roostn.1
/ruːst/, U.S. /rust/ 1.
a. The internal framework of a roof, formed by the rafters and joists. Also: the internal space immediately beneath the roof or amid the rafters; a loft. Scottish and English regional (northern) in later use. Sc. National Dict. (at cited word) records this sense (in form reest) as still in use in Shetland in 1968.In quot. OE the word is perhaps used as the first element of an otherwise unattested compound hrōstbēag, lit. ‘roof framework ring’, perhaps denoting the framework of a circular roof (emendation to *hrōstbēam, lit. ‘roof framework beam’ has also been suggested). The passage is very obscure and has not been satisfactorily explained (see further A. L. Klinck Old Eng. Elegies (1992) 216–17, B. J. Muir Exeter Anthol. Old Eng. Poetry (ed. 2, 2000) II. 703).
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society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > room > types of room by situation > [noun] > upper room or loft
sollarc897
roostOE
loftc1385
cellara1400
roofc1405
garret1483
solier1483
hall of stage1485
coploft1571
cockloftc1580
tallet1586
cotloft1642
chamber1644
kitchen loft1648
vance-roof1655
sky-parlour1777
attic1818
soleret1851
overhead1949
dormer room1951
OE Ruin 31 Forþon þas hofu dreorgiað, ond þæs teaforgeapa tigelum sceadeð hrost beages [h]rof.
1685 G. Sinclair Satans Invisible World Discovered (1871) 88 Ther's a witch sitting upon the ruist, take her away: he meant a hen sitting upon the balk of the house.
1790 D. Morison Poems 105 Frae the roost a rung she drew.
1808 J. Jamieson Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. Roost,..the inner roof of a cottage, composed of spars of wood reaching from the one wall to the other... It is also vulgarly used to denote a garret.
1856 J. C. Morton Cycl. Agric. (new ed.) II. (Gloss.) 725/2 Roost, (Lancas.), the upper part of a cow-house; loft over stable.
1964 T. A. Robertson & J. J. Graham Shetland Folk Bk. IV. 5 The space overhead inside the but-end roof was termed da reest.
b. Scottish (northern). In form reest. The internal framework of a roof, used for hanging fish, meat, etc., to dry or cure above a fire; a framework of wooden beams (or occasionally a single beam) used for this purpose. Also: the internal space immediately beneath the roof, used as a place for this purpose.
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the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > equipment for food preparation > [noun] > hook or frame for hanging meat > supporting beams
tenter-balk1876
roost1880
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > framework of building > [noun] > roof-beam > other roof supports
soulace1374
forkc1420
sispar1532
bougars1568
straining-beama1805
straining-piecea1805
straining-silla1805
hip truss1850
roost1880
shoulder-wedge1887
main tie1915
1880 W. T. Dennison Orcadian Sketch-bk. 16 The' wur plenty o' geese..hingan' i' the reest.
1883 D. Herbert Fish & Fisheries 115 This arrangement of rails is termed the ‘back reest’. About 18 inches within the hanging brace, and attached to a strong beam resting upon the side-walls, are the ‘hangs’, between which and the ‘back reest’ the spitted fish are suspended.
1905 Stirling Nat. Hist. & Archaeol. Soc. Trans. 112 The light of early days in the Highlands was the fir splint, made from trees found in bogs. They were then placed on the ‘fire reist’ which hung within the ingle, to be dried ready for use.
1914 in A. W. Johnston & A. Johnston Old-lore Misc. VII. ii. 74 The reest of a well-to-do fisherman garnished by ‘tees’ of mutton, ‘pensch’ puddings, geese and ‘baunds o' piltacks’ or sillock.
1964 T. A. Robertson & J. J. Graham Shetland Folk Bk. IV. 5 The reest proper consisting of laths or rods and simmond netting laid down on top of the twart-baaks and several reps running across the width of the room both ootby and inby the fire... Another appliance in the ootby reest was a fairly large rectangular framework of wooden boards on which cow-hides were stretched and dried.
1978 J. R. Nicolson Trad. Life Shetland v. 82 Shoulders and legs of mutton were steeped in pickle for three or four days, then hung in the reest and allowed to dry until they became as hard as bone.
1992 Herald (Glasgow) 17 Oct. 10 Shetlanders continue to enjoy the flavours of aged mutton from the old reestit cure which is first salted and then hung up on the rafters (reests) to dry out.
2.
a. A henhouse; the part of a henhouse in which the birds perch at night. Cf. hen roost n. 1.
