A2 [ C or U ] a period of time in which you relax, do not do anything active, or sleep:
After they had carried the piano up the stairs, they stopped for a rest.
The doctor prescribed some pills and told her to get/have a week's rest.
[ C ] specialized music a period of silence between musical notes, or a symbol that represents this:
a minim rest
at rest not doing anything active, or not moving:
Her heartbeat is only 55 at rest.
used as a polite way to say that someone is dead:
Your father was a very troubled man, but he's at rest now.
come to rest to stop, usually in a particular place:
The car hit the kerb, rolled over and came to rest in a ditch.