| 释义 |
roomn.1int. Origin: A word inherited from Germanic. Etymology: Cognate with Old Dutch ruom place to withdraw to (Middle Dutch ruum , Dutch ruim space, open space, interior space in a ship), Old Saxon rūm space, distance (Middle Low German rūm space, open space, opportunity, area, enclosed area, period of time, location, interior space in a building, interior space in a ship), Old High German rūm space (Middle High German rūm open space, space for a person, location, German Raum space for a person or purpose, location, period of time, interior space in a building, interior space in a ship), Old Icelandic rúm space, interior space in a building, seat, the space between the frames in a ship, Faroese rúm space, enclosed space, interior space in a building, space between the frames in a ship, Norwegian rom space, enclosed space, interior space in a building, space between the frames in a ship, Old Swedish rum space, open space, location, extent, interior space in a building, period of time (Swedish rum space, area, location, interior space in a building), Danish rum space, locality, enclosed space, interior space in a building, Gothic rūm location, use as noun of the Germanic base of room adj. In Shetland use in sense A. 7a probably partly < the unattested Norn reflex of the early Scandinavian word represented by Old Icelandic rúm space between the frames in a ship (see above).In Old English a strong neuter; perhaps also a strong masculine as in other Germanic languages (attested forms of ambiguous gender are disproportionately numerous for this word). The prefixed form gerūm (compare y- prefix) is also attested; compare also the rare weak masculine by-form gerūma place, spot, station (compare sense A. 5a). Earlier currency of sense A. 7a is perhaps shown by the early Middle English compound room-nail a kind of nail used to secure barrels in a ship's hold, although an alternative etymology (assuming a relationship with later rummage n.) has been suggested for this (see B. Sandahl Middle Eng. Sea Terms (1951) I. 152–4):1312–13 Naval Acct. in B. Sandahl Middle Eng. Sea Terms (1951) I. 152 En CCCC. de clous q' sont appelez Romnayl por coucher les toneaux, viij.d. The following quot., cited in Middle Eng. Dict. at rŏum n.(2) as an early example of sense A. 8a, probably does not exemplify this sense; the explanation of ride in rume as ‘to read (about something) in a chamber’ seems very unlikely, and the text is probably corrupt at this point (compare the variant readings):a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) 21911 Mekil leuer him war to here Hu roland iusted..Or of retauthing to ride in rume [a1400 Vesp. Or o rotoygne rede a run, a1400 Trin. Cambr. Of worldly þing to rede & synge], þan of vr lauerd passiun. With sense A. 6d compare earlier room adj. Pronunciation and spelling history. The modern standard English reflex of this word shows Middle English ū before a labial remaining unchanged during the Great Vowel Shift (compare e.g. coomb n.1, and coop n.1, droop v., etc.); the pronunciation /ruːm/ shows preservation of this sound unchanged, while /rʊm/ reflects late shortening. The α. and β. forms show different Middle English spellings for /uː/ and (in the case of β. forms) continuing use of these spellings into the early modern period, and later in Scots (the isolated Older Scots form rolme at β. forms is perhaps by confusion with forms of royalme n.: compare δ. forms at that entry). The δ. forms probably show respellings as a result of merger with the (raised, post-Great Vowel Shift) reflex of Middle English close ō , although early instances of the form rome (which is common in the 15th cent.) perhaps instead reflect a variant with shortened vowel (compare γ. forms and discussion below). The form roame at δ. forms apparently shows an isolated anomalous spelling. It is possible that some of the β. forms reflect a diphthong resulting from the Great Vowel Shift, but there is very little evidence for this development in this word in varieties closely related to the standard. Compare the following isolated example from a text written in a revised spelling system which uses oou to represent the diphthong (in all other instances in this text, the word is spelt with oo , representing the short vowel):?1578 W. Patten Let. Entertainm. Killingwoorth 61 Placed at Warwik for more rooum in the Castl. The ζ. forms show a regional (northern and north midland) development from a diphthongal reflex of Middle English ū (compare e.g. abaht adv. and prep.); J. Wright Eng. Dial. Gram. (1905) 578–9 also records diphthongal pronunciations, chiefly from the same area. The γ. forms reflect variants with shortening of the vowel (although quots. 1684 and 1737 may simply show improvised spellings for forms with a long vowel; compare α. forms). J. Wright Eng. Dial. Gram. (1905) 578 records forms with a short vowel in widespread use, chiefly in the north, the north and west midlands, and the south east (Kent, Sussex, Surrey). In American English, the chiefly eastern pronunciation /rʊm/ is only attested from the late 19th cent. Outside dialectal use, /rʊm/ is recorded in British English apparently only from the early 20th cent., and is now rare, although some prescriptive writers recommended it in the mid 20th cent. The Scots variants at ε. (less common than the β. and δ. forms) appear to show evidence of fronting of /u(ː)/ (a development usually associated with later periods), leading to identification with the (fronted) reflex of Middle English long close ō (compare similar forms at house n.1, proud adj., n., and adv., etc., and see further P. Johnston ‘Older Scots Phonology and its Regional Variation’ in C. Jones Edinb. Hist. Sc. Lang. (1997) 82–3). A. n.1 I. Space in general. the world > space > [noun] OE (1931) 1166 Þa his tiddæge under rodera rum rim wæs gefylled. c1175 (Burchfield transcript) l. 8489 Þe laferrd haffde litell rum. Inn all þatt miccle riche. c1330 (Auch.) (1933) l. 483 Þe ȝonge impe þat wide springes Had large roum in all þingges. c1330 (?a1300) (Auch.) (1973) 7896 Her main þai kedde And large roume about hem redde. c1400 (?c1380) (1920) 96 At þi banne we haf broȝt..Mony renischche renkez, and ȝet is roum more. c1450 (1904) I. 50 (MED) What was þe grettest mervayle & fayrest þing þat evur God made in leste rowme? 1487 (a1380) J. Barbour (St. John's Cambr.) xi. 469 So fele battalis and so braid, That tuk so gret rowme as thai raid. ?1523 J. Fitzherbert f. xvv Whan it is mowen it..taketh more rowme in the barne than shorne corne doth. a1568 R. Ascham (1570) ii. f. 44v To draw other mens workes for his owne memorie sake, into shorter rowme. 1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny I. vii. xxxviii. 175 A painted table,..which tooke up no greate roume. 1699 R. Bentley (new ed.) 414 Both Labour and Room was saved by their repeated Contractions. 1733 J. Tull 91 It filling less room (by the breaking) is a proof of its specific gravity being increased. 1758 J. Blake 3 If more room be wanted the orlop deck may be enlarged. 1830 W. Wordsworth In the edition of 1827 it was diligently revised, and the sense in several instances got into less room. 1847 C. Brontë II. ix. 234 Mr. Rochester won't; though there is so much room in the new carriage. 1855 ‘E. S. Delamer’ 107 Cos lettuces will take up somewhat less room. 1928 E. F. Benson in C. Asquith 30 I'm going to hoof out the boudoir-grand and have a cottage piano. Makes more room. 1960 5 Jan. (Suppl.) 2 Take a look round the garden first and calculate roughly how much room you have to fill. 2000 K. Cann vii. 56 He bought that just so he could have ice in his silly bloody cocktails—look at the room it takes up! 2. OE (Corpus Cambr.) ii. 7 Forþam þe hig næfdon rum on cumena huse. c1330 Horn Child l. 69 in J. Hall (1901) 180 (MED) On alerton more al þai mett, Þer were her dayes sett, Failed hem no roum. a1400 (a1325) (Vesp.) 20856 (MED) For þis bok has na noþer rume; It es na spede our suinc to spend, On thing we may noght bring tilend. c1425 (c1400) 3230 To the hauen of Athenes..For ther myght thei alle stonde In romme. c1480 (a1400) St. Paul 88 in W. M. Metcalfe (1896) I. 31 To here hym wes sik prese, þat fawt of rowme gret þar wes. c1503 (Pynson) l. 3078 Than began Beuys..to get hym rowme wyth gode Marglay. 1535 Isa. xlix. D This place is to narow, syt nye together, yt I maye haue rowme. ?a1600 ( R. Sempill Legend Bischop St. Androis in J. Cranstoun (1891) I. xlv. 357 For laik of rowme, that rubiature Bespewit vp the moderator. 1665 R. Boyle Disc. iv. i, in sig. E3 How many thousand times more there might be without wanting room. 1671 in (1890) App. v. 22 It was so hard to get room that wee were forced to goe by four a clocke. 1791 W. Cowper 73 With hunger pinch'd, and pinch'd for room. 1858 E. Bulwer-Lytton i. iv All the men who rule England have room in that palace. 1865 ‘L. Carroll’ vii. 95 The table was a large one, but the three were all crowded together at one corner of it. ‘No room! No room!’ they cried out when they saw Alice coming. 1918 H. Schenkofsky iii. 35 Hey, you fellows, you will have to pile them barrels two high, and on end, or else we will not have room enough. 1958 B. Wilder & I. A. L. Diamond (film script) (O.E.D. Archive) 60 Girls. Come on in. There's lots of room in the back. 2008 9 Sept. 13/6 She told her parents she had tried to do a ‘star float’, which she had been taught in swimming lessons, but did not have enough room. the world > space > [noun] > sufficient space or room eOE (Kentish) Note of Purchase (Sawyer 1204) in W. de G. Birch (1887) II. 134 Ðær ne gebyreð an ðam landæ an folcæs folcryht to lefænnæ rumæs butan twigen fyt to yfæsdrypæ. 1417 in J. Raine (1890) 12 That Hesyll may hafe rowme thar to lay hys sole. c1450 (c1386) G. Chaucer (Fairf. 16) (1879) l. 1998 [A place] that..hath Rovme [c1450 Tanner roume, a1475 BL Add. 28617 rome] and eke space To welde an axe or swerde. c1478 Earl Rivers in J. Gairdner (1878) App. B. 396 If ye may get rome for iij or iiij men of thys contre..for to be in the parlement hows. 1535 Psalms xvii[i]. 36 Thou hast made rowme ynough vnder me for to go. 1587 in A. Feuillerat (1908) 391 For Roome for the office and masters lodging at Grenewiche. 1611 Gen. xxiv. 23 Is there roome in thy fathers house for vs to lodge in? View more context for this quotation 1662 E. Stillingfleet iii. iv. §7 There would be room enough for them, and for provision for them. 1722 D. Defoe 24 It was not a Meat-Market Day so we had room to sit down upon one of the Butcher's Stalls. 1757 T. Gray Ode II ii. i, in 16 Give ample room, and verge enough The characters of hell to trace. 1795 65 542/2 I request you will spare room for one tribute more to his memory. 1833 H. Martineau ii. i. 18 We must teach him..that there is room in the wide world for all. 1840 XVII. 345/1 The plants..would then have room to grow out. 1868 A. Helps II. xvii. 272 There was not sufficient room for the furniture. 1908 R. S. McLaren 19 Studs are used where there is not room for a bolt-head. 1973 J. G. Farrell ii. 24 The ladies' crinolines ballooned against each other leaving very little room for a gentleman to stretch his legs with discretion. 1994 M. Lawrence 63/1 There is no room to get a normal spanner in. c1475 tr. A. Chartier (Univ. Coll. Oxf.) (1974) 235 Whereas the defautes were agains the disciplyne of armes pitie had no rome [a1500 Rawl. place; Fr. lieu], ne lynage nor high poort might haue no fauore, nor prayers be herd. 1574 St. Avstens Manuell in sig. Pi Hauing thee in my hart..so as there may be no rowme in me for any counterfet or vncleane loue. 1598 W. Shakespeare iii. iii. 154 Theres no roome for faith, trueth, nor honestie, in this bosome of thine. View more context for this quotation 1660 F. Brooke tr. V. Le Blanc 285 Then there was amongst us such a tyde of tendernesses, there was not room for words. 1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iv, in tr. Virgil 132 No room is left for Death, they mount the Sky. View more context for this quotation 1710 R. Steele No. 139. ⁋1 Business and Ambition take up Men's Thoughts too much to leave Room for Philosophy. 