ROOF • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Roof

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/ruf/ /rʊf/ Listen

noun

Roof n.

(Arch.) The cover of any building, including the roofing (see Roofing) and all the materials and construction necessary to carry and maintain the same upon the walls or other uprights. In the case of a building with vaulted ceilings protected by an outer roof, some writers call the vault the roof, and the outer protection the roof mask. It is better, however, to consider the vault as the ceiling only, in cases where it has farther covering.

That which resembles, or corresponds to, the covering or the ceiling of a house; as, the roof of a cavern; the roof of the mouth. "The flowery roof Showered roses, which the morn repaired."

(Mining.) The surface or bed of rock immediately overlying a bed of coal or a flat vein.

Bell roof, French roof, etc. (Arch.) See under Bell, French, etc.

Flat roof. (Arch.)

(a)

A roof actually horizontal and level, as in some Oriental buildings.

(b)

A roof nearly horizontal, constructed of such material as allows the water to run off freely from a very slight inclination.

Roof plate. (Arch.) See Plate, n., 10.

verb

Roof v. t. (past & past part. roofed; pres. part. roofing)

To cover with a roof. "I have not seen the remains of any Roman buildings that have not been roofed with vaults or arches."

To inclose in a house; figuratively, to shelter. "Here had we now our country's honor roofed."

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Etymology of 'Roof'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Roof" Quotes from Famous Books

... not the first visit she had made to the big underground room with its vaulted roof and its great ranges—which were seldom used nowadays, for Kara ...

— The Clue of the Twisted Candle • Edgar Wallace

... sun-steeped heather. And, to the north, a wide valley, where wood and farm and pasture had been all fashioned by the labour of generations into one proud setting for the building in its midst. Flood Castle rose on the green bottom of the valley, a mass of mellowed wall and roof and tower, surrounded by its stately lawns and terraces, and girdled by its wide "chase," of alternating wood and glade—as though wrought into the landscape by the care of generations, and breathing history. A stream, ...

— Lady Connie • Mrs. Humphry Ward

... drink himself into a state of intoxication, and all the cruelty of his hate seemed to return. He would not allow the wounded man to be removed to his own house; saying he would keep him under his own roof that he might plague the villain. He returned to the chamber where Johnson lay, insulted him with the most opprobrious language, threatened to shoot him through the head, and could hardly be restrained from committing further acts of violence on the poor man, who was already in extremity. After ...

— The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol.II. - From William and Mary to George II. • Tobias Smollett

... far have I secured my charming prize. I can appretiate, while I lament, the delicacy which makes her refuse the protection of my sister's roof. But who comes here? ...

— The Works of Charles and Mary Lamb IV - Poems and Plays • Charles and Mary Lamb

... reasonable to believe Noah prepared to go on Shore, as the Seamen call it, as soon as the dry Land began to appear; and here you must allow me to suppose Satan, tho' himself cloth'd with a Cloud, so as not to be seen, came immediately, and pearching on the Roof, saw all the Heaven-kept Houshold safely landed, and all the Host of living Creatures dispersing themselves down the Sides of the Mountain, as the Search of their Food or other proper Occasions ...

— The History of the Devil - As Well Ancient as Modern: In Two Parts • Daniel Defoe

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