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the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping birds > poultry-keeping > [noun] > enclosure for poultry > poultry-house
roostlOE
hencote1371
henhouse1429
poultry house1552
hen roosta1567
roosting place1577
hennery1833
scratching-shed1902
lOE Laws: Gerefa (Corpus Cambr.) xi. 454 On wintra erian.., on odene cylne macian—ofn & aste & fela ðinga sceal to tune—ge eac henna hrost.
1526 C. Mery Talys sig. Divv She..toke a ladder and set it to the roost and went herself vp the ladder.
1580 C. Hollyband Treasurie French Tong Gelinier, a hen house, a roust.
1589 ‘M. Marprelate’ Hay any Worke for Cooper 36 He sleepeth belike in the top of ye roust.
1630 J. Taylor Great Eater of Kent 11 His paunch is either a Coope or a Roost for them.
1671 J. Milton Samson Agonistes 1693 As an ev'ning Dragon came, Assailant on the perched roosts, And nests in order rang'd Of tame villatic Fowl. View more context for this quotation
1752 H. Fielding Amelia I. ii. vi. 140 The good Woman then went out and fetched a Chicken from the Roost, which she killed.
1785 W. Cowper Task v. 58 Now from the roost, or from the neighb'ring pale,..Come trooping..The feather'd tribes domestic.
1821 J. Clare Village Minstrel I. 18 Sad deeds bewailing of the prowling fox; How in the roost the thief had knav'd his way.
1839 Lincoln Gaz. 12 Feb. 3/4 The rogues went to another roost adjoining the house.
1850 D. J. Browne Amer. Poultry Yard 83 The dormitory, or roost, should be well ventilated.
1932 Boston Med. & Surg. Jrnl. 5 Dec. 265 During an epidemic.., those feeders who were careful to keep their fowl-yards clean, and who put clean straw in their roosts and stables, preserved their stock from the attack.
1991 D. McBain Art Roebuck 7 The hens sit in their roosts, none of them pecking in the wooden graintrough or squabbling over the waterbucket.
b. A perch on which domestic fowls sleep at night.
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the world > animals > birds > wild or domestic birds > [noun] > domestic > perch for or roost
roosta1398
the world > animals > birds > actions or bird defined by > [noun] > perching > perching or resting place
roosta1398
perk1400
percha1470
roosting1577
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping birds > poultry-keeping > [noun] > enclosure for poultry > poultry-house > perch
roosta1398
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 148 The cok..settiþ next to him on rooste þe henne þat is most fatte and tendre.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 264/1 Roost for capons or hennes, jevssover.
1565 T. Harding Confut. Apol. Church of Eng. i. f. 17v Gete ye now vp into your pulpettes, like bragging cockes on the rowst, flappe your winges, and crow out alowde.
1604 M. Drayton Moyses ii. 53 The Cocke the Country horologe that rings, The cheerefull warning to the Sunnes awake, Missing the dawning scantles in his wings, And to his Roost doth sadly him betake.
1700 J. Dryden Chaucer's Cock & Fox in Fables 225 Sooner than the Mattin-Bell was rung, He clap'd his Wings upon his Roost, and sung.
1751 S. Johnson Rambler No. 138. ⁋12 When she is to see the hogs fed, or to count her poultry on the roost.
1824 London Mag. Jan. 71/1 Hens sat quiet on their roosts.
1884 L. F. Allen New Amer. Farm Bk. 491 Swabbed along the roosts and laying boxes..it has proved destructive to these vermin.
1921 Pop. Sci. Monthly Mar. 87/1 The operation [of the automatic door-opener] depends upon the movement of the roost when the fowls jump down from it in the morning.
2000 B. Angier One Acre & Security vii. 177 Roosts..should be two to three feet above the floor and about a foot apart.
c. A place, typically above ground, where a bird, bat, or flying insect settles to rest or sleep, singly or in groups; a place where bats breed. Also: the flock of birds or bats congregating at such a place.cliff-, pigeon-, rook-roost: see the first element.
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the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping birds > poultry-keeping > [noun] > number of fowls in roost
roost1827
the world > animals > birds > order Galliformes (fowls) > family Phasianidae (pheasants, etc.) > genus Gallus (domestic fowl) > [noun] > member of (fowl) > collective
pullen1329
poultrya1387
pullailec1400
pullayly1440
volaille1444
pullery1488
roost1827
1593 M. Drayton Idea iii. sig. C4 Sith Robin to his roost is gone.
1605 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. Inscriptio sig. A7v Euerie Birde and Beast, with humble vowes, Seekes roost or rest vnder your mightie Bowers.