1764 O. Goldsmith 14 But while this softer art their bliss supplies, It gives their follies also room to rise. 1868 Ld. Tennyson 14 What room is left for a hater? 1925 V. Sackville-West Let. 25 Aug. in (1984) 53 I have come to the conclusion that there is no longer any room for merely purple poetry; only for the prosaic. 1971 B. Sidran v. 138 The soloist was given more room to improvise, more harmonic ‘space’ in which to move. 3. the world > action or operation > advantage > an opportunity > [noun] > opportunity society > authority > lack of subjection > freedom or liberty > freedom of action or from restraint > [noun] > scope or free opportunity society > leisure > [noun] > for doing something eOE (partly from transcript of damaged MS) (2009) x. 30 Deað þæs ne scrifeð, þonne him rum forlæt rodora waldend, ac he þone welegan wædlum gelice efnmærne gedeð. OE (2008) 2690 Frecne fyrdraca..ræsde on ðone rofan, þa him rum ageald. OE 314 Rum wæs to nimanne londbuendum on ðam laðestan, hyra ealdfeondum unlyfigendum heolfrig herereaf. c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon (Calig.) (1963) 504 Þe riche haueð muchel rum to ræsan biforen þan wrecchan. c1390 (?c1350) (1871) l. 444 (MED) Whon þat þou comest aȝeyn..þou miht haue more redi roume my rikenyng to here! c1450 (a1425) (Selden) l. 17430 (MED) Þou gyfe me leue forto haue rowm and redy way Euer more at myd nyȝt forto meue to certayn place my god to pray. 1528 sig. G4v Daniel is not yett come Which shall obtayne the roume Their fraudfull wayes to subuerte. 1535 Wisd. xii. 19 Euen when thou iudgest, thou geuest rowme to amende from synnes. 1609 T. Heywood xiv. 382 But of this Stratagem, what next befell, This Canto will not giue vs roome to tell. 1637 S. Rutherford (1863) I. 364 Pray that the Lord wd be pleased to giue me room to speak to His people in His name. 1703 Duke of Marlborough (1845) I. 170 To give no room to the King of Portugal to fall off again, I should [etc.]. 1769 G. White Let. 8 Dec. in (1789) 73 Where you spent..some considerable time, and gave yourself good room to examine the natural curiosities. 1793 J. Smeaton (ed. 2) §183 As soon as the season would give us room to suppose we were likely to have success. 1827 J. Keble I. i. 4 The trivial round, the common task Would furnish..Room to deny ourselves. 1859 iii. 174 Their ungenerous avarice gives room to suppose the sum was small. 1896 A. E. Housman ii. 4 And since to look at things in bloom Fifty springs are little room. 1914 C. Gouldsbury 83 Your measured periods, slightly vague, Leave us no room to doubt it. 1942 B. Robertson viii. 174 It wasn't long before the whole of Texas was on to that fellow's tactics. Uncle Stevie, tell me what room has any of them to say such things. 1982 B. MacLaverty (1985) 26 ‘I've no room to talk, of course. I had to leave at fifteen,’ she said, rolling her eyes in Nelson's direction. the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > possibility > [noun] > area or period of occurrence c1620 A. Hume (1870) 18 The doctor had mikle a doe to win me room for a syllogisme. 1692 R. L'Estrange xxi. 23 There's room yet for a Distinction..betwixt what's done Openly..and a Thing that's done in Hugger-mugger. 1710 R. Steele No. 198. ⁋ 6 Cælia had no more Room for Doubt. 1726 J. Swift I. i. vii. 122 Still there was room for Mercy. 1828 W. Scott Fair Maid of Perth iii, in 2nd Ser. II. 102 There is no room for pardon where offence must not be taken. 1855 T. B. Macaulay III. xi. 100 As to most of the provisions there was little room for dispute. 1875 B. Jowett in tr. Plato (ed. 2) V. 122 In such a commonwealth there would be less room for the development of individual character. 1927 M. L. Margolis & A. Marx xxiv. 132 From this enlightened searching, which still left room for conformity, there was but a step to the worldly-mindedness rife among the wealthier classes. 1954 D. Eisenhower Let. 19 Mar. in P. Boyle (1990) 128 There is room for discussion as to the scope and severity of the controls which should be applied under this principle. 1988 38 362 A. admits some room for doubt but is fairly sure he is right. II. A particular space. †4. the world > time > duration > shortness or brevity in time > [noun] > a short or moderate space of time OE (Northumbrian) Liturgical Texts (Durham Ritual) in A. H. Thompson & U. Lindelöf (1927) 171 Conserua nos hodie per omnium horarum spatia et per certa momenta temporis : gihald usig to dæg ðerh alle tido rumo & ðerh uutedo sgytila tides. OE tr. Chrodegang of Metz (Corpus Cambr. 191) xiii. 201 And habbon þonne interuallum, þæt is hwil oððe rum betwyx uhtsange and dægeredsange. a1425 (?a1300) (Linc. Inn) (1952) 800 (MED) Kyng Phelip..wolde, in schort roume, Alisaundre his sone croune. a1500 (?c1300) (Cambr.) l. 1007 + 19 Þe Sarsyns yn a rome At that tyme were ouercome. the world > space > [noun] > defined or limited portion of space a1425 (a1400) (Galba & Harl.) (1863) l. 9168 (MED) Þe roume and þe space þat es contende In þe cete of heven has nane ende. c1450 (1904) I. 50 All þe wittes of a man is sett in þat litle rowm. a1483 Earl Rivers Let. in J. Gairdner (1878) App. B. 395 Ye will leve a rome..for a skochon of the armez of Wodevile and Scalis. 1509 J. Fisher (de Worde) sig. Biii v It is so grosse yt it occupyeth a rowme..and letteth other bodyes to be present in ye same place. 1587 A. Fleming et al. (new ed.) III. Contin. 1537/2 The roome within this close baie conteineth almost fortie acres. 1617 F. Moryson iii. 69 That the whole roome towards the streets may be reserved for shoppes. 1695 J. Woodward 160 Which [Earth] he makes..to contract it self into a lesser room. 1740 S. Johnson Morin in July 377/2 A Journal of the Weather..which exhibits, in a little Room, a great Train of different Observations. 1755 J. Shebbeare (1769) I. 55 When he was at leeward, he was equally cautious of allowing a proper room, through fear of receiving a shot betwixt wind and water. 1833 L. Ritchie 186 The squares, amounting to thirty-three, are not worth the room which their names would occupy. 1885 R. Bridges ii. xxviii. 25 A zephyr straying out of heaven's wide room Rushed down. 1909 J. Davidson 18 City sunshine sparse And pallid claiming all the room that now..Serves as the Dionysius' ear of the world. the world > space > place > [noun] > of which the position alone is considered > on an abacus, chess-board, etc. 1543 R. Record ii. sig. R.v When the summe to be abatyd, in any lyne appeareth greater then the other, then do they borowe one of the nexte hygher roume. 1562 tr. Damiano da Odemira sig. Avjv The king..hath libertie to assault thre roumes or stepps as he listeth. 5. the world > space > place > [noun] OE 16 Ic his biddan [read bidan] ne dear, reþes on geruman.., ac ic sceal fromlice feþemundum þurh steapne beorg stræte wyrcan.] c1330 (?a1300) (Auch.) (1973) 8055 (MED) Þe brigge hem þouȝt siker, On þat ich fair roume To aloge her pauiloun. c1425 (Egerton) (1967) l. 1103 (MED) Thai sal noȝt haue no roume theron beside another, Bot all be cast on a hepe as of turf a fother. a1500 (a1450) (Trin. Cambr.) 2044 (MED) The Sowdon..rideth streyte to his pavilion With lordes abought hym in euery rome. 1533 J. Bellenden tr. Livy (1901) I. ii. v. 145 This cocles, set be aventure in ane rovme maid for defence of þe said brig. 1540 in J. W. Clay (1902) VI. 94 For my rowme where I shalbe buried. 1611 Wisd. xiii. 15 And when he had made a conuenient roume for it, set it in a wall. View more context for this quotation 1674 N. Fairfax 30 If the Soul..settles in some room whence it may best..sway the whole body. 1679 W. Cunningham (1887) 111 For a coach roome from Leith, 2 s. 1707 J. Mortimer ix. 144 Lay them in some room three or four Weeks or more, that they may cool, give and toughen. the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > [noun] > fishing-ground > station for taking fish 1573 in K. Cameron (2001) VI. 50 One fishery of sex Rowmes. 1620 R. Whitbourne 30 [They] doe cut downe many of the best trees they can finde, to build their stages and roomes..; hewing..and destroying many others that grow within a mile of the Sea, where they use to fish. 1858 P. L. Simmonds Room, a fishing station in the British North American Provinces. 1937 P. K. Devine Gloss. Room, a fishing premises: stage, flakes and store. 1954 F. Briffett 32 A man's fishing property—flakes, stages and stores—was known as his room. 1963 J. T. Rowland iv. 54 Most of the schooner men had permanent stations, or ‘rooms’,..with storehouses and fish stages. 1975 Mar. 10/2 Of a crew of 40, there would be 24 to man eight small boats and 16 to work on the room. the world > relative properties > order > order, sequence, or succession > [noun] > a series or succession > a place in a series 1576 A. Fleming tr. J. Caius 2 Of these three sortes..so meane I to intreate, that the first in the first place, the last in the last roome, and the myddle sort in the middle seate be handled. ?1591 R. Bruce i. sig. C3v In the third roume, it coms in to be considered; how [etc.]. a1600 (?c1535) tr. H. Boece (Mar Lodge) (1946) f. 229v Fergus..gat apoun this lady thre sonnys..of quham in thare rowme salbe maid mencioun. 1616 in G. W. Sprott (1901) 19 We seeking Thy Kingdom and the righteousness of it in the first room. 1664 W. Guthrey 44 I shall in the next roome give you some few items that [etc.]. 1721 R. Wodrow (1830) II. 139/2 Thus, in the first room, our religious and reformation-rights, and next our lives and civil liberties, are laid at the King's feet. 1724 R. Wodrow (1828) 4 In the last room I shall give account of his manuscripts. 6. Scottish. society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > district in relation to human occupation > a land or country > [noun] 1468 in J. Maidment (1837) 6 Thai sal supple lauchfull and honest defens of thare lifis landis heretaige rovmys office. 1488 (c1478) Hary (Adv.) (1968–9) vi. l. 270 Sa he begane with strenth and stalwart hand To chewys agayne sum rowmys off Scotland. 1533 J. Bellenden tr. Livy (1901) I. i. iii. 26 The romanis increscit Ilk day in new mvnitioun, bringand new rowmes vnder þare dominioun. 1570 in J. Cranstoun (1891) I. xviii. 39 Lat neuer þai Ruffians within ȝour rowmis reill. 1578 J. Rolland 1 [Rome] Conquest grit realmes, lordschips & rowms braid. 1486 in J. Fullarton (1834) 31 Wrangwisly he come in his rowm of the mos & hakkit his pettis. 1659 A. Hay (1901) 41 I went to the mosse becaus I was informed that Alexander Stevenson had taken up my roume. 1685 VIII. 495/1 If the rowm be ane mureland rowm. the world > food and drink > farming > farm > [noun] the mind > possession > possessions > [noun] > real or immovable property > land > a landed property or estate a1513 W. Dunbar (1998) I. 128 For rekkyning of my rentis and roumes Ȝie neid not for to tyre ȝour thowmes. 1546 in J. H. Burton (1877) 1st Ser. I. 22 In thair personis, landes, rowmes, possessionis, and gudis. 1551 (1910) 20 Gif the saidis personis..labouris nocht thare hayl rowm. 1570 in J. Cranstoun (1891) I. xxiii. 30 Thair was sum that tuik thy rowmis in few. c1657 W. Mure Hist. Rowallane in (1898) II. 242 Garnegep and Calder, rowmes now not knowne by these names. 1688 W. Scot (1776) 45 Ev'ry pensioner a room did gain, For service done and to be done. 1699 in M. P. Brown (1826) IV. 462 That such a roum or parcel of land is part of that barony. 1808 J. Jamieson (at cited word) Room is still commonly used for a farm. 1818 W. Scott Heart of Mid-Lothian viii, in 2nd Ser. IV. 164 Zealous professors,..to whom the preceding Duke of Argyle had given rooms in this corner of his estate. 1884 26 July 3/1 Three merks..of Land in the room of Gord, Keotha, and Bremer in the Parish of Cunningsburgh. 1932 A. Horsbøl tr. J. Jakobsen II. 724/1 Rum,..an allotment, small holding. the world > space > [noun] > unobstructed space 1517 in J. Imrie et al. (1960) 41 All mydynnes..to be removit and..nayne to lye in this said rowme atour xv dayis. 