room 
So doth the Circle in his Circuit span 
More rmuii then any other Flijgure can. 
Sylvester, tr. of Du Bnrtas's Weeks, ii., The Columnes. 
2. Space or place unoccupied or unobstructed ; 
place for reception of any thing or person ; ac- 
commodation for entering or for moving about : 
as, to make room for a carriage to pass. 
There was no room for them in the inn. Luke ii. 7. 
Now to sea we go, 
Fair fortune with us, give us room, and blow. 
Fletcher, Mad Lover, Prol. 
There was no room for other pictures, because of the 
books which (Hied every corner. 
Mrs. Oliphant, Poor Gentleman, i. 
3. Pit occasion; opportunity; freedom to ad- 
mit or indulge : as, in this case there is no room 
for doubt or for argument. 
Men have still roum left for commiseration. 
Bacon, Moral Fables, vii., Expl. 
He allowed your crimes to be great, but that still there 
was room for mercy. Swift, Gulliver's Travels, i. 7. 
In his [the Prince Consort's] well-ordered life there 
seemed to be room for all things. 
Gladstone, Gleanings, I. 5. 
4. Place or station once occupied by another ; 
stead, as in succession or substitution : as, one 
magistrate or king comes in the room of a for- 
mer one. 
After two years Porcius Festus came into Felix' room. 
Acts xxiv. 27. 
Poore silly groome, 
Which tother day wouldst faine have had the roome 
Of some base trencher-scraper. 
Time* Whistle (E. E. T. 3.), p. 27. 
Like the valet, [he] seems to have entirely forgot his mas- 
ter's message, and substituted another in its room very un- 
like it. Goldsmith, Criticisms, xii. 
The inland counties had not been required to furnish 
ships, or money in the room of ships. 
Macaulay, Nugent's Hampden. 
5. Any inclosure or division separated by par- 
titions from other parts of a house or other 
structure; a chamber; an apartment; a com- 
partment; a cabin, or the like: as, a drawing- 
room ; a bedroojn ; a state-room in a ship ; an 
engine-roow in a factory ; a harness-roow* in a 
stable. 
Up from my cabin, 
My sea-gown scarf'd about me, in the dark 
Groped I, ... and in fine withdrew 
To mine own room again. Shak., Hamlet, v. 2. 16. 
Others adde that this Moloch had seuen Roomes, Cham- 
bers, or Ambries therein. Purchas, Pilgrimage, p. 97. 
The central hall with its 16 columns, around which 
were arranged smaller rooms or cells. 
J. Fergusson, Hist. Arch., 1. 193. 
6t. Particular place or station; a seat. 
It behoveth every man to live in his own vocation, and 
not to seek any higher room than that whereunto he was 
at the ttrst appointed. 
Sir T. Wilson (Arber's Eng. Garner, I. 466). 
And let an happie roome remaine for thee 
'Mongst heavenly ranks, where blessed soules do rest. 
Spenser, tr. of Virgil's Gnat, 1. 57. 
When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not 
down in the highest room. Luke xiv. 8. 
7t. A box or seat in a theater. 
I beg it with as forced a looke as a player that, in speak- 
ing an epilogue, makes love to the two-pennie roume for 
a plaudite. 
Hoipit. of Incurable Fooles (1600), Ded. (Nares.) 
As if he had . . . ta'en tobacco with them over the 
stage, in the lords' room. 
B. Jonson, Every Man out of hia Humour, ii. 1. 
St. Family; company. 
For offerd presents come, 
And all the Greeks will honour thee, as of celestiall roome. 
Chapman, Iliad, ix. 568. 
9f. Office; post; position. 
In consecrations and ordinations of men unto rooms of 
divine calling, the like [imposition of hands] was usually 
done from the time of Moses to Christ. 
Hooker, Eccles. Polity, v. 66. 
Euery man, according to his roome, bent to performe his 
office with alacritie and diligence. 
Haklmjt's Voyages, II. 288. 
He exercised his high rome of Chauncellorship, as he 
was accustomed. 6. Cavendish, Wolsey. 
10. A fishing-station; also, an establishment 
for curing fish. [British North America.] 11. 
A heading or working-place in a coal-mine. 
Blubber-room, (a) In a whaling-ship, a place down the 
main hatch between decks where blubber is stowed away. 
It is merely a hold, which, when not used for stowing 
blubber, is usually tilled up with oil-casks, fire-wood, etc. 
(6) The stomach : as. to (111 the Mubber-romn (to take a 
hearty meal). [Whalers' slang.] Combination-room. 
See combination. Commercial, common, dark room. 
See the adjectives. Muniment-room. *ee muniment. 
Pillar and room, stoop and room. Same as pillar 
and breast (which see. under pillar). Room and space, 
in ship-buildinci, the distance from the joint of one frame 
to that of the adjoining one. To make room, to open a 
way or passage ; make space or place for any person or 
thing to enter or pass. =Syn. 3. Capacity, scope, latitude, 
range, sweep, swing, play. 
5223 
room 1 (rom), r. i. [< room 1 , .] To occupy a 
room or rooms; lodge: as, he rooms at No. 7. 