1656 J. Evelyn tr. Lucretius in Ess. First Bk. T. Lucretius i. 15 Through Seas, and Hills, where Rivers flow With rapid course; or where the Birds do build Their leafie roosts.
1771 M. Catesby Nat. Hist. Carolina I. 23/1 With long poles they knock them [sc. passenger pigeons] down from their roosts in the night in great numbers.
1827 P. Hawker Diary (1893) I. 303 I killed a roost of small birds.
1886 Amer. Naturalist 20 698 My residence is situated exactly in the track of the principal flight of crows which fly, evening and morning, to and from their roost, five miles distant.
1952 Jrnl. Mammalogy 33 312 The young bats are left in the roost at night while the adults go out to feed.
1966 D. Lack Population Stud. Birds ix. 156 At night they assemble in immense roosts, often in thorns.
2006 Sci. Amer (U.K. ed.) Oct. 76/2 When the sky darkens, butterflies seek shelter in their roosts: protected locations such as tall grasses or leafy plants.
d. figurative. A resting place; spec. a place to sleep in, a bed.In quot. 1944 a place for the storage of flying bombs.
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society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > dwelling place or abode > accommodation or lodging > [noun] > lodging-place > temporary
harbourc1300
sojourna1375
restinga1382
resting placea1382
sojourninga1400
diversoryc1410
deversaryc1485
inn1529
roost1607
peregrination1610
roosting place1643
harbourage1651
séjour1769
pied-à-terre1823
hoochie1952
1607 T. Dekker & G. Wilkins Iests to make you Merie 59 The waking Cock [sc. Cock Watt, the walking spirit of Newgate] had softly clymbd vp to such another Roost, as he sat vpon the night before, for the Inne was all one, but the Guests were not alike.
?1609 J. Healey tr. Bp. J. Hall Discouery New World iii. vi. 175 Here your poore Traueller is (now and then) full faine, to take vp an hourely roost, bee his pennie neuer so good siluer.
a1632 T. Dekker Wonder of Kingdome (1636) iii.i. sig. E3v The clocke for your businesse thus far goes true, but now for me, what shall I do with the old cock [sc. an old man] in my Roost?
1704 T. D'Urfey Tales 197 What a Fool am I? That so besotted with my Fear, Know hardly what I am, nor where, But missing th'Roost where Hubby rests, Am going to Bed to both my guests.
1818 London Guide p. xii Roost, bed.
1818 London Guide 225 Coming from roost one morning,..I met old acquaintance, B——e, in Barbican.
1858 O. W. Holmes Autocrat of Breakfast-table in Atlantic Monthly Apr. 742/1 The world has a million roosts for a man, but only one nest.
1864 J. R. Lowell Fireside Trav. 110 The only roost was in the garret, which..contained eleven double beds, ranged along the walls.
1891 C. Roberts Adrift in Amer. 23 I selected what appeared to me to be about the best spot for a roost, and..made a fairly comfortable bed.
1930 R. Campbell Adamastor 72 I..Who now am but a roost for empty words.
1944 Sun (Baltimore) 20 June 1/3 United States heavy bombers struck twice today at the robot roost around Pas de Calais.
1946 M. Mezzrow & B. Wolfe Really Blues xii. 219 I know I'm gonna call some hogs soon as I hit my roost.
1973 H. Robertson Grass Roots xi. 351 The big stone post office on Main Street is closed; its broad window ledges serve as a roost for bearded hippies basking like lizards in the sun.
2000 A. W. Pierce Rain Line (2002) ii. 15 Back to my apartment in Inman Square, my roost above the pizza parlour, where I'd lived for five years.
Phrases
P1. Without article.
a. to go (also come) to roost.
(a) Of a bird: to go to the roosting place, to begin to roost.
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the world > animals > birds > actions or bird defined by > [verb (intransitive)] > perch
sitOE
jouka1400
perch?a1425
to go (also come) to roosta1529
roost1530
perka1598
a1529 J. Skelton Tunnyng of Elynour Rummyng in Certayne Bks. (?1545) 191 The hennes ron in the mashfat; For they go to roust Streyght ouer the ale ioust.
