weed bounding over the field.
2005 Ottawa Citizen (Nexis) 27 Jan. a14 Blown every which way..like the rolling weeds that furnish a classic backdrop of futility and decay for Hollywood westerns.
rolling wheel n. a wheel designed to roll as part of a mechanism.
ΚΠ
1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) Perambulator, a Walking-wheel, a rolling Wheel..with a Movement, a Face divided like a Clock and Indexes, to shew how many Yards, Poles, Furlongs and Miles one goes in driving it before him.
1863 S. R. Graves Yachting Cruise Baltic 48 These rocks..are ground together by a heavy rolling-wheel worked by simple machinery.
2005 U.S. Patent 6,948,266 6 The roller, comprised of a corrugated rolling wheel rotatable in the direction of the chain travel, is also capable of bi-directional movement.
C2. Parasynthetic.
rolling eyed adj. (and n.) having rolling eyes; also as n.
ΚΠ
1598 J. Florio Worlde of Wordes Peto,..goat-eied, rouling-eied.
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory ii. 388/1 The Blinkard, or he that looks Asquint; sees when the thing is at a small distance... The Rolling Eyed, or the Gogle Eyes; Eyes that are always in motion: which see neither near, or far off.
1848 T. A. Buckley tr. Homer Iliad 305 The Trojans first drove back the rolling-eyed Greeks.
1905 W. B. Maxwell Vivien `xxxvii. 431 He never got beyond this recurrent opening stage in his examination of trembling, rolling-eyed Miss Ellenberger.
2002 Independent (Nexis) 26 Aug. 13 Then the one-armed, rolling-eyed fat mullahs are wheeled out with obvious delight.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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