1533 J. Bellenden tr. Livy (1901) I. 200 The places quhare his housis stude is now the waist rovme standing before the tempill of Tellus. 1596 in J. D. Marwick & R. Renwick (1906) II. App. 569 The roume betuix the kirk gavill and tofallis. 1634 in H. Paton (1936) 386 Als much of..his yaird..as..may be ane sufficient rowme to place the said schoole wpon. 1692 in R. Renwick (1893) 241 The..counsell have condescended to build two stairs without the Laigh Kirk to answear the lofts and that upon the voyd roume quhair [etc.]. III. An enclosed space. 7. In technical applications. society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > parts of vessels > body of vessel > [noun] > timbers of hull > space between timbers society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > parts of vessels > other parts of body of vessel > [noun] > seat in a boat > for rower(s) > space between thwarts 1408 (P.R.O.: C 145/286/19) m. 2 Md de certis mercandisis in quadam Nau. voc. Cristofre de Ianua..j cofra serrata en ij rommes cum ix cables..Item in al. roum ij bal. de pell. agn... Item in al. romm xiij bal. de mader. a1525 in W. A. Craigie (1923) I. 159 Thair is redis samekle that a man may haf a bait of iiij mennis rowme to roll our a watter of a part betuix twa knottis. 1617 W. Adams Let. 14 Jan. in A. Farrington (1991) I. 568 I wase in great danger to looss..lives, ship and goods..for the space of 3 [days] and night[s] bayllinge in 4 rooumes. 1750 (Plate at end) A Herring Buss. Cable Room. The Mess Room... Bread & Salt Room... Net Room... Bread & Salt Room. 1850 J. Greenwood Explan. Terms 143 Rooms, the different vacancies between the timbers, and likewise those between the beams, as the mast-rooms, capstan-room, hatch-room, &c. 1855 Norfolk Words in 35 Room, the space between thwarts. 1883 J. R. Tudor 664 Rooms, S[hetland], the compartments of a boat. 1896 Jan. 17/1 The sean is shot. It had lain a huge brown heap in its proper ‘room’ or compartment of the boat. 1899 J. Spence 127 The boat was divided into six compartments, viz., fore-head, fore-room, mid-room [etc.]... The shott was double the size of a room. 1932 A. Horsbøl tr. J. Jakobsen II. 724/1 Rum,..space between two thwarts in a boat. comm[on]. 1979 A. M. Tizzard 94 This room was covered with gangboards. During fishing one or two of these gangboards would be removed. 1994 O. Roberts in R. Unger 21 In some [large galleys] a space, or room as it was called, of about three feet.., considered usual for an oarsman, is possible. society > occupation and work > workplace > places where raw materials are extracted > mine > [noun] > passage > other passages in coal-mine 1670 Sheriffhall Coal Acct. Bks. in at Roum [For] reding of his rowme with 2 beirers at 4 d. a day. 1681 Sheriffhall Coal Acct. Bks. 15 Jan. in at Roum For winning out a roume. 1725 P. Halkett Let. 14 July in (C. 4575) (1885) i. 154 He must take great care that the wideness of the rooms and largeness of the stoups be according to the goodness of the roof and the hardness of the coal. 1789 J. Williams I. 8 The boards or rooms in which the colliers are working. 1839 A. Ure 960 Each miner continues to advance his room or working-place, till [etc.]. 1893 at Stoop In the stoop and room the seam is divided into pillars called stoops by passages at right angles to each other called rooms. 1911 J. Husband i. 15 Here the track swerved up from one of the main tunnels into a 'room', and at the end, or 'heading' of this room..stood one of the square cars. 1975 lix. 49 Room, a passage driven off a cross entry at a right angle, therefore parallel to the main entry, from which the coal is actually taken. 1994 25 May a8/4 The next stage of the process involves removing a 14.6 metre (48 feet) bench to create a room. society > occupation and work > materials > fuel > coal or types of coal > [noun] > measure of coal 1798 (City of London & County of Middlesex) 3rd Sess. 189/1 Mr. Capper, of the Hungerford Coffee-house, gave us an order for a room of coals, one chaldron out of the room was to be sent to Kentish-town. 1800 P. Colquhoun iii. 147 Coals are sometimes bought by what is called the Room. 1824 30 Oct. 90/1 Some merchants..will promise to give sixty-eight sacks to a room. 1883 W. S. Gresley 206 Room,..a weight of 7 tons of coal, or 5¼ chaldrons by measure. the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > salt manufacture > [noun] > equipment 1809 E. A. Kendall II. xlvi. 133 The water is now drawn into the last range of vats or rooms, called salt-rooms. 1848 J. W. Barber 41 The first class..is called the water room; the second, the pickle room; the third, the lime room; and fourth, the salt room. Each of these rooms..is placed so much lower than the preceding. 1903 3 Oct. 23198/2 Of the three kinds of rooms belonging to a salt yard, about one-third are deep and lime rooms; the rest are salt rooms. 2002 J. W. Rosbe iv. 67 The first three vats were called the ‘water rooms’. 8. society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > room > [noun] 1438 (P.R.O.: C 54/288) m. 7v Þe howsyng of the said mesuage is an halhous..a netehous..a newe berne of fyve Rownes an house wt stables and oþer offices..a berne of foure Rownes and an hoggesty thacched. 1457–8 in J. T. Fowler (1901) III. 637 1 grangie de 5 rowmez... Pro factura 1 rowme in tenemento. 1512–13 in J. B. Paul (1902) IV. 466 Ressauit be Johne of Drummond for his pantreis and rowmes. 1556–7 (1889) I. 460 None shall devyde the dwelling howses of this cittie into sondrie rowlms for their private gayn. ?1578 W. Patten 66 The stately seat of Kenelwoorth Castl,..euery room so spacioous. a1616 W. Shakespeare (1623) v. v. 56 Search Windsor Castle... Strew good lucke (Ouphes) on euery sacred roome . View more context for this quotation 1617 F. Moryson i. 58 Under the fortification of the Castle round about, are stables for horses, and some roomes for like purposes. 1629 W. Mure 30 Our harts for Him..A rowme should bee to rest in, and reside. 1653 D. Osborne (1888) 132 'Tis a very fine seat, but..Sir Thomas Cheeke..told me there was never a good room in the house. 1667 S. Pepys 22 July (1974) VIII. 347 In my Lord's Roome..where all the Judges' pictures hang up. 1703 R. Neve 61 To distribute the whole Ground-plot..into Rooms of Office, or Entertainment. 1760 J. Wesley (1872) III. 12 I was obliged once more to coop myself up in the Room. 1791 A. Radcliffe I. ii. 49 The room appeared to have been built in modern times upon a Gothic plan. 1832 S. T. Coleridge (1971) VI. 880 You remember the little black Shaving-Pot, that used to stand on the Hob in my Room? 1841 E. W. Lane tr. I. 122 Low seats which generally extend along three sides of the room. 1891 E. Peacock II. 67 The rooms of the cottage were low. 1934 D. Thomas c3 July (1987) 146 My own room is a tiny, renovated bedroom, all papers and books, cigarette ends, hardly any light. 1989 P. Dally vi. 63 Elizabeth was run down and tired, and he treated her by rest and confined her to her room. the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Hymenoptera > [noun] > suborder Apocrita, Petiolata, or Heterophaga > group Aculeata (stinging) > superfamily Apoidea (bees) > honeycomb > cell in 1579 E. Spenser Dec. f. 49v The honey Bee, Working her formall rowmes in wexen frame. 1608 E. Topsell 72 The whole combe containeth foure orders of Celles; The first the Bees occupie... The last is appointed for the roome of hony making. society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > dwelling place or abode > accommodation or lodging > [noun] > hired lodgings 1623 in J. Imrie & J. G. Dunbar (1982) II. 154 For ane great stok locke to the turnepykheid dore that gois up from the kingis rowmes to Buckinghames rowmes. a1662 T. Craufurd (1808) 22 The lodging of the provest, where now the Principall of the Colledge hath his roomes [MS rowmes]. 1742 H. Fielding I. ii. xvi. 289 My House-Keeper was gone abroad, and has locked up all my Rooms. 1779 S. Sayre Let. 13 Apr. in B. Franklin (1992) XXIX. 314 I have been many days confined to my Rooms with the blind Piles. 1836 C. Dickens (1837) ii. 24 I trust I shall have the pleasure of seeing you and your friend at my rooms. 1879 M. E. Braddon xxviii Can I have his rooms for a few nights? I..don't want to go to a hotel. 1886 C. E. Pascoe (ed. 3) xxii. 213 The rooms of the Society of Arts..are in John Street. 1914 ‘I. Hay’ (ed. 2) xxiii. 221 The rooms..were described by the agent and Timothy as ‘a lovely little bachelor suite’ and ‘a self-contained monkey-house’ respectively. 1937 C. Beaton Diary in (1979) vi. 51 My rooms were Empire, decorated in striped satin. 1974 A. Munro in R. Weaver (1978) 250 Her rooms were full of heavy furniture salvaged from her marriage—an upright piano, overstuffed chesterfield and chairs. 2008 A. C. Clarke & F. Pohl vii. 52 When Ranjit got back to his rooms that night, there was the next best thing to Gamini's actual presence waiting for him, namely, an e-letter from London. society > society and the community > social relations > association, fellowship, or companionship > a company or body of persons > [noun] > in hall or room 1628 R. Speed Counter-ratt (new ed.) in (new ed.) sig. E3v All vp doe rise, And call for Beere to cleare his eyes, A Garnish then the whole Roome [?1626 Roomes] cryes. 1712 J. Addison No. 269. ¶12 His venerable Figure drew upon us the Eyes of the whole Room. 1745 M. Tomlinson 19 A dreadful murmur fill'd th' assembled room. a1828 J. G. C. Brainard (1842) 129 The first set attracted the whole room's attention. 1898 M. Hewlett vi As for the..old soul by the fire, she kept her back resolutely on the room. 1916 A. Duquet xi. 50 Our French ladies, in bright satin, covered with dazzling diamonds, attracted the enthusiastic glances of the whole room. 1996 A. Ostriker III. 62 The entire room was frowning at Emily. society > trade and finance > financial dealings > insurance > [noun] > insurance company (general) > specific areas at Lloyd's society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > room > room by type of use > [noun] > assembly room 1715 L. Theobald in tr. Aristophanes ii. 26 (note) The poor People of Greece usually in the time of Winter crowded to the Rooms where the Fires were made to heat the Baths. 1766 C. Anstey vii. ii. 45 The Captain is come, And so kind as to go with us all to the Room. 1766 C. Anstey viii. 48 (heading) Mr. B-n-r-d goes to the Rooms.—His Opinion of Gaming. 1771 T. Smollett I. 115 In the forenoon, they crawl out to the Rooms or the coffee-house. 1779 F. Burney Let. 12 Oct. in (1994) III. 370 In the Evening we all went to the Rooms. The rooms, as they are called, consisted, for this Evening, of only one apartment, as there was not Company enough to make more necessary. 1822 W. Hazlitt in 4 112 An old gentleman..who looked as if he had played many a rubber at the Bath rooms. 1876 ‘G. Eliot’ I. ii. xv. 291 They moved off together to saunter through the rooms, Sir Hugo saying as they entered the large saal—‘Did you play much at Baden, Grandcourt?’ 1904 A. E. W. Mason xxiii. 217 She..bought a visitor's list at the kiosk in front of the rooms. 1928 A. Christie xxvii. 214 He found [him] in the Rooms, jauntily placing the minimum stake on the even numbers. 1931 29 Aug. 155/2 Book auctions.—May I voice a long overdue protest against the pernicious and iniquitous custom prevailing in the ‘Rooms’ of doing up parcels of books with string. 1933 D. C. Peel x. 121 The Rooms were so crowded that I could not get near enough to play at my chosen table. 1962 H. O. Beecheno xvi. 153 He [sc. the broker] will then take this in to ‘the Room’ at Lloyd's and approach one or more leading underwriters. 1972 1 Dec. (Colour Suppl.) 40/4 There is a clubbish sort of old boys' net in The Room [at Lloyd's]. 