1630 M. Drayton Noahs Floud in Muses Elizium 99 When the crowned Cock..Comes to rooste by him.
1648 H. Hexham Groot woorden-boeck Roesten, to Jugge, or goe to Roest, as Hens, Patridges, &c.
1764 S. Foote Patron ii. 41 Total darkness, indeed! and birds goin to roost! Those philomaths, those almanack-makers, are the most ignorant rascals.
1797–1808 S. Vince Elem. Astron. xxi. 228 The birds went to roost.
1832 W. Macgillivray Trav. & Researches A. von Humboldt viii. 109 These birds go to roost long before night.
1867 ‘Ouida’ Cecil Castlemaine's Gage 23 The swallows were gone to roost amidst the ivy.
1931 Pop. Mech. Feb. 343/2 A new..remedy for poultry lice is to paint the perch poles with nicotine sulphate just before the birds go to roost.
1990 ‘B. Vine’ Gallowglass xxi. 252 All the birds had gone to roost for the night.
(b) figurative. [Compare Dutch te roest gaan to retire, go to bed (17th cent. with reference to people, now rare and only with reference to birds, except in regional use (Zeeland)).] Of a person: to retire to rest.
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the world > physical sensation > sleeping and waking > sleep > bed related to sleep or rest > go to bed or retire to rest [verb (intransitive)]
to go to (one's) resteOE
to take (one's) restc1175
to go to bedc1275
to lie downc1275
reposec1485
down-lie1505
bed1635
to turn in1695
retire1696
lay1768
to go to roost1829
to turn or peak the flukes1851
kip1889
doss1896
to hit the hay1912
to hit the deck1918
to go down1922
to bunk down1940
to hit the sack1943
to sack out1946
to sack down1956
1829 W. Scott Jrnl. 5 July (1946) 91 So to roost upon a crust of bread & a glass of small beer, my usual supper.
1852 W. M. Thackeray Henry Esmond I. xiii. 293 'Tis time for me to go to roost. I will have my gruel a-bed.
1879 R. L. Stevenson Trav. with Donkey (1886) 212 Half an hour later, and I must have gone supperless to roost.
1912 C. E. Mulford & J. W. Clay Buck Peters, Ranchman viii. 125 ‘Good-night. I'm goin' to roost.’ ‘Night, Dave.’
1952 T. Lea Wonderful Country iv. 322 Mart and me have been on the road since daylight... If you don't mind, I'm going to roost.
(c) In extended use.
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1927 E. C. L. Adams Congaree Sketches xi. 24 Ole Sister had de angels..so 'sturbed up dey was feared to go to roost at night.
1956 S. H. Bell Erin's Orange Lily ix. 139 He's ‘trimmlin’ the chairs; that's to say, he's making quite sure that the spirit of the departed hasn't gone to roost while the corpse is on its way to the churchyard.
2003 A. Bruce tr. H. Berlioz Musical Madhouse 58 Where do you suppose lyricism has gone to roost?
b. at roost: roosting, perched.
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the world > animals > birds > actions or bird defined by > [phrase] > perched
at juke1626
at roost1690
1690 J. Dryden Amphitryon ii. ii. 21 You Trencher-carrying Raskal, you worse than Dunghill-Cock; that stood clapping your Wings and crowing without Doors, when you shou'd have been at roost, you Villain.
1692 R. L'Estrange Fables cccliii A Fox spy'd a Cock at Roost with his Hens about him.
1713 W. Derham Physico-theol. vii. ii. 385 The Breast, and its Bone, made like a Keel..to counterpoise the Body, and support and rest it upon at Roost.
1785 S. J. Pratt Misc. I. ii. 57 Oft would she..Sing to the birds at roost, the lambs at feed.
1864 R. Browning Mr. Sludge in Dramatis Personæ 175 While you cling by half a claw To the perch whereon you puff yourselves at roost.
1918 W. A. Stone Tale of Plain Man (ed. 2) xxx. 186 I drove down at night when the crows were all at roost.
1958 Times 7 July 2/7 The simplest way of dealing with them [sc. red mites], and with lice at the same time, is to spray the birds while at roost..with a fine sprayer containing pybuthrin.
c. to take (up) roost: to perch; to go to roost; also figurative.
ΚΠ
1791 H. Walpole Let. 25 Apr. (1905) XIV. 421 By your ordering me to send you news, it looks as if you were taking roost—I hope, not yet. I did perch on my opening lilacs on Saturday.