[Colloq.] 
I don't doubt I shall become very good, for just think 
what a place I am in living at the minister's ! and then 
I room with Esther ! H. B. Stowe, Oldtown, p. 418. 
room 2 (rom), H. [Also roum; Assamese.] A 
deep-blue dye like indigo, obtained by macera- 
tion from the shrub Strobilanthes flaccidifoliiis 
(Bitellia iitdiyotica, etc.); also, the plant itself, 
which is native and cultivated in India, Burma, 
and China. 
room 3 (rom), n. Dandruff. Halliicell. [Prov. 
Eng.] 
roomage (ro'maj), M. [< room 1 + -age.'] 1. 
Space; capacity. 
Pile my ship with bars of silver, pack with coins of Spanish 
gold, 
From keel piece up to deck-plank, the roomage of her hold ! 
Whittier, Cassandra Southwick. 
2t. An obsolete form of rummage. 
roomal, n. See rumal. 
roomed (romd), a. [< room 1 + -ed 2 .] Contain- 
ing rooms; divided into rooms: used in com- 
position : as, a ten-roo?ed house. 
roomer (ro'mer), . One who hires a room ; a 
lodger. 
The mother . . . occupies herself more with the needs 
of the roomers, or tenants, and makes more money. 
The Standard, VII. 4. 
roomful (rom'ful), a. [< room 1 + -ful, 1.] 
Abounding with rooms; roomy; spacious. 
Now in a roomful house this soul doth float, 
And, like a prince, she sends her faculties 
To all her limbs, distant as provinces. 
Donne, Progress of the Soul. 
roomful (rom'ful), n. [< room 1 + -ful, 2.] As 
much or as many as a room will hold: as, a 
roomful of people. 
roomily (ro'mi-li), acfo. [< roomy + -fy 2 .] Spa- 
ciously. 
roominess (ro'mi-nes), n. [< roomy + -ness.] 
The state of being roomy; spaciousness. 
The oaken chair, to be sure, may tempt him with its 
roominess. Hawthorne, Seven Gables, xviii. 
room-keeper (rom'ke'per), n. One who occu- 
pies a room in a house, with or without a family. 
roomless (rom'les), a. [< room 1 + -less.'] With- 
out room or rooms ; not affording space ; con- 
tracted. 
The shyppe wherein Jesus preached is very narowe and 
roumles to vncleane and synf ull persons. 
J. Udall, On Mark iii. 
room-mate (rom'mat), n. One who shares a 
room with another or others. 
We two Americans join company with our room-mate, 
an Alexandrian of Italian parentage. 
B. Taylor, Lands of the Saracen, p. 28. 
room-paper (rom'pa"per), n. Same as wall- 
paper. 
room-ridden (rom'rid"n), a. Confined to one's 
room. Compare bedridden. [Bare.] 
As the room-ridden invalid settled for the night. 
Dickens, Little Dorrit, i. 16. 
roomsomet (rom'sum), a. [< room 1 + -some.'] 
Roomy. 
In a more vnruly, more vnvveildie, and more roome- 
some vessell then the biggest hulke on Thames. 
Florio, It. Diet, Ep. Ded., p. [11]. 
Not only capable but roomsome. Evelyn. 
roomstead (rom'sted), n. [< room 1 + stead.'] 
A lodging. 
His greens take up six or seven houses or roomsteads. 
Archseologia, XII. 188 (Account of Gardens near London, 
[1691). 
roomtht (romth), n. [< ME. rumthe, rymtlie, < 
AS. *rymth (Lye), rymet, space (= MD. ruimte), 
< rum, spacious: see room 1 , a.] 1. Room or 
place, in any sense. 
And when his voyce failed him at any time, Mecoenas 
supplied his roomth in reading. 
Phaer, tr. of Virgil (1600). (Nam.) 
The Seas (then wanting roomth to lay their boist'rous load) 
Upon the Belgian Marsh their pamp'red stomachs cast. 
Drayton, Polyolbion, v. 244. 
2. Roominess; spaciousness. 
A monstrous paunch for roomth, and wondrous wide. 
Mir. for Hags., p. 109. 
roomthsomet (rSinth'sum), a. [< roomth + 
-xome.~] Roomy; spacious. 
By the sea-side, on the other side, stoode Heroe's tower ; 
... a cage or pigeon-house, ronmthsome enough to com- 
prehend her. A'ashe, Lenten Stuffe (Harl. Misc., VI. 167). 
ropmthyt (rom'thi), a. [< roomth + -y 1 .'] Spa- 
cious. 
And her [Atre] not much behind 
Comes Kensey ; after whom, clear Enian in doth make. 
In Tamer's roomthier banks their rest that scarcely take. 
Drayton, Polyolbion, i. 210. 
roost 
roomy (ro'mi), a. [< room 1 + -y 1 .] Having 
ample room; spacious; large. 
Indeed, the city of glory is capacious and roomy; "In 
my Father's house there are many mansions." 
Bee. T. Adams, Works, II. 252. 
With roomy decks, her guns of mighty strength, 
Whose lowlaid mouths each mounting billow laves. 