2001 July 35/3 The largest cultural investment in Newfoundland has ever made, a facility called The Rooms, is being built to preserve the province's artistic, historical and archaeological treasures. society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > room > room by type of use > [noun] > sitting room 1795 J. Sinclair XV. 339 The rent of a room and kitchen, or what in the language of the place is stiled a but and a ben. 1800 M. Edgeworth 171 He was at the table in the room, drinking with the exciseman and the gauger. 1829 J. Hogg vi The Room, which, in those days, meant the only sitting apartment of a house. 1877 F. Ross et al. Room,..the parlour or sitting-room. 1966 in (1982) (at cited word) There is no such word in the vocabulary of many Newfoundlanders as ‘living room’. It is called simply ‘the room’, which is an indication of its exalted status. 1980 ‘H. Leonard’ i. 19 That was the style in them days: one room for living in and another that was a museum for cracked cups. The Room, we called it. IV. An assigned position. 9. the world > space > place > position or situation > [noun] > appointed to or usually occupied by a person or thing c1450 (?a1400) (Ashm.) 330 (MED) With þat rysis vp þe renke & his rowme lefys. 1490 (1962) xxx. 113 Euery man cam forth for to doo his deuoyre, eche of hem in his rowme in defending the place. a1535 T. More Hist. Richard III in (1557) 42/1 To whome the Duke of Buckingham saide, goe afore Gentlemenne and yomen, kepe youre rowmes. 1565 J. Jewel iv. 286 Eustathius..was the president, and ye Bishop of Romes Legates..sate in the fourth roome beneath. 1597 W. Shakespeare v. v. 107 Go thou and fill another roome in hell. View more context for this quotation ?1610 J. Fletcher iv. sig. H4v A blast..by chaunce may come, And blowe some one thinge to his proper rome. ?1611 G. Chapman tr. Homer ix. 568 All the Greeks will honour thee, as of celestiall roome. 1672 J. Davies 33 Were placed, in their several Rooms, one above another, the most excellent Pictures. 1698 R. Ferguson 8 The Terms Mr. Lobb hath been contending for, are not hitherto allowed a room in the Confessions of Faith of the Reformed Churches. 1721 R. Wodrow (1830) II. 140/2 The 11th act of this session..deserves a room in this collection. 1577 R. Stanyhurst Treat. Descr. Irelande ii. f. 7/2, in R. Holinshed I For such a scoffing prelate, hys rowme had bene better then his company. 1603 P. Holland tr. Plutarch 645 Better his roome, than company (quoth ech one). 1647 T. Fuller iv. 26 Preferring his roome, and declining his company, lest his sadnesse prove infectious to others. 1672 H. More 306 I must confess I had rather have their [sc. images] room than their Company. 1724 H. Jones 53 Felons..whose Room they had much rather have than their Company. 1770 II. 219 You would as lief have my room as my company. 1822 G. Colman i. i. 11 But don't you think, Nunk, that the natives, here, would be better by your room, than your company? 1880 328 I'd rather have his room than his company. 1905 16 268 It is a smothering, rough, coarse plant, whose room is far better than its company. 1960 C. Read xv. 288 She consequently preferred his room to his company. 1995 ‘Miss Read’ 93 Seems that folk here prefer my room to my company. the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > favour > [noun] a1591 H. Smith (1593) 265 Giue God thy heart, that he may keepe it, not a peece of thy heart, not a roome in thy heart, but thy heart. 1598 E. Ford xvii. sig. k2 Let Polipus..be the man that shall possesse the second roome in your good liking. 1607 S. Hieron iii. 70 Are these things strangers to thy thoughts, or doe they take vp a cheife roome in thy Affections? 1685 R. Baxter Phil. i. 7 You have a great room in my heart. 1797 Let. 15 Dec. in (1798) 1 Jan. 26 You know that the chief room in your heart is due to him who is the only unchangeable Good. society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > the theatre or the stage > a theatre > auditorium > [noun] > seat or place 1592 P. Henslowe (1961) 13 Pd for sellinges my lords Rome..xiiijs. 1600 B. Jonson ii. i. sig. Fiii Yet hee powres them out as familiarly as if hee had..ta'ne Tabacco with them ouer the stage i'the Lords roome . View more context for this quotation 1600 in tr. T. Garzoni Ep. Ded. I beg it with as forced a looke, as a Player that in speaking an Epilogue makes loue to the two pennie-roume for a plaudite. 1611 T. Coryate sig. T5v They sate on high alone by themselues in the best roome of all the Play-house. a1625 J. Fletcher (1639) iv. sig. H1 Till you breake in at playes like Prentices..and cracke nuts with the schollers in penny Roomes. 1699 T. Cockman in tr. Cicero i. vii. 24 (note) He supposes all things at first to have been common, like the Room in a Theatre, or other such place, and, as in these, he who first gets a Place has a Right to it, and can't be fairly turn'd out of it. 1843 J. Saunders in C. Knight V. 278 We learn that the house had three tiers, consisting of boxes, rooms, and galleries; that there were ‘two-penny rooms’ and ‘gentlemen's’. 1911 9 15 The Lords' room..was abandoned by the gallants for a place upon the stage, or in the twelve-penny room next the stage. 1961 J. C. Adams (ed. 2) iii. viii. 66 The two-penny rooms were designed for theatre-goers of average means, those for whose approval playwrights and actors put forth their best efforts. †10. society > occupation and work > position or job > [noun] a1485 H. Baradoun in F. J. Furnivall (1903) 289 In the courte, is many noble Roome; But god knowith, I can noon soche cacche. 1485–6 Act of Resumption in (Electronic ed.) Parl. Nov. 1485 m. 13 Thoffice or rowme of oone of the yomen of oure crowne. 1514 in J. T. Fowler (1882) I. 303 We have yeven and graunted unto hym th' office and rowme of baner berer befor S. Wilfride. 1589 ‘M. Marprelate’ 19 To haue the romes of the true and natural members of the body. 1598 R. Grenewey tr. Tacitus vi. iii. 125 One is appointed ouer the rest to exercise the roome of a Consull. 1605 W. Camden i. 222 Hee..forsake a right worshipfull roome when it was offered him. 1644 J. Bulwer 146 That none should be admitted into roomes of divine calling, but such who are called and are fit. 1658 J. Durham 113 As to fit everyone sufficiently, and to place them in their right room. 1743 P. Francis & W. Dunkin tr. Horace (new ed.) I. ii. x. 225 The man..who.., in himself serenely great, Declines an envied Room of state. society > authority > office > [noun] society > occupation and work > [noun] > regular occupation, trade, or profession c1500 (1798) 37 A Jue sate at the borde, that greate rowme longe In that house beare. 1509 A. Barclay (Pynson) f. cxxxiiiiv If that thou be hye of rowme and name If thou offende the more shall be thy shame. 1541 T. Paynell tr. Felicius iv. f. 5 To some desirous therof he behight roume and auctoritie. 1582 in John x. 1 (note) Calvin, Luther,..and al that succede them in roome and doctrine. 1635 D. Dickson 132 When God gaue foorth the ceremoniall lawe, hee reserved rowme to himselfe to chaunge it. society > occupation and work > position or job > [noun] > hereditary 1489 W. Caxton tr. C. de Pisan iii. viii. sig. Miiijv With peyne he shulde fynde one that shulde suffysauntly kepe his rowme. a1513 H. Bradshaw (1521) i. xxiii. sig. h.iiii This noble abbesse..dylygently prepared, to supple her rowme. a1525 (c1448) R. Holland Bk. Howlat l. 984 in W. A. Craigie (1925) II. 125 Bot yow reule ye richtuiss yi rovme sall orere. 1587 J. Hooker Chron. Ireland 151/2 in (new ed.) II He..procured them to be remoued, and their roomes to be supplied with..learned Englishmen. 1651 N. Bacon 11 The Dukes..forsake the Court, Favorites step into their roomes. 1673 J. Milton At Vacation Exercise in (new ed.) 66 Then quick about thy purpos'd business come, That to the next I may resign my Roome. 1699 T. Cockman tr. Cicero iii. xix. 290 That Man..that outs the rightful Heirs..and procures himself to be put into their Rooms? 1751 C. Labelye 83 The Rooms of those removed or dead, being filled up with Persons fully as honest. †B. int.1598 W. Shakespeare v. ii. 690 Roome for the incensed Worthies. View more context for this quotation a1616 W. Shakespeare (1623) iii. ii. 166 Roome for Antony, most Noble Antony. View more context for this quotation 1808 W. Scott i. xii. 33 Room, lordings, room for Lord Marmion. 1835 N. P. Willis 83 Room for the leper! Room!.. The cry pass'd on. 1850 E. B. Browning II. 227 Give him room! Room for the dead in Paris! 1901 R. W. Buchanan II. 406 Room for the Wisdom! Stand aside! Here he cometh goggle-eyed, Solver of the great I AM. 1908 M. J. Cawein IV. 418 Come, bury them in wine! Room for great guests! 1921 H. J. Newbolt 262 Who in silk gown and fullest-bottomed wig Approaches yonder, with emotion big? Room for Sir Edward! Phrasesthe world > space > distance > distance or farness > a long way off [phrase] > to or at a distance apart OE 14 Cyning..healdeð mec [i.e. a sword] on heaþore, hwilum læteð eft radwerigne on gerum sceacan, orlegfromne. OE Cynewulf 320 Eodan þa on gerum reonigmode eorlas æcleawe.] a1325 (c1250) (1968) l. 4021 Gede eft balaam up-on rum. a1325 (c1250) Prov. Hendyng (Cambr.) ix, in (1881) 4 183 Fle þou most and flitte on roume, With eie and eke with herte. c1330 (Auch.) (1882) 227 (MED) Holte o roum! a1500 (a1400) (Cambr.) (1844) 1087 By rome some stode and hur behelde. a1522 G. Douglas tr. Virgil (1957) v. x. l. 14 Eneas..gave comand About the cowrt the pepil on rowm to stand. c1540 (?a1400) 2835 When the Grekes se the grete nauy, þai girdon o rowme. the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > backward movement > move backwards [verb (intransitive)] > retire, withdraw, or retreat > out of the way a1350 Life St. Alexius (Laud) l. 481 in F. J. Furnivall (1878) 69 Ȝiueþ me roum & lat me se þe body þat was boren of me. c1450 (1905) II. 333 As he came inward sho bad gyff hym rowm. 1526 Luke xiv. f. cv Geve this man roume. 1599 W. Shakespeare i. v. 26 A hall, a Hall, giue roome, and foote it gyrles. View more context for this quotation a1616 W. Shakespeare (1623) i. ii. 67 I..wish..I quickly were dissolued from my hiue To giue some Labourers roome . View more context for this quotation 1898 J. W. Howe 126 The high police of fashion urged the vagrants to give room. P3. to make room. the world > space > [verb (intransitive)] > make room > for oneself a1450 (a1338) R. Mannyng (Lamb.) (1887) i. l. 13072 (MED) On alle sides she smot aboute & made þeym rounn [read roum] þorow-out þe route. c1450 (c1400) (1881) 876 (MED) Roulande Durnedale oute-drowe And made Romme abowte. 1487 (a1380) J. Barbour (St. John's Cambr.) vi. 234 He smertly raiss, And, strikand, rowm about him mais. 1488 (c1478) Hary (Adv.) (1968–9) iii. l. 140 The Scottis on fute gret rowme about thaim maide, With ponȝeand speris. 1535 Josh. xvii. C Make thy selfe rowme there in the londe of the Pheresites and Raphaim. 1594 (a1555) D. Lindsay Hist. Squyer Meldrum l. 1284, in (1931) I. 180 That he greit roum maid in the rout. the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > backward movement > move backwards [verb (intransitive)] > retire, withdraw, or retreat > out of the way a1450 (1885) 178 (MED) Make rome be-lyve, and late me gang. a1470 T. Malory (Winch. Coll.) 293 There was made pees and rome, and ryght so they yode with hym. 1530 J. Palsgrave 628/2 Make romme, maysters, here cometh a player. ?1578 W. Patten 34 Aware, keep bak, make room noow. 1600 W. Shakespeare iv. i. 15 Make roome, and let him stand before our face. View more context for this quotation 1711 J. Addison No. 122. ¶6 Notwithstanding all the Justices had taken their Places upon the Bench, they made Room for the old Knight. 1799 J. Austen 9 Jan. (1995) 34 Martha kindly made room for me in her bed, which was the shut-up one in the new Nursery. 1812 J. Wilson iv. 251 In churchyard on the Sabbath-day They all make room for her. 1844 ‘J. Slick’ II. 195 I sot down on a bench runnin over with harnsome gals, that squoze close together and squinched themselves up to make room for me. 1935 ‘G. Orwell’ iii. 187 Shift yourself..and make room for my little sit-me-down. 1992 D. Lessing 109 The whites, as they notice him, not at once since they are pretty drunk, make room for him, and one says, ‘Whoa there, Jim, mind my glass.’ the world > space > [verb (intransitive)] > make room 1573 R. Lever i. xiv. 62 For when a new thing is made, which must fill a place by it self, and no former thing taken awaye to make roome for it. 1643 K. Digby 81 In bodies which have internall principles of Heate and motion, much continually transpiring out to make roome for the supply of new aliment. 1666 S. Pepys 10 Sept. (1972) VII. 283 Clearing our cellars and breaking in pieces all my old Lumber, to make room. 1745 J. Swift Char. P—te M—h in X. 171 Wit..was extruded from his Head to make room for other Men's Thoughts. 1778 T. Jones 27 Throwing out the best Cards in your Hand..in order to make Room for the whole suit. 1849 T. B. Macaulay II. vi. 142 He explicitly said..that room must be made for them by dismissing more Protestants. 1895 72 861/2 750 tons of the coal had been sold to make room for cargo at a South American port. 1929 Nov. 8/1 Never will the old, the quaint, the alluring be destroyed to make room for hideous ‘tower buildings’. 1960 ‘J. Bell’ iv. 37 She had moved both cups off the little tray to make room for her breakfast things. 1988 L. Ellmann (1989) 113 It was the year they took the statue of Eros out of Piccadilly, to make room for more cars. P4. a. in one's room: in one's place. Also with rooms with a plural antecedent.the world > time > change > exchange > substitution > [adverb] 1489 W. Caxton tr. C. de Pisan iii. viii. sig. Miiij Takynge hys leue he sayth to the captayne that he shall putte another for hym in his rowme. 1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane f. cclxxix In whose roume afterward succeded George Selde a Ciuilan. 1581 G. Pettie tr. S. Guazzo (1586) ii. 53 b That he may be put from his office, and some other placed in his roome. 1631 J. Weever 69 Detaining many of them in prison..that others of his owne followers might bee placed in their roomes. 1667 J. Milton iii. 285 Be thou in Adams room The Head of all mankind. View more context for this quotation 1706 J. Vanbrugh 11 A proposal..to take you (who then were just Camillo's age) and bring you up in his room. 1772 137 The names of the Earl of Granard..and Lord Sudley..to be added to the list in their room. 1800 W. Scott 22 Apr. (1932) I. 97 I refer you for particulars to Joseph, in whose room I am now assuming the pen. 1883 at Carthusians With grief he [sc. St Bruno] left his beloved companions, the most prudent..of whom, Landwin, he appointed prior in his room. 1906 4 Apr. 9/1 Eight of the lay assistant Commissioners..have been dismissed, and five Nationalists have been appointed in their room. 1959 D. Knowles III. xviii. 220 The confessor-general, Fewterer, left; Copynger was appointed in his room, and showed himself adequately subservient. 1532 R. Whitford f. 220v To exclude vayne thoughtys and to put the lyfe of our lorde in theyr rowmes. 1600 W. Shakespeare i. i. 285 Warre-thoughts, Haue left their places vacant: in their roomes, Come thronging soft and delicate desires. View more context for this quotation 1657 R. Austen (new ed.) 148 As these are removed the husbandman plants others in their roomes. 1712 J. James tr. A.-J. Dézallier d'Argenville 172 If several Elms should die successively in the same Place, you should put Lime-Trees..in their Rooms. 1774 O. Goldsmith III. 354 The old long hair falling off, and a shorter coat of hair appearing in its room. 1800 Apr. 294 Hairs are plucked out of the forehead by pincers, and the smoothest mouse eye-brows, of all colours, put on by him in their room, with the nicest exactness. b. in the room of: in the place of, in lieu of, instead of, a person or thing. Also in room of. Cf. Phrases 4a. the world > time > change > exchange > substitution > in place of [preposition] 1526 Matt. ii. f. iii He herde that Archelaus did raygne in Iury, in the roume off hys father Herode. 1589 W. Wren in R. Hakluyt i. 146 So we placed other men in the roomes of those that wee lost. 1620 Bp. J. Hall i. xxiiii. 130 When the Question was of suffecting Amadeus, Duke of Sauoy, a married man, in the roome of Eugenius. 1667 S. Pepys 1 Sept. (1974) VIII. 412 The Atturny-general is made Chief Justice in the room of my Lord Bridgeman. 1709 R. Steele No. 11. ⁋9 Declared Alderman..in the Room of his Brother,..deceased. 1781 M. J. Armstrong X. 210 Mr. Elisha De Hague was chosen town-clerk, in the room of the late Mr. Francis Wright. 1838 C. Thirlwall (new ed.) IV. 41 A Spartan named Leon..had taken the command in the room of Pedaritus. 1854 A. E. Baker II. 181 He went in the room of another. 1900 9 Jan. 11/6 The only other business transacted was the admission of Captain Edmund Stanley as City Marshal in the room of Sir Simeon Stuart, resigned. 1945 6 Oct. 6/2 The Princess Royal has appointed Miss Gwynedd Margaret Lloyd to be a Lady in Waiting in the room of the Dowager Lady Lloyd. 1990 A. Burton iv. 45/2 In the room of the sixth poor man and his wife, there shall be one honest poor woman of the said City taken into the Beadhouse. 1618 W. Lawson x. 32 An eye or bud, taken..from one tree, and placed in the roome of another eye or bud. 1668 M. Hale 4 It is much out of use, and new Expedients substituted in roome thereof. 1736 Bp. J. Butler i. v. 82 To substitute Judgment in the Room of Sensation. 1749 H. Fielding II. v. iv. 136 You must let me have my old one again, and you may have this in the room on't. View more context for this quotation 1846 R. C. Trench i. 19 In the room of shifting cloud-palaces..stands for us a city which hath come down from heaven. 1855 July 192/1 Brummell appeared in the Rue St. Jean with a black silk handkerchief in room of his cherished cambric. 1861 F. Hall in (1862) 30 148 After so much destructive criticism, to have little of instantly helpful truth to substitute in the room of what has been swept away. 1914 4 79 I gin you jell in room o' plums. 1775 J. Greenman Jrnl. 27 Sept. in (1978) 14 Had to git out and draw our batto over rips and roks in the room of rowing. 1802 E. Parsons III. 144 In the room of loitering about Paris..I shall have the..pleasure of being..a little useful. 1828 W. Carr (ed. 2) at Roum Ith roum o comin to me, he went haam. 1861 Dec. 141/2 Missis would still keep going on with her parties and company, o' rum o' minding her farm and dairy. 1932 G. S. Wasson 46 In room of saltin' down a dollar for a rainy day.., I misdoubted if he didn't go astern [= go into debt] the heft o' the time. society > authority > [verb (intransitive)] a1529 J. Skelton (?1530) sig. Cii Beryst thou any rome or cannyst thou do ought. 1530 in F. J. Furnivall I. 317 Marchaunte Strayngers beryth the Rowme. 1534 R. Whittington tr. Cicero ii. sig. N.5 In that yere that I bare roume. 1565 J. Hall (1961) 266 He that wyth vertue beareth roome, He is a man of great honour. P6. Shipbuilding. 1649 Shipbuilding Contract (modernized text) in (1955) 41 48 The space of timber and room to be 2 ft 2 in at the most. 1664 E. Bushnell v. 15 This Arch..and the crooked pricked line within the Keele..are placed at 2 Foot Timber and Roome, as you may see by the Scale. 1711 W. Sutherland 70 (table) Space of Timber and Room..1 [foot] 9 [inches]. 1769 W. Falconer sig. Fv The breadth of two timbers, or the timber and room, which includes the two timbers and the space between them, may be taken without any sensible error, as far as the square body goes. 1987 P. Goodwin i. 13/2 The rule of ‘room and space’—or ‘timber and room’ as it was earlier known—had been applied in naval construction well before 1650. 1711 W. Sutherland 35 To carry up all the Timbers with equal Room and Space, that one Part of the Ship may exactly have as much Timber as the other. 1765 M. Murray (ed. 2) ii. 133 Timber and room, or room and space, is the distance betwixt the moulding edges of two timbers, which must always contain the breadth of two timbers, and sometimes two or three inches between them. 1874 S. J. P. Thearle (new ed.) I. 86 These plates..are all in either three, four, or even six room and space lengths. 1874 S. J. P. Thearle (new ed.) I. 92 Thus the intercostal portions are twice the room and space in length. 1926 C. G. Davis ii. 21 The spacing of the frames was always a percentage of the length of the ship, .027 in merchant ships; .0172 in a war-ship of about 400 tons; and this was termed the ‘room and space’. 1979 3 2 ‘Room-and-space’..is a crucial measurement of the lightness or heaviness of construction in any vessel. 1795 20 Mar. 1/3 (advt.) Wanted,..apartments, furnished or unfurnished with a room and board.] 1849 Jan. 152/2 I..have taken room and board at two dollars a day. 1895 H. C. Bruce xv. 169 There are private and public boarding houses here, which furnish room and board at from twelve to forty dollars per month. 1978 E. Anderson iii. 86 Some find ‘sissies’ to live with, trading their sexual favors for room and board. 2006 C. Frazier iv. ii. 292 I immediately hired a teacher and a preacher..for a rate of pay that amounted to little above room and board. P8. 1820 (1830) XIV. 374/1 In the mining practice of Great Britain, there are four different systems of working coal mines, viz. 1st, Working with pillars and rooms termed post and stall.] 1848 H. T. De La Beche & L. Playfair App. 12 All these seams have an inclination of 1 in 12 towards the south-east, and are worked by the room and pillar method. 1902 7 626 The rock gypsum is won by underground mining on a room and pillar system. 2002 18 Nov. 59/2 This elementary method of mining, called room-and-pillar mining is an engineering exercise designed to leave enough coal still standing..in order to keep the mine from collapsing. 1866 27 Feb. 3/4 When Daniel Webster was a young man about commencing the study of law, he was advised not to enter the legal profession, for it was already crowded. His reply was,—‘There is room enough at the top’. a1871 A. Cary in (1882) 274 Believe me there 's truth in the saying: ‘There always is room at the top’. 1900 W. James 2 Apr. (1920) II. 121 Verily there is room at the top. S—— seems to be the only Britisher worth thinking of. 1914 A. Bennett vii. 143 The Imperial had set out to be the most gorgeous cinema in the Five Towns; and it simply was. Its advertisements read: ‘There is always room at the top.’ 1933 W. S. Maugham iii. 89 You have to be pretty smart with all the competition there is nowadays... There's always room at the top. 1947 ‘G. Orwell’ 22 The masses..know it is not true that ‘there's plenty of room at the top’. 1957 J. Braine xxviii. 230 You're the sort of young man we want. There's always room at the top. 1980 M. Drabble 140 There's room at the top, maybe, but only for the clever ones. 1869 H. Kingsley ix. 33/2 I should think..that almost the first ambition of every clever woman was to have a room of her own, a place where she was mistress, and could do as she pleased. 1882 M. Grant in 22 221/2 Even let one be clotheless and foodless, it is yet something to have a room of one's own in which one may starve, if starvation is inevitable, in an independent sort of way. 1929 V. Woolf i. 6 A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction. 1948 E. B. Phelps et al. I. ii. 25 Some opportunity for privacy—‘a room of one's own’ or its nearest possible equivalent—is an essential need for emotional health. 1989 J. Perkin (2002) xii. 257 A room of one's own was hard to find in the gilded cage, even in the happiest of marriages; a life of one's own still harder. 1996 E. L. McDonagh ix. 181 While the law protects the idea that a ‘man's home is his castle’, women have long sought for merely the right to have a ‘room of one's own’ within it. 2001 tr. A.-W. Scheer 50 A room of one's own. For a newly founded company, its first office is of course one of the most important indicators of independence. 1907 (Wesleyan Univ., W. Virginia) 4 188 Graham has his Political Economy up—in Mary's room behind the clock.] 