1848 E. Bulwer-Lytton Harold II. vii. ii. 165 Where the falcon took roost.
1922 Forest & Stream Mar. 131/1 I knew that wild turkeys were taking roost in my vicinity.
1988 R. B. Shaw Wonder of seeing Double 4 Our smiles, deft as wrens, clearing the shutter flap, take roost within the little box of night.
1989 T. Bodett End of Road ii. xvii. 174 While she disappeared into the ladies room, Argus and Barney took up roost at her booth.
d. to come home to roost: (of an action, etc.) to recoil unfavourably upon the originator.Probably frequently now understood as containing the infinitive of roost v.1
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the world > action or operation > behaviour > reciprocal treatment or return of an action > make a return [verb (intransitive)] > come back on one (of one's own action)
to be threshed with your own flail1490
hoist with his own petard1604
to come home to roost1810
1810 R. Southey Curse of Kehama (title page) Curses are like young chicken, they always come home to roost.
1838 E. Bulwer-Lytton Alice III. ix. iii. 127 The Curse has come home to roost.
1887 J. R. Lowell Democracy & Other Addr. 173 All our mistakes sooner or later surely come home to roost.
1928 R. Church Mary Shelley vi. 69 Debt was..tarnishing the golden happiness of Shelley and Mary. Promissory notes, accepted for other people, came home to roost.
1963 Times 21 Oct. 11/3 It is never right to excuse the breaking of faith..by a government... This breach of covenant..will come home to roost.
1994 Maclean's 31 Oct. 43/3 They created this mythical, idealized family, and now it is all coming home to roost.
P2. to rule the roost: to be in control, to be dominant; = to rule the roast at roast n. Phrases 2a.
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society > authority > [verb (intransitive)]
to give (the) law (to)a1225
reignc1325
to rule the roastc1500
to bear (the) rooma1529
to have, bear, carry, strike the stroke1531
to bear (a or the) sway1549
to bear a (also the) rout1550
(to have) swing and sway1552
to rule the rout1570
master1656
carry1662
to lay down the law1762
to rule the roost1769
to carry (also hold) (big) guns1867
1769 A. Blair Let. in William & Mary Coll. Q. Hist. Mag. (1908) Jan. 175 They say she rules the Roost, it is a pity, I like her Husband vastly.
1828 A. Royall Black Bk. II. 315 These priests will rule the roost.
1893 Boston Jrnl. 20 Apr. 5/3 England rules the roost. Her ships at Hampton Roads admittedly the finest.
1938 A. Christie Appointment with Death v. 37 Her husband thought a lot of her and adopted her judgment on almost every point. He was an invalid for some years before he died, and she practically ruled the roost.
1955 ‘A. Gilbert’ Is she Dead Too? vi. 114 ‘Miss Bannerman was very jealous, and she didn't care for children or animals.’ ‘Then she could have found herself some other lodgings. You'd scarcely let her rule your roost.’
1974 S. Ellin Stronghold (1975) 36 My grandfather..ruled the roost, and he was a firm ruler for all his mild manner.
2007 M. Richards Growing Wild on Exmoor 19 Grannie would rule the roost, keeping a watchful eye on us all.
Compounds
C1. General attributive, as roost hen, roost site, roost-time, etc.
ΚΠ
1636 W. Davenant Witts iii. i. sig. F3 Keepe earlier howers than a roost Hen in Winter?
1652 E. Benlowes Theophila viii. lxxvi. 119 Ere roost-Lark springs, Morns Usher; when the Dawn its mungrell hour forth brings.
1885 R. Jefferies Open Air 216 The partridges may run through to join their friends before roost-time on the ground.
1971 D. P. Furman in R. E. Pfadt Fund. Appl. Entomol. (ed. 2) xx. 596 Procedures, in contrast to the so-called housing and roost treatments, are those designed for direct application to poultry.
1992 Bird Watching Jan. 24/2 Hen Harriers led the roost counters a merry dance by changing roost sites, but a ringtail and male were definitely in the area.
C2. † roost lay n. Obsolete slang the stealing of poultry.
ΚΠ
1811 Lexicon Balatronicum Roost lay, stealing poultry.
roost tree n. (a) a tree used by a bird, bat, or other animal for roosting; †(b) Scottish (northern) a wooden beam fixed in a chimney and used for hanging fish, meat, etc., to dry or cure (obsolete).
