roach 
roach, ray, thornback (> It. raja = Sp. raya 
= Pg. raia = F. rate, a skate, > E. nuj : see 
r "y' 2 )-1 1. A common cyprinoid fish of Europe, 
l.i iii-iKCHS nttiliin. It inhabits the lakes, ponds, and 
slow-running rivers of England and of the south of Scot- 
Roach (Ltui-isr-iis 
land, and is common in most other rivers in temperate 
parts of Europe. Its color is a grayish-green, the abdo- 
men being silvery-white, and the fins reddish. It is grega- 
rious, and the shoals are often large. Its average weight 
is under a pound, and, though a favorite with anglers, it 
is not much esteemed for the table. 
Kodlynges, konger, or suche queyse fysche 
As wolwyche rocheg that be not worth a rusche. 
Piers ofFullham, quoted in Babees Book (E. E. T. S.), 
[index, p. 112. 
2. In the United States, one of many different 
fishes like or mistaken for the roach, as (a) 
some sunfish of the genus Lepomis or Pomotis; 
(b) the spot or lafayette ; (c) the American 
chub, Semotilus atromaculatus. 
roacbAroche' 2 (roeh), . [< ME. roche, < OF. 
roclie, F. roche, a rock : see rock 1 .'] If. A rock. 
Palsgrave. 
Like betynge of the se, 
Quod I, agen the rochet holowe. 
Chaucer, House of Fame, 1. 1035. 
Whan the marches ben garnysshed, than moste we take 
counseile of oon strouge Castell that thei haue in this con- 
trey, that is cleped the roche of saxons. 
Merlin (E. E. T. S.), ii. 176. 
2. Refuse gritty stone. Halliwen. [Prov. Eng.] 
As sound as a roach, perfectly sound. [The word 
roach, a rock, being obsolete, no definite meaning is now 
attached to roach in this phrase. It is often referred to 
roacfti.] 
roach 2 t, roche 2 t (roch), v. t. [< roach?, .] To 
make hard like a rock. 
Thee winters coldnesse thee riuer hardlye roching. 
Stanihurst, Conceites (ed. Arber), p. 136. 
roach 3 (roch), w. [Origin obscure.] 1. Naut., 
a concave curve in the leech or foot of a square 
sail, to improve the fit of the sail. A convex curve 
used in the head and foot of fore-and-aft sails is called a 
sweep. 
2. An upstanding curl or roll of hair over the 
forehead, like the roach of a sail. [Colloq.] 
roach 3 (roch), r. t. [See roaclfi, .] 1. To 
cause to stand up or arch ; make projecting or 
convex: as, his hair was roached up over his 
forehead. [Colloq.] 
An arched loin is desirable, but not to the extent of being 
roached or ' ' wheel-backed," a defect which generally tends 
to slow up-and-down gallop. 
Dogs of Great Britain and America, p. 100. 
2. To cut short so as to cause to stand up 
straight; hog: said of horses' manes. 
I roached his mane and docked his tail, and put him In 
a warm stall with half a foot of straw underneath. 
The Century, XXXVII. 335. 
roach 4 (roch), n. [Origin obscure.] A rash, or 
eruption on the skin. Halliwell. [Prov. Eng.] 
roach 5 (roch), n. [Abbr. for cockroach, assumed 
to be a compound, < cock + "roach : but see 
cockroach.'] A cockroach. 
roach-backed (roch'bakt), a. Having a roached 
or arched back. 
roach-dace (roch 'das), n. The roach. See 
ranch 1 . [Local, Eng.] 
road (rod), n. [Early mod. E. also rode; also 
dial. (Sc.) raid, now in general use (see raid) ; < 
ME. rode, roode, rade, a road, raid, foray, < AS. 
rad, riding expedition, a journey, road (= MD. 
D. reede = MLG. rede, reide, LG. rede (> G. rhede), 
roadstead for ships, = It. Sp. rada = F. rade, 
roadstead, = Icel. reithi, preparations of ship, 
ride, raid, vehicle, reitha, implements, outfit, 
reithi, rigging, = Sw. redd = Dan. red, a road, 
roadstead), < rldan (pret. rad), ride : see ride. 
Cf. raid, inroad, and ready. ] 1. A ride; jour- 
ney; expedition. 
At last, with easy roads, he came to Leicester. 
Shale., Hen. VIII., iv. 2. 17. 
I set out towards the Euphrates, in company with two 
Tnrks, who were going that way, there being some danger 
in the rood. I'ococke, Description of the East, II. i. 155. 
Our road was all the way in an open plain, bounded by 
hillocks of sand and fine gravel, perfectly hard, and not 
perceptibly above the level of the plain country of Egypt. 
Bruce, Source of the Nile, 1. 171. 
I never get spoken to on my roads, only some people 
say, "Good morning, " "There you are, old lady." 