1917 22 May On my interrupting them by exclaiming, ‘I say, cobbers, where is the —— Battalion?’ they looked wild at me, and I received the reply that the —— Battalion is up in Annie's room, clear out. 1928 B. Hecht & C. MacArthur i. 27 Diamond Louie: Where's Hildy Johnson? Endicott rudely: Up in Minnie's room. Murphy: Who wants to know? 1981 A. Malcolm vi. 89 ‘Where is she?’ roared Alex. ‘Up in Annie's room behind the clock!’ spat Mackie sarcastically. 2016 G. Masterton xxxix. 379 ‘Where the feck are they?’ ‘I don't know, Eoin. Up in Nelly's room behind the wallpaper, I expect.’ Compounds C1. General attributive (in sense A. 8). a. 1846 Nov. 316 An air-tight apartment or fire-room, into which room air is to be forced by means of a suitable blowing apparatus. 1957 XI. 353/1 Louis Savot..developed for the Louvre a fireplace in which room air was drawn through passages under the hearth and behind the fire grate. 1997 (Nexis) 1 Oct. 52 As roomair is drawn into the fireplace, it rises. 1795 T. Hurlstone i. 5 (stage direct.) Room bell rings. 1861 II. 12/2 The use of room-bells is universal. 1911 11 712 By 9.30 p.m. room bell and light bell had rung. 1991 L. Trotta (1994) i. 22 Agent 007 answered the door himself the day I pushed his room bell at the St. Regis Hotel in New York. 1951 S. Spender 36 After the room-breaking episode the attitude of my fellow freshmen towards me altered. 2007 (Nexis) 19 Feb. Students are the targets of armed robbery, room breakings, and theft from their bank accounts. 1835 Jan. 23/1 I took an Irishman's liberty, and observed to my room companion that he ‘appeared to be very much disturbed in mind’. 1867 J. MacGregor xvi. 192 The rioter..is my English room-companion of the Norway inn. 2003 D. McDuff tr. F. Dostoevsky (rev. ed.) v. i. 431 Pyotr Petrovich..at once came to his senses and spat to one side with energy, bringing a silent but sarcastic smile to the face of his young friend and room-companion. 1693 104 My Mistress shriek'd at the noise, and clapt too the Room Door where my Master was. 1749 J. Cleland I. 160 Mr. H— opened my room door softly, and came in, now undrest, in his night-gown and cap. 1797 ‘Gabrielli’ II. vi. 82 Some one knocked at the room door.—‘Come in,’ said Sir William. 1823 W. Scott III. xii. 309 I'll bring word to your room-door..how she is. 1995 Feb. 67/4 Breakfast..arrives outside your room door in the morning, snugly packed in a sturdy basket. 1810 J. Lawrence II. 132 He had agreed with one of his room-fellows to let themselves down from the rampart. 1930 R. Macaulay ix. 122 Snakes might be her companions, wild cats her room-fellows, but she..abandoned herself to these. 1950 D. Skvirsky tr. V. Panova iv. 81 It worried Uzdechkin like a cross room-fellow. 1808 R. Bald iii. 51 Our west country friends are better economists in the coal-trade, from the wall face to the room grate. 1828 D. M. Moir vi. 53 The prices of the room-grate, the bachelor's oven, the cheese-toaster. 1862 Mrs. H. Wood II. xx. 309 There's a fire lighted up yonder in his room grate. 1922 F. H. Burnett x. 124 She..was well enough to sit up and sew a little before the tiny fire in the atom of a servant's room grate. 1980 (Nexis) 15 Apr. A tape recorder, a telephone switching device and five speaker-receivers..had been hidden in room grates. 1845 C. Cist II. 246/2 Room-heater and pipe..$12 00. 1938 4 Feb. 5 (advt.) The amazing new ‘H.M.V.’ portable electric room heater gives you circulated warmth all over the room. 2009 (Nexis) 1 Feb. They use several different kinds of heat including electric, propane, a heat pump, small room heaters and an electric mattress pad. 1722 D. Defoe 39 One of our Room-Keepers says, he saw a Couple of young Rogues..hanging about here. 1762 O. Goldsmith 54 The first year's profits were extraordinary, and A—e the room-keeper now began to wish himself sole proprietor. 1850 M. H. Perley (1852) 37 The ‘fishing rooms’ at Miscou are shut up in the winter season, and left in charge of one of the residents, who is called the ‘room keeper’. 1922 J. Joyce ii. xii. [Cyclops] 296 The meal should be divided..among the members of the sick and indigent roomkeepers' association. 2007 (Nexis) 18 June The only certainty was Mrs Crane left the hotel some time before ‘room keepers’ went into her room at 11.27am. 1840 18 Sept. 7/5 The ring of the room key had as much efficacy as any other ring. 1978 D. Francis ix. 133 I peeled off my coat and collected my room key. 2002 May 93/2 Holiday Inn..is introducing a ‘smart key’..that lets you use your room key as a debit card. a1652 R. Brome City Wit iv. i. sig. D8, in (1653) Go finde another room maid for your talk, Mr. Sarpego, my mother calls for you. 1769 M. S. Cooper II. lxxviii. 181 The room-maid hearing lady Raymond's woman speak in an elevated tone, went into the chamber. 1801 A. B. Lewis I. xx. 162 She..was deeply engaged in her employ, when a room-maid hastily opened the door of her chamber. 1955 A. Ross xv. 212 The room-maid says the world will end, not with an atom bomb, but with a flood. 2008 (Nexis) 27 June d5 Taylor is well-known here: The doorman, the bellboy, even the room maid greet him by name. 1877 (Rep. Comm. House of Representatives 2nd Sess., 44th Congr.) 34 He enters, after the number of the house, the name of the party, and his room number or floor if he resides in a tenement house. 1903 3 685 The knobs and hinges used throughout the building are of silver, and the room number is engraved on each door-knob. 1937 E. Wheeler in Nov. 7/1 Don't sell the room number—sell the view. 2006 (U.K. ed.) Aug. 152/1 They told me their room number and I went over, picking up a bottle of ouzo on the way. 1756 M. Calderwood (1884) viii. 223 The room-rents are cheaper than at Moffat, like about seven shillings a week for the bed-rooms. 1851 C. Cist 65 The annual term bill for room-rent..and incidental expenses is ten dollars. 1942 July 90 That meant..maybe room rent and a reefer or two. 2000 W. B. Saxbe & P. D. Franklin ix. 83 I paid him two dollars a week for a cot in the hall, which was about half of his room rent. 1852 List of Forms in App. 4 Room Ticket. 1905 A. Bennett ii. 264 She pushed his room-ticket across the page of the big book. 1997 C. S. Stevens iii. 63 Often there is no vacancy in the designated hotels, so the room tickets are useless. 1749 35 Aspatia had the Thought to fling open the Room-Window which joined to some adjacent Leads. 1786 J. Abercrombie 291 Placing the glasses..in a room-window to the sun. 1808 E. Weeton Let. 8 Nov. in (1969) I. 123 Scarce a window or a door was permitted to be opened. My room window was fastened down, and stuffed with sand-bags. 1999 D. Morrissey (2001) xv. 176 Back at the house again, standing outside my room window. b. society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > non-manual worker > [noun] > clerical > dealing with specific type of business 1867 I. 329 I was employed in the capacity of clerk, generally known as room clerk. 1916 W. A. Du Puy 49 The room clerk had suggested that it was the custom of the hotel that guests without baggage should pay in advance. 2008 (Nexis) 15 Nov. t10 The room clerk was ready for my complaint. He had obviously heard it before. society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > screen > [noun] 1948 14 Apr. ii.11/1 Furniture for sale. Room Divider. 4' by 6'. Combination China Cabinet & Bookcase. 1959 D. Barton 95 Alastair slid back a panel in a walnut room divider and brought out brandy and glasses. 2001 S. Roaf et al. (2002) 263 Typical Japanese homes have large roofs, deep eaves, wide openings, open room dividers and floors set high above the earth. 1835 38 838/1 But so is elegant penmanship—so may be the pattern of a carpet, a room paper, or a chimney ornament. 1870 P. Fitzgerald in 5 112/1 The decorations of the Jericho Theatre are rather of a homely cast, room paper garnished with bead mouldings. 1973 Jan. 20/1 A few scattered stories of the early elegance of room paper survive. 2000 D. B. Billings & K. M. Blee iii. 83 Hugh White found a market for such household goods..as decanters, tumblers..room paper, paste board. society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > room > types of room generally > [noun] > others 1980 8 Mar. 22 Why don't the exhibitors turn their stands into room-sets—open versions..of the houses themselves. 2009 (Nexis) 23 Jan. Ikea Dublin will..stock the full range of Ikea products totalling 9,500 articles, which can be viewed in over 55 fully furnished roomsets. 1902 Oct. 677/2 (advt.) Room-size rug. 1937 Apr. 106/4 A room-size open porch. 1956 2 Apr. (verso front cover) (advt.) You can also get room-size Beauvais rugs. 2007 (National ed.) 16 Aug. a14/2 That sample was then placed into a facility called an arc jet, essentially a room-size blowtorch. 1908 A. J. Baughman I. 466 The product of the company consists of..a newly patented..rug hanger for the display of large room-sized rugs in department stores. 1962 5 Apr. 604/2 The room-sized collages..are works of art that actually simulate the environment. 2004 Sept. 155/2 ‘Build us a holodeck,’ he said, referring to the room-sized device on Star Trek employed to simulate the environments of alien planets. the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > [noun] > moderate > at which a room is comfortable 1849 R. Baikie tr. H. F. Francke iii. 262 We must thereafter be constantly careful to maintain comfortably warm clothing, and an agreeable room-temperature. 1924 J. G. A. Skerl tr. A. Wegener 128 They can prove that the earth is about two or three times as rigid at room-temperature as steel. 1959 J. Braine xiv. 193 Of course the red wine should be at room temperature. 1962 J. H. Simpson & R. S. Richards ix. 211 The effect of these two factors is to make it desirable to place the operating point at a lower point than would be decided by room-temperature conditions. 1976 I. Levin v. 143 He wasn't accorded a warm or even room-temperature welcome. 1977 17 Feb. 660/2 The bK590 intermediate..has a lifetime of 2 μs at room temperature. 2007 18 Apr. d3/4 Once the bagels are shaped, they are allowed to rise, or proof, at room temperature for 20 minutes. 1925 7 Oct. 11/2 One of the striking accomplishments of the new invention was the reproduction of the ‘room tone’ of the Mormon Tabernacle. 1964 July 78/2 The dead track used cannot be just ordinary unmodulated track, but at every recording session..an adequate amount of ‘room tone’ should be recorded. 1993 14 Aug. a6/2 [The producer] wants to record room tone. The actor leaves the recording booth but the mike remains on. This gives silent stretches of tape that can be spliced into the edited version to aid in transitions. 2001 T. E. Rudolph & V. A. Leonard xii. 127 Room tone is the result of many factors... Go to your bathroom (assuming its walls are tiled) or shower stall and listen there. Ever wonder why you sound so great singing in the shower? 1913 E. Wharton 274 He..no longer wondered, in the absence of the room-to-room telephone, that foreigners hadn't yet mastered the first principles of time-saving. 1938 E. Bowen i. ii. 38 The Quaynes had a room-to-room telephone, which, instead of ringing, let out a piercing buzz. 1987 (Nexis) 10 Oct. e9 All suites, cabins and staterooms feature air conditioning, wall-to-wall carpeting, room-to-room telephone and private bathrooms. C2. 1844 A. Mathews 364 She omitted to add that I was generally room-bound, and therefore unable to attend public worship. 1985 E. Diamond iii. 159 Room-bound terrified characters defend their territories against alarming intruders. ?1835 M. Telfair Let. 24 Feb. in (2007) §136. 286 She has been room-ridden for a week or two. 1856 C. Dickens (1857) i. xv. 129 As the room-ridden invalid settled for the night. 1959 R. Campanella xxii. 215 I didn't leave my room for nearly two months, and I was in bed all that time... My nurses said that the other patients kept asking why I remained room-ridden. 2003 G. Lutz 133 Until the thing [sc. a card] got itself claimed, finally, by anyone eye-watery and room-ridden enough to have expected delayed, devout word from somebody. 