ΚΠ
1780 G. White Let. 30 Nov. in Nat. Hist. Selborne (1789) 113 They happened to be suddenly roused from their roost-trees.
1882 W. Cramond Reminisc. Old Town of Cullen 45 The fisher people went to the shore to collect..bell war'..which was brought home and placed, some on the roof-tree, some on the reesh-tree, and some in the corners of the house. Thus they were in luck all the year.
1884 R. Jefferies Life of Fields (1908) 97 A loud..clamour of rooks and daws, who have restlessly moved in their roost-trees.
1995 S. Marty Leaning on Wind xvi. 267 The hills shelter..one addition—Merriam's turkeys—..which startle the wanderer with their astounded gibbering should you stray under a roost tree in the twilight.
2007 M. J. Lacki et al. Bats in Forests 64 Seminole bats..spent an average of 1.5 days in each roost tree.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
roostn.2
/ruːst/, U.S. /rust/, Scottish English /rust/ Scottish (chiefly Orkney and Shetland).
A turbulent tidal race formed by the meeting of conflicting currents, esp. in the sea between Orkney and Shetland.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > sea or ocean > region of sea or ocean > [noun] > turbulent area
roost1654
bombora1933
1654 W. J. Blaeu Atlas Scotia 150 Exiguis scaphulis quas facile maris æstus ac fluctus, quem Roosts appellant, absorbet.
a1688 J. Wallace Descr. Orkney (1693) 93 Roust, a very tempestuous tide.
1711 R. Sibbald Descr. Isles Shetland 3 in Descr. Isles Orknay & Zetland The Rousts and high tide-gates of the Sea about the Promontories and the Isles.
1774 G. Low Tour Orkney & Shetl. (1879) 14 Where the water breaks on Stroma, it goes off in vast whirls, and forms a roust by the dancing of the stream.
1821 W. Scott Pirate I. i. 4 The current of a strong and furious tide, which..is called the Roost of Sumburgh.
1841 Penny Cycl. XXI. 384/1 The majestic cliffs and towering headlands that frown over the dark and stormy seas and rousts.
1868 D. Gorrie Summers & Winters in Orkneys v. 161 The roosts are in their wildest state of agitation with ebb tides and westerly swells.
1886 R. L. Stevenson Kidnapped 121 It must have been the roost or tide race, which had carried me away so fast and tumbled me about so cruelly.
1920 Mariner's Mirror 6 348/1 Roost is the Orkney word for a race or tidal rip.
1995 Observer (Nexis) 29 Oct. 52 We saw..the reefs or Boars of Duncansby which, when winds come piling through the Pentland Firth and agitate its currents (its ‘roosts’, or races), trap shipping on a routine basis.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
roostn.3
/ruːst/, U.S. /rust/ Motorcycling (chiefly North American).
A jet or spray of mud, sand, water, etc., thrown up by the rear wheel of a motorcycle. Cf. rooster tail n.
ΚΠ
1983 MOTOcross Oct. 24/2 (caption) Do new knobs [sc. knobby tyres] throw roosts? Of course.
1985 Dirt Bike Mar. 8/2 A huge roost of fine, wet sand hung in the air for a moment or two.
1993 Motocross Action Apr. 232/3 They also deflect rocks from the roost of the bike in front of you.
2005 ATV Sport (Nexis) June 96 Doug Gust had a bad start, and with the narrow track, ate the roost of Lost Creek Cycle's Jason Dunkelberger for at least six laps.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
roostv.1
/ruːst/, U.S. /rust/ 1.
a. intransitive. Of birds, bats, or other animals: to settle on a perch or other place for sleep or rest; to settle for sleep, to go to rest. Also in extended use.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > actions or bird defined by > [verb (intransitive)] > perch
sitOE
jouka1400
perch?a1425
to go (also come) to roosta1529
roost1530
perka1598
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 696/1 These capons ruste whan it draweth towardes nyght, they be wyser than men be.
1567 G. Turberville Epitaphes, Epigrams f. 36 No sooner stirres Auroras Starre,..But they that rousted were in rest..Do pack apace to labours left.
1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry iv. f. 166 After the seuenth moneth, you may put them to roust in the house with the other Peacocks.
1600 R. Surflet tr. C. Estienne & J. Liébault Maison Rustique i. xv. 96 By hauing rousted vpon the trees in the open aire.
a1661 T. Fuller Worthies (1662) i. 77 Verres..never saw the Sun either to rise or set, as Roosted after or before.
a1682 Sir T. Browne Certain Misc. Tracts (1683) 29 Sitting, roosting, covering and resting in the boughs.