Dryden, Aunus Mirabilis, st. 163. 
A very antique elbow-chair, with a high back, carved 
elaborately iu oak, and a roomy depth within its arms. 
Hawthorne, Seven Gables, ii. 
roon 1 !, a. An obsolete form of roan 1 . 
TOOn 2 (ron), n. [A dial, form of rund, < Icel. 
rond, rim, border, stripe, = E. rand : see rand 1 .] 
A border; edge; selvage. [Scotch.] 
In thae auld times, they thought the moon . . . 
Wore by degrees, till her last roon 
Gaed past their viewing. 
Burns, To W. Simpson (Postscript). 
Her face was like the lily roon 
That veils the vestal planet's hue. 
J. R. Drake, Culprit Fay. 
[Roon in this passage is usually explained as ' vermilion,' 
apparently after Halliwell, who defines the Middle Eng- 
lish roone, properly 'roan,' in one passage as 'vermilion.') 
roop (rop), v. i. [Also dial. (Se.) roup; < ME. 
ropen, < AS. hropan (pret. hreop) = OS. hropan 
= OFries. hrdpa = D. roepen = MLG. ropen = 
OHG. hruofan, ruofan, MHG. ruofen, G. rufen, 
cry out; also in weak form, OHG. ruofen, MHG. 
riiefen, cry out, = Icel. hrdpa, call, cry out, in 
old use slander, = Sw. ropa = Dan. raabe, cry 
out, = Goth, hropjan, cry out. Cf. roup.] 1. 
To cry; shout. [Obsolete or prov. Eng. and 
Scotch.] 2. To roar; make a great noise. 
And a ropand rayne raiked fro the heuyn. 
Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. S.), 1. 4631. 
roop (rop), . [Also (Sc.) roup; < ME. rop, < 
AS. hrop = OHG. "hrvof, ruof, MHG. ruof, G. 
ruf, a cry, = Icel. hrop, crying, in old use 
caviling, scurrility, = Sw. rop = Dan. raab, 
a cry, a call, crying; cf. Goth, hropei, a cry; 
from the verb.] 1. Aery; a call. 2. Hoarse- 
ness. 
may the roup ne'er roust thy weason ! 
Beattie's Address (Boss's Helenore), st. 3. (Jamieson.) 
roopit (ro'pit), a. [Also (Sc.) roiipit, roupet; 
< roop, n., + -it = -c<J 2 .] Hoarse; husky. 
[Scotch.] 
Alas ! my roopit Muse is hearse 1 
Bums, Prayer to the Scotch Representatives. 
roopy (ro'pi), a. [Also (Sc.) roupy; < roop + 
-y 1 .] Hoarse. 
He said he had observed I was sometimes hoarse a 
little roopy was his exact expression. 
Dickens, David Copperfleld, vil. 
roorback (ror'bak), . [So called in allusion 
to certain fictions, published in the United 
States in 1844, devised for political purposes, 
but purporting to be taken from the " Travels of 
Baron Eoorbach."] A fictitious story published 
for political effect; a "campaign lie." [U. S.] 
Roosa (ro'sa), n. See Busa. 
roosa-oil (r6'sa-oil), n. See rusa-oil. 
loose (roz), v". t. ; pret. and pp. roosed, ppr. 
roosing. [Also dial, rose, nise ; < ME. rosen, < 
Icel. hrosa, praise, extol, boast, = Sw. rosa = 
Dan. rose, praise.] To extol ; commend highly. 
[Now only Scotch.] 
To rose him [the king] in his rialty rych men sogtten 
[sought]. Alliterative Poems (ed. Morris), ii. 1371. 
To roose you up, and ca' you guid. 
Burns, Dedication to Gavin Hamilton. 
roost 1 (rost), n. [< ME. *rost, < AS. hrdst, given 
by Somner ("hrost, al. henna lirost, petaurum, 
a hen-roost"), and contained also in the com- 
pound hrost-bedg, a poetical term of uncertain 
meaning, explained as 'the woodwork of a cir- 
cular roof; = OS. hrost, roof, = MD. roest, a 
hen-roost, = Icel. hraust, roof, ceiling, = Norw. 
rost, must, rost, roof, roofing, space under the 
roof; prob. orig. the inner framework of a roof 
(as in Sc.) ; prob., with formative -st, from the 
same root (y lira) as Icel. lirot, a roof, rot, the 
inner part of the roof of a house where fish are 
hung up to dry, = Norw. rot, a roof, the inner 
part of a roof, a cockloft, = Goth. hrot. a roof. 
The Sc. sense (def . 4) is prob. of Scand. origin 
(< Norw. rost, see above).] 1. A pole or perch 
upon which fowls rest at night ; any place upon 
which a bird may perch to rest ; also, a locality 
where birds, as pigeons, habitually spend the 
night. 
Who [the cock] daily riseth when the Sun doth rise. 
And when Sol setteth, then to roost he hies. 
Sylvester, tr. of Du Bartas's Weeks, 1. 5. 
He clapp'd his wings upon his rooet. 
Dryden, Cock and Fox, 1. 4a 