1963 May 15/2 B.S. 3561 refers to fan-assisted air heaters,..and room-sealed heaters, giving requirements for their construction and performance. 2004 P. Hymers x. 199 These double tubes..suck in combustion air through the outer tube and push out the exhaust gas through the inner, making them room-sealed. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online June 2022). roomn.3 Origin: Of unknown origin. Etymology: Origin unknown.Attested only in Somerset and in works by authors associated with that county (Henry Lyte (see quots. 15781, 15782) was a Somerset man). Chiefly English regional ( Somerset). Now rare. the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of visible parts > skin disorders > [noun] > scurfy or scabby state or disease 1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens 262 The same..doth cure..the scurffe or roome of the head [Du. ghenesen alle ruydicheyt ende alle schorfte hoofden]. 1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens 410 The lye..is very good to washe the scurffe of the head,..causing the rome and scales to fall off [Du. doet die scellen vergaen]. 1847 J. O. Halliwell II Room, dandruff. Somerset. 1873 W. P. Williams & W. A. Jones Room, Rhume, scurf of the scalp. 1888 F. T. Elworthy (at cited word) Our Tommy've got a ter'ble roomy head. I can't keep 'm clain nohow; I do warsh 'n 'most every Zadurday night, but the room comth again torackly. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022). roomadj.n.2 Origin: A word inherited from Germanic. Etymology: Cognate with Old Frisian rūm unobstructed (West Frisian rūm , rom spacious, wide), Middle Dutch ruum , rume , ruym (Dutch ruim spacious, unobstructed, (of a wind) blowing from a favourable direction, especially the ship's quarter), Middle Low German rūm spacious, unobstructed, Old High German rūmi spacious, wide, far (Middle High German rūm spacious, German raum spacious, (of a wind) blowing from a favourable direction, especially the ship's quarter), Old Icelandic rúmr spacious, Faroese rúmur spacious, Norwegian rom spacious, wide, Old Swedish rumber spacious, open, unobstructed (Swedish rum spacious, open, wide, (of a wind) blowing from the ship's quarter), Danish rum spacious, wide, (of a wind) blowing from the ship's quarter, Gothic rums spacious < an extended form (m- extension) of the same Indo-European base as Tocharian A ru- , Tocharian B ru- , both in sense ‘to open’, and (with different suffix) Old Church Slavonic ravĭnŭ flat, smooth, equal, and (with different ablaut grade: e -grade) Avestan ravah- open space, freedom, (o -grade) Early Irish róe open land, field, and also (with uncertain ablaut grade) classical Latin rūs countryside. In Orkney and Shetland use in sense 3c probably < the unattested Norn reflex of the early Scandinavian word represented by the Scandinavian forms listed above.In quot. 1481 at sense 3b after Middle Dutch ruum (see note at definition). An isolated early attestation (in Old English) of an apparent γ. form is probably the result of scribal error:OE Aldhelm Glosses (Royal 6 B.vii) in A. S. Napier Old Eng. Glosses (1900) 144/2 Augustę : romes [OE Brussels 1650 rumes, OE Digby 146 rumes]. Also attested early in place names, as æt Rumcofan , Cheshire (mid 11th cent.; now Runcorn), Rumelie , Cheshire (1086; now Romiley), Runwoda , Nottinghamshire (a1135; now Roomwood), Rumwrth , Lancashire (1205; now Rumworth), etc. In Old English the prefixed form gerūm (compare y- prefix) is also attested. the world > space > [adjective] > roomy eOE (Mercian) (1965) xxx. 9 Statuisti in loco spatioso pedes meos : ðu gesettes in stowe rumre foet mine. OE Cynewulf 1240 Nysse ic gearwe be ðære [rode] riht ær me rumran geþeaht þurh ða mæran miht on modes þeaht wisdom onwreah. OE (2008) 2461 Þuhte him eall to rum, wongas ond wicstede. OE (Corpus Cambr.) vii. 13 Se weg is swiþe rum [L. spatiosa] þe to forspillednesse gelæt. lOE King Ælfred tr. Boethius (Bodl.) (2009) I. xix. 282 Behealde he..hu widgille þæs heofones hwealfa bið, and hu neara þære eorðan stede is, þeah heo us rum þince. c1175 (Burchfield transcript) l. 3689 He wollde ȝifenn uss. All heoffness rume riche. c1275 (?c1250) (Calig.) (1935) 643 (MED) Mi nest is holȝ & rum a midde. c1330 (?a1300) (Auch.) (1973) l. 6926 (MED) He fond..loges and pauilouns Telt on a grene, swiþe roum. a1400 (a1325) (Vesp.) 3318 (MED) Þou sal find..Na roummer sted in al þe tun. c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 225 Ther was no rowmer [v.rr. rommer, roumere] herberwe in the place. c1440 (?a1400) 3470 A renke in a rownde cloke, with righte rowmme clothes. 1488 (c1478) Hary (Adv.) (1968–9) vii. l. 986 A rowme passage to the wallis [thai] thaim dycht. a1500 (c1340) R. Rolle (Univ. Oxf. 64) (1884) lxxvii. §15. 279 In þe felde of thaneos..that is, in the rowme stede of meke comaundment. 1535 W. Stewart tr. H. Boethius (1858) I. 379 He set his feild furth on ane rowmar plane. 1578 J. Rolland 13 Lat vs yair mak ane hous baith rowme & squair. 1670 No. 82 14 July About the sicercell of that roum knowe at the north side of the mosse. 1685 N. Boteler 133 It causeth a Ship to be much Roomer (that is larger) within Board. 1706 J. Wilson 7 The Chasidim, are these who Scatter their Blessings round about them, in a Roomer Sphere, and so liker to God. 1765 Edward, Edward in T. Percy 55 The warldis room. 1866 T. Edmondston 94 Room, wide, ample. 1914 J. S. Angus 11 Rüm, roomy; wide; spacious. 1932 A. Horsbøl tr. J. Jakobsen II. 724/1 A rum hus. the world > space > [adjective] > unobstructed OE Charter: Abp. Oswald to Ælfsige (Sawyer 1367) in J. M. Kemble (1845) III. 258 We writað him þone croft..þæt he hæbbe hit swa rum to boclonde swa he ær hæfde to lænlonde. lOE (Corpus Cambr.) iii. 400 Ne furh ne fotmæl, ne land ne læsse [read læse], ne fersc ne mersc, ne ruh ne rum, wudes ne feldes. ?a1425 (?1373) (1938) f. 33v (MED) Dronke with wyne, hit makiþ rome the breste and helpith all swellyng of þe stomake. a1598 D. Fergusson (1641) sig. A4v A fair fire makes a roome flet. 1622 W. Scot 109 A narrow faith makes a roome conscience. 1710 T. Ruddiman in G. Douglas tr. Virgil (new ed.) Gloss. at Roume We say, To make a room house, when one drives them out that are in it. 1806 J. Cock 142 When in their beds and snugly laid, There's silence and a room fireside. 3. the world > space > distance > distance or farness > [adjective] c1443 R. Pecock (1927) 185 (MED) He may sette summe neer and summe romer after þe mesure of þe now seid deservyng. c1449 R. Pecock (1860) 79 Doom of resoun..as the next and best reule, and the power of resoun as for the romber and ferther reule. c1454 R. Pecock 192 (MED) If y ȝeue a peny to a poor man in almes, þe mater of þis deede..is þe peny; þe persoon..which persoon is þe romber obiect of þe same deede..is þe poor man. the mind > will > free will > choice or choosing > [adjective] 1481 W. Caxton tr. (1970) 101 Whan reynard herde that it stode so rowme [Du. dattet alsoo rume stont], that he shold chese to knowleche hym ouercomen and yelde hym, Or ellis to take the deth. the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > wind > [adjective] > favourable (of wind) > not adverse 1614 W. Lithgow sig. C4 This hauen wherein we lay, expecting roome windes. 1643 W. Lithgow sig. A2 With roome winds and fair weather, we coasted along the Brittannian shoare. 1728 in H. Marwick (1936) I. 95 Blised by God he has gott a fair occasion and a roume wind. 1932 A. Horsbøl tr. J. Jakobsen II. 724/1 A rum wind, a following wind, favourable for sailing. Compounds the mind > possession > giving > liberal giving > [adjective] a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris (1873) 2nd Ser. 29 Ȝef þu..best rum-handed to glewmen. OE 86 Wif [sceal] geþeon l[e]of mid hyre leodum, leohtmod wesan, rune healdan, rumheort beon mearum ond maþmum. OE (Corpus Oxf.) Prol. 5 Se weg is rum and forðheald, þe to deaðe and to hellewite læt; se is neara and sticol, þe to life and to heofona rice læt. He is us þeah to gefarenne mid rumheortum mode [a1225 Winteney mid rumheorte mode] and mid godum and glædum geþance and mid gefyllednesse Godes geboda. OE (2008) 2110 Hwilum syllic spell rehte æfter rihte rumheort cyning. OE Wulfstan (Junius) (1959) 241 Utan beon ælmesfulle and rumheorte wið Godes þearfan. 1311 in R. R. Sharpe (1889) I. 222 (MED) [A house upon] la Roumlonde. c1400 (?a1300) (Laud) (1952) l. 3899 (MED) He bad his folk fiȝtten hard, Wiþ spere, mace, and wiþ swerd, And he wolde after fiȝth Roume londes to hem diȝth. 1423 in R. W. Chambers & M. Daunt (1931) 133 (MED) Item, Robert Gerneys occupyth the commune grounde of the rome londe, takynge vnlefull customes of vitaylles & Shippes and of foreins & of fremen. c1440 (?a1400) l. 432 (MED) Schall I..turne into Tuschayne..Ryde all þas rowme landes wyth ryotous knyghttes. 1598 J. Stow 293 Certaine Inpositions were set vpon ships and other vesselles, comming thither..towarde the charge of clensing Roomeland there, the 41. of Edward the 3. 1655 T. Fuller Hist. Waltham-Abby 8 in A spacious place in this Town, at the entrance of the Abby, built about with houses, called Rome-land. 1690 T. Delaune 355 At the Head of Billingsgate-Dock is a square Plot of Ground compassed with Posts, known by the Name of Roomland. 1731 in R. Smith (1961) ix. 83 The square place called Roomland..is very much pestered by the Coleheavers, many among them smoking tobacco. the world > the earth > water > sea or ocean > [noun] > ocean, open sea, or deep sea eOE (partly from transcript of damaged MS) (2009) vi. 11 Þa ruman sæ norðerne yst nede gebædeð, þæt hio strange geondstyred on staðu beateð. a1525 (a1500) Sc. Troy Bk. (Douce) l. 1978 in C. Horstmann (1882) II. 280 Tharfor ine haist to þe rowme se Thai tornede and helde one þar way. a1600 (?c1535) tr. H. Boece (Mar Lodge) (1946) f. 132v Tha devayit apoun the rowme seis certane tyme. ?1622 (1837) II. 458 Affirming that what he had done wes in the rowme seas. 1677 J. Brown To Rdr. sig. C9v He enters his harbour (O glorious landing, where God is seen, and glory dwels!) with a roome sea, and a porting winde. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online June 2022). roomv.1Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: room adj. Etymology: < room adj. Compare Frisian rūma , rumma to empty, clear out, abandon (West Frisian rūmje , romje ); also Faroese rúma to contain, (in passive also) to find room, Norwegian romme , (Nynorsk)roma to accommodate, Danish rumme to contain, accommodate, formerly also ‘to create space’. The usual Old English verb was rȳman rime v.2 Perhaps re-formed in Middle English. †1. OE tr. Pseudo-Apuleius (Vitell.) (1984) i. 34 Gif man sy innan unhal.., drince ðreo ful fulle on niht nistig; þonne rumað him sona se innað [L. sanatur]. the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > respiratory spasms > have respiratory spasm [verb (transitive)] > clear throat ?a1425 (?1373) (1938) f. 20v (MED) Water y stillid of þes tendir leuys rowmyth þe brest and doþe a-waye þe narthe. ?c1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac (Paris) (1971) 489 (MED) Rowme it [sc. a hollow tooth] wiþ a schauynge knyf..þat mete be noght wiþholden in the hole. 1483 W. Caxton tr. J. de Voragine 372 b/1 Take a softe egge and bere hit to suster Andree of ferriere for to rume her throte. 2. the world > space > extension in space > expansion or enlargement > expand or enlarge [verb (transitive)] ?1316 Short Metrical Chron. (Royal) l. 83 in J. Ritson (1802) II. 273 Fourti fet, roumede and grete Into the see he made him lepe. a1400 (a1325) (Vesp.) l. 14922 (MED) Es resun þat wee vr rime rume [Fairf. roun], And set fra nu langer bastune. a1530 (c1425) Andrew of Wyntoun (Royal) vii. l. 1920 Joce, than Byschape off Glasgw, Rowmyt the kyrk off Sanct Mongw. 1894 R. O. Heslop Rooming-down, extending the bottom of a bore hole. A term used by sinkers. 