1748 B. Robins & R. Walter Voy. round World by Anson iii. i. 296 The most part of the birds..were such as are known to roost on shore.
a1800 W. Cowper Yardley-Oak in W. Hayley Life & Posthumous Writings Cowper (1804) III. 411 Time hath made thee what thou art—a cave For owls to roost in!
1801 H. H. Brackenridge in Gaz. Publ. (1806) 248 For who..catches, A moor-land deity or Nymphy, That roosts in trees?
1879 J. Beerbohm Wanderings in Patagonia ii. 12 We startled a large covey of shag, which, to judge by the accumulation of guano, appeared to roost there habitually.
1919 Outing Mar. 306/2 In those great pines and oaks turkeys love to roost.
1999 Wildlife News (Berks., Bucks. & Oxon. Naturalists' Trust) Jan. 6/3 Pipistrelles are the last British bat to roost for the winter but..rarely roost in caves.
b. intransitive. figurative and in figurative contexts.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabiting temporarily > [verb (intransitive)]
liec1000
harbourc1200
sojournc1290
layc1300
sojourc1330
to make, take (up) one's lodging1362
pilgrimagea1382
bield?a1400
lodgec1400
tarryc1400
to make (one's) residence1433
harbingec1475
harbry1513
stay1554
roost?1555
embower1591
quarter1591
leaguer1596
allodge1601
tenta1616
visit1626
billet1628
to lie abroad1650
tabernacle1653
sojourney1657
canton1697
stop1797
to shake down1858
to hole up1875
perendinate1886
shack1935
cotch1950
?1555 M. Coverdale tr. Hope of Faythful Pref. f. iiiv It vnknowen al vices swarme & roost in vs.
1598 J. Marston Scourge of Villanie i. ii. sig. C3v Modestie, is rousted in the skies.
1607 S. Hieron Discovery of Hypocrisie 114 Men haue euen determined with themselues, that let the worde of the Kingdome roust where it will, sure with them it shall not harbour.
1660 Scutum Regale: Royal Buckler 108 So great ignorance cannot roust in their pates, who are so worldly wise.
1730 E. Young Two Epist. to Pope i. 4 Where speculation roosted near the sky.
1793 R. Burns Poems & Songs (1968) II. 721 So, [I] sought a Poet, roosted near the skies.
1814 W. Scott Waverley III. xvii. 210 He..whipped down Dallas of St Martin's Styles from a shelf, where that venerable work roosted with Stair's Institutions. View more context for this quotation
1872 ‘M. Twain’ Roughing It xviii. 143 Ash-drifts roosting above moustaches.
1937 L. Ginsberg Everlasting Minute 4 The secrets of the world roost on your brow.
1964 E. L. Volpe Reader's Guide to William Faulkner ii. 141 He discovers evil roosting in every other sanctuary that man, the dreamer, has created.
2004 R. Rash One Foot in Eden (rev. ed.) 128 Shedding my mind of all the bad thoughts that kept trying to roost in my head.
2. intransitive. Of a person: to lodge oneself, have one's abode or quarters. Now esp.: to pass the night.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > [verb (intransitive)] > establish residence
wickc897
telda1325
buildc1340
nestlea1382
to take (up) one's inn (or inns)a1400
to hold (also keep, make, take, etc.) one's mansiona1425
to take one's lodgec1475
reside1490
inhabit1548
to settle one's rest1562
to sit down1579
to set up (or in) one's staff (of rest)1584
to set (up) one's rest1590
nest1591
to set down one's rest1591
roost1593
inherit1600
habituate1603
seat1612
to take up (one's) residencea1626
settle1627
pitch1629
fix1638
locate1652
to marry and settle1718
domesticate1768
domiciliate1815
to hang up one's hat1826
domicile1831
to stick one's stakes1872
homestead1877
to put down roots1882
to hang one's hat1904
localize1930
1593 T. Nashe Christs Teares f. 29 Banisht he was, and longer in Ierusalem might hee not roust.
1610 P. Holland tr. W. Camden Brit. i. 366 A rablement of Danes rousted heere one whole yeare.
1679 Tryal & Condemnation Two Popish Priests 5 The other two, viz. Andrew Brommich, late of Perry Bar, and William Atkyns of Wolver-hampton in this County of Stafford (for the multitude of Papists roosting there commonly called Little Rome) did now come to their Tryals.