Mayhew, London Labour and London Poor, II. 542. 
5199 
2. A hostile expedition ; an incursion ; an in- 
road ; a raid. See raid. 
Therefore, sothely me semys, yf ye so wille, 
That we dresse to our dede when the day sprynges ; 
All redy to rode, aray for our shippes. 
Destruction of Troy (K. E. T. S.), 1. 5630. 
Him he named who at that time was absent making 
roads upon the Lacedaemonians. 
Sir P. Sidney, Arcadia, i. 
In these wylde deserts where she now abode 
There dwelt a salvage nation, which did live 
Of stealth and spoil e, and making nightly rode 
Into their neighbours borders. 
Spenser, F. Q., VI. viil. 35. 
And Achish said, Whither have ye made a road to-day? 
And David said, Against the south of Judab. 
1 Sam. xxvii. 10. 
Lay down our proportions to defend 
Against the Scot, who will make road upon us. 
Shak., Hen. V., i. 2. 138. 
3. A public way for passage or travel ; a strip of 
ground appropriated for travel, forming a line 
of communication between different places ; 
a highway ; hence, any similar passage for 
travel, public or private; by extension, a rail- 
road or railway. See street. Hence 4. Any 
means or way of approach or access ; a course ; 
a path. 
To be indifferent whether we embrace falsehood or 
truth is the great road to error. Locke. 
There is one road 
To peace and that is truth, which follow ye. 
Shelley, Julian and Maddalo. 
5. A place near the shore where vessels may 
anchor, differing from a harbor in not being 
sheltered. Also called roadstead. 
Harbours they have none, but exceeding good Hodes, 
which with a small charge might bee very well fortified ; 
it doth ebbe and flow foure or five foot. 
Quoted in Capt. John Smith's Works, II. 270. 
The anchorage, however, is an open road, and in stormy 
weather it is impossible for a boat to land. 
B. Taylor, Lands of the Saracen, p. 30. 
At anchor in Hampton Roads we lay. 
Longfellow, The Cumberland. 
Accommodation road. See accommodation. By road, 
by the highway, as distinguished from the railway or 
waterway. 
The journey had been fatiguing, for a great part of it 
was by road. George MacDonald, What's Mine's Mine, ii. 
Corduroy, Dunstable, Flaminlan road. See the quali- 
fying words. Knlghtof the road. See knight. Occu- 
pation road. See occupation. On the road, passing; 
traveling ; specifically, traveling on business, as making 
sales for a firm, peddling, etc. ; also, in theat. slang, mak- 
ing a provincial tour. Parallel roads. See parallel. 
Plank road a road formed of planks laid transversely, 
used in somewhat primitive districts in America. Roy- 
al road to knowledge. See royal. Rule of the road. 
(o) The custom of a country with regard to the passing of 
those who meet on a highway. In the United States, and 
generally in continental Europe, teams or riders approach- 
ing each other on the highway are expected to keep to the 
right of the center of the traveled part of the highway. In 
Great Britain the reverse obtains. (6) The regulations em- 
bodied in a code of rules for the safe handling of vessels 
roadstead 
road-car (rod'kiir), n. A low-hung omnibus 
with slatted seats placed crosswise on the roof, 
and with a curving staircase for reaching the 
top. It is commonly drawn by three horses 
abreast, and is used in London, and to some 
extent in New York. [Eng.] 
What is it but pride that makes us on a fine day prefer 
a hansom cab to the box seat of an omnibus or the gar- 
den-seated top of a road-car ? 
Nineteenth Century, XXIII. 240. 
road-drift (rod'drift), . See drift. 
reader (ro'der), n. Naut., same as roadster, 5. 
I caused the Pinnesse to beare in with the shore, to see 
whether she might find an harborough for the ships or 
not, and that she found and saw two roaders ride in the 
sound. Hakluyt's Voyages, I. 275. 
road-harrow (rod'har"d), . A machine for 
dragging over roads much out of repair, to 
bring back to the proper profile the stones or 
gravel disturbed by the traffic. 
reading (ro'ding), . [< road + -ing 1 .] 1. The 
act of running races on the road with teams. 
Halliwell. [Prov. Eng.] 2. The continuous 
or ordinary travel of a horse on the road, as 
distinguished from speeding. [Colloq.] 
On another occasion she [a mare] accomplished forty- 
three miles in three hours and twenty-five minutes. This 
was great roading. The Atlantic, LXV. 524. 
3. See the quotation. 
This characteristic flight [of the woodcock] is in some 
parts of England called "roading," and the track taken 
by the bird a "cock-road." Encyc. Brit., XXIV. 651. 
road-level (r6d'lev"el), n. 1. A species of 
plumb-level used in the construction of roads. 