1933 J. Gray 124 Ee nicht I wis sittin at da fire roomin oot twa aik swills wi da singing iron. c1450 (?a1400) (Ashm.) l. 2466 Roomes [a1500 Trin. Dub. roones] noȝt at þe ray[ne]bowe, þat reche ȝe ne may [L. nolite manus extendere ad altissima que tangere non valetis]. c1390 (?c1350) (1871) l. 597 Þe white kniht hem þe place roumede. 1490 W. Caxton tr. (1885) ix. 245 Guycharde and I shall rowme the waye afore you. a1500 (1870) 3390 Neuer mycht be sen His suerd to rest, that in the gret rout He rowmyth all the compas hyme about. a1522 G. Douglas tr. Virgil (1960) xii. xii. l. 38 Quhen voydit weill and rowmyt was the feild. a1525 (c1425) Andrew of Wyntoun (St Andrews) ix. l. 3182 Quhen þe feld was rowmyt swa, The Duke of Burgone..On a syd enterit in þe place. c1550 (1830) iii. 1084 Him the way thay roumit than gud speid. 1593 A. Anderson sig. A.ivv The hyer of your laborers, which haue reaped your feelds (roomed your shippes) which is of you kept back, by fraud, cryeth, and their crye, is entred into the eares of the Lord of Hosts. 1816 W. Taylor in 41 527 For them the monks had room'd their eating hall. †4. the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > going away > go away from [verb (transitive)] the mind > possession > relinquishing > relinquish or give up [verb (transitive)] > a position, place, or condition society > travel > aspects of travel > departure, leaving, or going away > depart from or leave [verb (transitive)] c1400 (?a1387) W. Langland (Huntington HM 137) (1873) C. i. 189 (MED) Yf he [sc. a cat] wratthe, we mowe be war and hus way roume. 1481 W. Caxton tr. (1970) 30 Many of his lignage..token leue soroufully, and romed the court. 1481 W. Caxton tr. (1970) 57 On the morow erly he ruymed his castel and wente with grymbart. a1522 G. Douglas tr. Virgil (1959) x. viii. l. 18 Seand Rutylianys Withdraw the feild sa swith, and rovm the planys. 1566 T. Drant tr. Horace sig. Dvj I may rome my mastership, Wheresoeuer lyketh me. the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > going away > go away [verb (intransitive)] society > travel > aspects of travel > departure, leaving, or going away > depart, leave, or go away [verb (intransitive)] the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > backward movement > move backwards [verb (intransitive)] > retire, withdraw, or retreat > out of the way c1450 (c1350) (Bodl.) (1929) 2 (MED) Whan þis weith at his wil weduring hadde, Ful raþe rommede he rydinge þedirre. the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > going away > go away [verb (reflexive)] society > authority > lack of subjection > freedom or liberty > liberation > free oneself [verb (reflexive)] > from restraint 1566 T. Drant tr. Horace sig. Ev I Chaunced, to roome me in the streets, (as ofte I vse to doe) Musing, I wate not, of what toyes, but scanninge to and froe. 1598 W. Phillip tr. J. H. van Linschoten i. xcii. 148/1 Comming with the ship,..he had almost laid her on ye same place, where the other was cast away: but day comming on, they romde themselues off, and so escaped. 1621 R. Bolton 313 He had a scope of a hundred and twentie miles long and a hundred and odd miles broade to runne and roome himself. a1783 Child Waters in F. J. Child (1956) II. vii. 89/1 O room ye roun, my bonny broun steeds, O room ye near the wa. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online June 2022). roomv.2 Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: room n.1 Etymology: < room n.1In sense 2c after rooming-in n. †1. Scottish. the world > space > place > placing or fact of being placed in (a) position > place or put in a position [verb (transitive)] > fix or establish in position 1567 in J. H. Burton (1877) 1st Ser. I. 533 To that effect that he may be inaugurat, placeit, and rowmit thairin. 1663 G. Mackenzie 107 Nothing is room'd in our judgment and apprehension, but what first entred. the world > food and drink > farming > farm > farmland > tenure and rights > [verb (transitive)] 1647 in R. Renwick (1912) 294 The haill counsell ordanes Kaidmure and the tounes guidis thairupone to be sowmeit and rowmeit. 1679 Visct. Stair 23 Jan. (1687) II. 679 Where divers Heretors have a common Pasturage in one Commontie, no part whereof is ever Plowed, the said common Pasturage may be Soumed and Roumed. 1755 J. Forbes Rep. 30 July in V. Wills (1973) 48 Proper persons should be appointed to soam & roam the different possessions and common glenns. 1838 W. Bell 932 To sowm the common, is to ascertain the several sowms it may hold; and to rowm it, is to portion it out amongst the dominant proprietors. 2. Originally U.S.society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabiting temporarily > [verb (intransitive)] > at the house of another, an inn, etc. society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabiting a type of place > inhabit type of place [verb (intransitive)] > inhabit house > inhabit rooms society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabiting a type of place > inhabit type of place [verb (intransitive)] > inhabit house > inhabit rooms > together 1809 S. J. Mills Let. 20 Dec. in G. Spring (1820) iii. 34 I roomed with him about two weeks, and then removed my quarters to the Rev. Mr. Stewart's, with whom I have lived to the present time. 1856 H. B. Stowe I. ii. 20 Clayton and Russel had..roomed together their four years in college. 1860 47 Many of the students who roomed in the College lost their all. 1912 F. M. Hueffer i. i. 19 She and me were on the old North Circuit. Roomed it and ate off the same old herring together. 1937 22 Aug. 7/2 He dressed like a hobo, hitch-hiked from San Francisco to Los Angeles, and roomed on the town's Main Street as a plain British seaman. 1969 L. Michaels 167 Slotsky helped him with chemistry and French—Finn's reason for rooming with him in the first place. 2005 C. Sittenfeld 83 Just as rooming with Aspeth would secure Dede's status as a bona fide popular person, rooming with Sin-Jun and Clara would signify, if only to me, that I really was one of the mild, boring, peripheral girls. society > inhabiting and dwelling > providing with dwelling > [verb (transitive)] > provide with temporary accommodation 1840 3 211 He was roomed with the paymaster sergeant of the regiment. 1860 Jan. 112/2 A miserable public house, where I was ‘roomed’, or in other words, put into the same room with, a rising medical practitioner. 1864 13 Oct. The door's open, and if they couldn't room any more guests they'd pretty soon close up, I guess. 1925 5 July 10/1 At Cambridge Davis was roomed at Trinity college. 1963 July 59/1 The last week of spring training they roomed him with Don Hoak. 2004 S. Hall 31 The town roomed its visitors in cheap hotels, provided them with entertainment and reasonably priced food and drink. 1962 17 Mar. 173/1 ‘Rooming in’ is not a brand new concept. Mothers ‘roomed in’ from paleolithic times to the early part of this century. 1974 Apr. 27/3 Fathers have unlimited visiting and the babies may ‘room-in’. 1998 P. Stephenson et al. (World Bank Technical Paper No. 404) iv. 15 At pre-test, only two percent of women were allowed to room in with their babies. 2006 Jan. 193/1 Encouraging babies to ‘room in’ with the mothers as often as possible. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022). roomadv.Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: room adj., -e. Etymology: < room adj. + Old English -e, suffix forming adverbs. Compare (with different suffix) Middle Dutch rūme making space, Old Saxon rūmo far, wide (Middle Low German rūme), Old High German rūmo far, wide (Middle High German rūme). the world > space > distance > distance or farness > [adverb] > over or through a great distance OE 60 Sioh nu sylfa þe geond þas sidan gesceaft, swylce rodores hrof rume geondwlitan [perh. read geondwlite] ymb healfa gehwone. OE (1931) 1456 Heo [sc. the dove] wide hire willan sohte and rume fleah. OE (1931) 1895 Sceoldan..þa rincas þy rumor secan ellor eðelseld. a1300 in N. Davis (1970) 115 (MED) Sittet rume and wel atwe Þat men moþt [read moȝt] among ev go. 1440 J. Capgrave (1977) l. 2961 Make space for my lord... But þou go rummere. I swere be Seynt Ion I schal make þe goo. c1449 R. Pecock (1860) 553 Whilis thei stonden or sitten or knelen rombe fer ech from othir. c1450 (c1350) (Bodl.) (1929) 80 (MED) Whi farest þou so fihtinge folk to distroie, And for to winne þe word wendest so romme? c1450 (c1350) (Bodl.) (1929) 581 Of richesse & of renoun romme be ȝe kidde. the world > relative properties > quantity > sufficient quantity, amount, or degree > abundance > [adverb] OE (1931) 1372 Drihten..rume let willeburnan on woruld þringan of ædra gehwære. OE Wærferð tr. Gregory (Corpus Cambr.) (1900) i. iv. 41 Swa myccle ma hit [sc. þæt mod] byþ..beswicen in hwylcumhugu anum þinge, swa myccle hit rumor & widdor [L. latius] byþ abysgod on manegum wisum. a1325 St. Michael (Corpus Cambr.) l. 353 in C. D'Evelyn & A. J. Mill (1956) 413 Ȝif he nemai mid is techare make is wei roume [c1300 Harl. rombe] Mid þe stronge he tolleþe þanne, mid is ssrewe þoume. c1330 (?c1300) (Auch.) 1860 (MED) Þe geaunt was wonder-strong, Rome þretti fote long. a1450 MS Bodl. 779 in (1889) 82 348 Þo þat firmin was of elde, of eyȝtene ȝer roume, his mayster him ladde about myd felawis of þe toune. 1922 33 115 Cut wide, cut room, Saint Mary's men are we, An' tak' care you cut na you in the toom, Before our Lady. 1969 G. M. Brown 134 Guidman, go to your bacon And cut us doon a daggon Cut it lucky, cut it room, Look 'at you dunno cut your toom. 3. Nautical. = large adv. 6a. Frequently in the comparative. Now rare. Very common from the late 16th to the early 17th cent.1537 i. No. 174 Seeing a ship coming somewhat rome with theym. 1589 A. Jenkinson in R. Hakluyt ii. 334 We [were] forced to beare roomer with Flamborow head. 1589 A. Jenkinson in R. Hakluyt ii. 334 The winde vering more Northerly, we were forced to put roomer with the coast of England againe. 1597 J. Payne 33 Hale bollinge to double the poynt, a luff from the rock, rowmer from the sand. 1611 J. Logan in S. Purchas (1625) I. iii. x. 545 In the morning, we went roomer with the obscure Harbour, the wind being at the North-west. 1633 T. Stafford ii. viii. 182 If they had meant to haue come hither, they would haue beene here before this time, being on wednesday at Silley, and the wind having beene South-west since faire. If therefore they bee not in Ireland, they are certainely put Roomer with Spaine againe; but that I dare not hope. 1902 J. M. Barrie xv. 163 He was drifted towards the far shore, where are black shadows he knew not the dangers of, but suspected them, and so..went roomer of the shadows until he caught a favouring wind. society > travel > travel by water > directing or managing a ship > use of wind > [adverb] > with wind abaft the beam 1564 J. Sparke in R. Hakluyt (1600) III. 501 Hee espied another Iland,..and being not able..to fetch it by night, went roomer vntill the morning. 1585 T. Washington tr. N. de Nicolay i. xi. 13 Leauing the coast..we bare roome to seawards. 1608 sig. E4 If the deuill be amongst vs, tis time to hoist saile, and cry roomer. 1622 21 We could not fetch the Harbour, but were faine to put roome againe towards Cape Cod. 1669 S. Sturmy i. ii. 19 The Chase pays away more room. 1669 S. Sturmy i. ii. 19 The Chase goes away room, her Sheets are both aft. 1725 R. Wolcott 25 Aloof for Life; lets try to stem the Tide, The Ship's much Water, thus we may not Ride: Stand roomer then, let's run before the Sea, That so the Ship may feel her Stearage-way. 1727 N. Bailey i. at Lasking The same as veering or sailing with quarter Winds, or going Roomer, or going Large. 1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher 579 Room, roomer, or going room, the old term for going large, or from, the wind. 1920 J. Farnol xvi. 140 ‘She must be a clean, fast vessel, but we'll overhaul her going roomer or on a bowline.’ ‘Roomer? Speak plain, Godby, I'm no mariner!’ This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022). <  n.1int.eOE n.31578 adj.n.2eOEv.1OE v.21567adv.OE |