1716 B. Church Entertaining Passages Philip's War i. 47 It was hard to tell where to find Annawon, for he never roosted twice in a place.
1792 R. Heber Let. 22 June in Heber Lett. (1950) ii. 72 Llanroost where we roosted that night.
1813 R. Wilson Private Diary (1862) II. 486 I am most anxious to be on the wing, and again roosted.
1854 W. M. Thackeray Newcomes (1855) II. i. 6 Stopped to roost at Terracina.
1883 J. A. Symonds Shakspere's Predecessors (1900) v. 166 These vagrants wandered up and down the country, roosting in hedge-rows.
1927 J. Buchan Witch Wood iii. 55 So home you find me, Will, roosting in the cauld rickle of stones that was my forbears', while rumours of war blow like an east wind up the glens.
1989 Yankee Oct. 16/3 The..crew was roosting two miles off Rockland Harbor,..processing menhaden, known in this area as pogies, for the Russian industrial oil market.
2001 Organic Style Nov.–Dec. 26/1 Everyone is on a different schedule, coming and going separately, eating on the run and never together, as if home were only a place to roost for the night.
3. intransitive. To seat oneself, to be seated; to perch. colloquial.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > posture > action or fact of sitting > be sitting or seated [verb (intransitive)] > sit down
sitOE
to sit adownc1275
to sit downc1300
to make one's seata1400
to set adowna1400
to set downc1400
seat1596
pitch1796
roost1816
take a pew1898
1816 W. Scott Antiquary I. viii. 173 Down to the flat shelf on which the sufferers had roosted.
1852 H. B. Stowe Uncle Tom's Cabin I. vi. 67 About a dozen young imps were roosting, like so many crows, on the verandah railings.
1897 C. M. Flandrau Harvard Episodes 60 She is the woman who, when you call, roosts discreetly at the extreme end of a long sofa.
1920 Munsey's Mag. 70 268/1 In the hour I've roosted on this here rock more cars is passed than I'd 'a' believed there was in the whole United States, with Canada thrown in!
1995 M. Amis Information (1996) 471 It was the snooker room. Cue trees, scoring rails, and a curved bar in the corner with four steel-and-leather stools for you to roost on.
4. transitive. To provide with a place for rest or sleep; to accommodate, harbour. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > providing with dwelling > [verb (transitive)] > afford accommodation to (of place)
lodgec1449
receive1552
booth1594
house1759
hive1812
roost1838
1838 T. Farr Traveller's Rambling Reminisc. Spanish War 99 Every evening, at sun-set, the boats of Her Britannic Majesty's navy carried them across the river, to put them out of danger, and roost them in safety for the night, in the fort of the Desierto.
1854 S. T. Dobell Balder iii. 11 They defy the storms of heaven, and roost The weary-winged Ages.
1873 W. Carleton Farm Ballads 43 You have often slept in pens; I've a mind to take you out there now, and roost you with the hens!
1911 Truth (Sydney) 10 Sept. 1/7 She loses sight of the fact that hubby has been tuckering, roosting, and clothing her for all these years.
1936 D. Barnes Nightwood v. 129 The darkness is the closet in which your lover roosts her heart.
2001 H. L. Claussen Unconventional Sisterhood ii. 36 She..greeted me with her feet happily propped up on the third shelf of a cabinet beside her desk (the public alternative, she said, to her private preference for roosting her toes on the desk itself ).
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
roostv.2
/ruːst/, U.S. /rust/ Motorcycling (chiefly North American).
intransitive. To throw up a jet or spray of mud, sand, water, etc., from the rear wheel of one's motorcycle, esp. so as to spray the rider behind. Also transitive: to spray (a following motorcyclist) in this way. Cf. rooster-tail v.
ΚΠ
1978 Dirt Bike June 6/3 My mommy thinks bikes are bad... Can you tell her I'm big enough now, and to let me get my own bike so I can roost on my friends.
1980 Dirt Bike Oct. 16/2 Why just the other day I raced a guy on a YZ465. After I roosted all over him he begged me to let him ride a real motorcycle.
1988 Dirt Rider Sept. 41/1 Hawkins and..Halcomb were perpetually in search of jumps and places to roost each other.
2006 ATV Sport (Nexis) Oct. 52 And we'd be willing to bet, for only $2,000, the average rider would be just as pleased to roost their buddies with the forest floor as they would sand.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1OE
n.21654
n.31983v.11530v.21978