2. A level surface; a surface such that no 
work is gained or lost by any displacement of 
a particle remaining within the surface; an 
equipotential surface. 
road-leveler (rod'lev"el-er), n. A form of 
scraper used to level a road-bed and bring it to 
shape ; a road-grader or road-scraper. It is 
set obliquely to the line of direction in which 
it is dragged. 
road-locomotive (r6d'16-ko-m6"tiv), . A lo- 
comotive adapted to run on common roads ; a 
road-steamer. 
road-machine (rod'ma-shen"), . A scraper 
mounted on wheels, used to excavate earth, 
transport it, and dump it where it is needed ; 
a road-scraper. It is used in road-making to take 
earth from the sides of the way and throw it up in a ridge 
in the middle. 
road-maker (r6d'ma"ker), n. One who makes 
a road or roads. 
roadman (rod'man), . ; pi. roadmen (-men). 
[< road + man."]" A man who keeps roads in 
repair. Also roadsman. 
road-measurer (rod^ezh'Sr-er), . An odom- 
eter. 
There is always some little Trifle given to Prisoners, 
they call Garnish ; we of the Road are above it, but o' 
t'other side of the House, Silly Rascals that come volun- 
tarily hither . . . may perhaps want it. 
Quoted in Ashton's Social Life in Reign of Queen Anne, 
[II. 242. 
To break a road. See break. To take the road, to 
set out on a journey. To take to the road, to become 
a highway robber. = Syn. S. Street, Passage, etc. (see way), 
lane, route, course, thoroughfare. 
road (rod), v. t. [< road, .] 1. To furnish 
with a road or with roads. [Bare.] 
One of the most Extensive and Complete Establishments 
in the Kingdom, well roaded, and situate in the Borough 
of Leeds. The Engineer, LXIX. 
2. To follow the trail of by scent ; track or pur- 
sue on foot, as game : said of dogs. 
When pursued or roaded by a dog, they [Virginian rail] 
may be raised once, but the second time will be a task of 
more difficulty. Wilson and Bonaparte, Amer. Ornithol- 
[ogy (ed. 1877), II. 406, note. 
3. To jostle (one) off the road by riding against 
him. Halliicell. [Prov. Eng.] To road up to 
flush, or cause to rise on the wing, Dy roading. 
The Prairie Chicken always goes to feed on foot, and 
may thus be roaded up by a dog. 
Sportsman's Gazetteer, p. 119. 
road-agent (rod'fi/jent), n. One who collects 
dues from travelers on private roads ; hence, jo- 
cosely, a highwayman. [Slang, western U. S.] 
A band of concealed marauders or road agents, whose 
purpose was to preserve their haunts from intrusion. 
Bret Harte, A Ghost of the Sierras (Argonauts, p. 386). 
road-bed (rod'bed), . 1. The bed or founda- 
tion on which the superstructure of a railway 
rests. 2. The whole material laid in place 
and ready for traffic in ordinary roads. 
road-book (rod'buk), . A travelers' guide- 
book of towns, distances, etc. fiininioiult!. 
The coal being broken up into fragments like road-metal. 
Pop. Sci. Mo., XXXI. 115. 
road-plow (rod'plou), n. A strong plow de- 
signed especially for throwing up embankments, 
loosening earth to be moved by a scraper, etc. 
road-roller (rod'ro"ler), n. A heavy roller used 
to compact the material on a macadamized road. 
Such rollers may be drawn by horses or driven by steam- 
power. In the latter case they are a form of traction-en- 
gine mounted on large and broad tread-wheels. 
road-runner (r6d'run"er), n. The paisano or 
chaparral-cock, Gcococcyx californianus, a large 
ground-cuckoo. See cut under chaparral-cock. 
road-scraper (rod'skra"per), n. An implement 
used for leveling roads and moving loose soil 
or gravel. The name is applied to two distinct imple- 
ments. One is practically a plow with a broad scraper set 
obliquely beneath the beam in place of a share, and is used 
on roads to level ruts and bring the road-bed to a good 
surface. The other is a shovel or scraper, drawn by a 
horse, for removing mud, lifting earth for transport, etc. 
When loaded, tins scraper can be moved any distance with 
its burden and then tilted over to discharge it. A road- 
scraper mounted on wheels is a road-machine. 
roadside (rod'sid), w. and a. I. . The side of 
a road ; border of a road ; footpath ; wayside. 
By the roadside fell and perished, 
Weary with the march of life ! 
Lonftfellmp, Footsteps of Angels. 
II. a. Situated by the side of a road. 
The coach pulls up at a little road-side inn with huge 
stables behind. T. Hughes, Tom Brown at Rugby, i. 4. 
roadsman (rodz'man), n. Same as roadman. 
We have had roadsmtn for many weeks gravelling the 
front . . . and thoroughly repairing the old road. 
Carlyle, in Froude, II. 
roadstead (rod'sted), . [Formerly also road- 
s/f/l ; < road + -stead.] Same as road, 5. 
