134 R 0 A 
ROADSTER, s. A horse used for travelling. (Pro¬ 
vincial). 
ROA'DWAY, s. Course of the public road ; highway. 
—Never a man’s thought in the world keeps the roadway 
better than thine. Shakspeare. 
To ROAM, v. n. [romigare, Ital. Raumen, Germ, 
puman, Sax. 
“ Though we slepe or wake, or rome o£ride, 
Ay flyeth the time, it wol no man abide.” Chaucer. ] 
To wander without any certain purpose ; to ramble; to 
rove; to play the vagrant. 
Five summers have I spent in farthest Greece, 
Roaming clean through the bounds of Asia. Shakspeare. 
What were unenlighten’d man, 
A savage roaming through the woods and wilds. 
In quest of prey ? Thomson. 
To ROAM, v. a. To range; to wander over. 
Now fowls in their clay nests were couch’d. 
And now wild beasts came forth the woods to roam. 
Milton. 
ROAM, or Roa'ming, s. Act of wandering. 
The boundless space, through which these rovers take 
Their restless roam, suggest the sister-thought 
Of endless time. Young. 
ROA'MER, s. A rover; a rambler; a wanderer; a 
vagrant.—And now is religion a rider, a romer by the street. 
Vis. of P. Plowman. 
ROAN, adj. [rouen, Fr.] A roan horse is a horse of a 
bay, sorrel, or black colour, with grey or white spots, 
interspersed very thick. Farrier's Diet. —What horse ? a 
roan, a crop-ear, is it not ? Shakspeare. 
ROAN, a small island in the Eastern seas. Lat. 2. 19. N. 
long. 125. 3. E. 
ROAN, a small lake of Scotland, in the stewartry of Kirk¬ 
cudbright. 
ROAN’S CREEK, a post village of the United States, in 
Carter county, Tennessee. 
ROANCARRICK ROCKS, rocks in Bantry bay, on 
the south coast of Ireland; 3 miles north-east of Bear island. 
ROANNE, a considerable town of France, situated on 
the left bank of the Loire, where that river is only 40 miles 
north-west of Lyons. In the beginning of the 18th century, 
this place was a mere village; and it owes its increase to its 
situation on a navigable river, and to its having consequently 
become an entrepot for goods sent from the east and south¬ 
east of France, to Orleans, Nantes, Paris, &c. Though it 
has now 7000 inhabitants, it has still, when viewed from a 
distance, the appearance of a large village. It has no regu¬ 
lar limits; its streets stretch out in various directions into 
the open country, and the most remote houses are intermixed 
with trees. The interior, however, has more the appearance 
of a town. It has tolerably straight streets, good houses, and 
public baths. It has likewise some manufactures of linen, 
cotton, small iron wares, &c ; 30 miles north of Mont B(ison. 
Lat. 46. 2. N. long. 4. 4. E. 
ROANOKE, an island in the Atlantic, near the coast 6f 
North Carolina, at the entrance into Albemarle sound, with 
a town of the same name. Lat. 35. 50. N. long. 76. W. 
ROANOKE, Little, a river of the United States, in 
Virginia, which runs into the Staunton. Lat. 36. 46. N. long. 
78. 55. W. 
ROANOKE INLET, a channel of the United States, 
on the coast of North Carolina, which leads into Albemarle 
sound. Lat. 35. 50. N. long. 75. 35. W. 
ROANOKE RIVER, a river of the United States, in 
North Carolina, which is formed by the union of the Staun¬ 
ton and the Dan, the former of which rises in Virginia, and 
the latter in North Carolina, and flows into Albemarle sound. 
Xat. 35. 58. N. long. 76. 56. W. It is navigable for vessels 
of considerable burden 30 or 40 miles, and for boats of 30 
or 40 tons to the falls, 70 miles, and for boats of 5 tons for 
R O A 
the distance of 200 miles above the falls. The country 
watered by this river is extremely fertile. Below the falls 
towards the mouth, vast quantities of Indian Com are raised; 
and the planters are among the wealthiest in the state. Ex¬ 
ertions are now making to improve the navigation of this 
river, by constructing canals around the falls, and opening 
a water communication between Norfolk, Virginia, and the 
interior of North Carolina, and the southern part of Virginia. 
To ROAR, v. n. [papan, Sax. recren, Teut. ruir, old 
French. The Scottish form of this word is rare, or rair.\ 
To cry as a lion or other wild beast. 
Warwick and Montague, 
That in their chains fetter’d the kingly lion. 
And made the forest tremble when they roar'd. Shakspeare. 
To cry in distress. 
At his nurse’s tears 
He whin’d and roar'd away your victory, 
That pages blush’d at. him. Shakspeare. 
Sole on the barren sands the sufF’ring chief 
Roar'd out for anguish, and indulg’d his grief. Dry den. 
To sound at the wind or sea. 
South, East, and West, with mixt confusion roar , 
Androwl the foaming billows to the shore. Dry den. 
Loud as the wolves on Orcas’ stormy steep. 
Howl to the roaring of the northern deep. Pope. 
To make a loud noise.—The brazen throat of war had 
ceas’d to roar. Milton. 
ROAR, s. The cry of the lion or other beast. 
The wonted roar is up. 
And hiss continual through the tedious night. Thomson. 
An outcry of distress. A clamour of merriment.—Where 
be your gibes now ? your gambols ? your songs ? your 
flashes of merriment, that were wont to set the table in a 
roar? Shakspeare. —The sound of the wind or sea. 
The roar 
Of loud Euroclydon. Philips. 
Any loud noise. 
Oft on a plat of rising ground, 
I hear the far off curfew sound. 
Over some wide-water’d shore, 
Swinging slow with sullen roar. Milton. 
The waters, listening to the trumpet’s roar, 
Obey the summons, and forsake the shore. Dryden. 
ROA'RER, s. A noisy brutal man.—Hear this ye godless 
and swaggering roarers, that dare say with Pharaoh, Who 
is the Lord? You that now bid defiance to fear, shall in 
spite of you learn the way to fear. Bp. Hall. —One who 
bawls.—The roarer has no other qualification for a champion 
of controversy, than a harden’d front and strong voice. 
Having seldom so much desire to confute as to silence, he 
depends rather upon vociferation than argument. Dr. 
Johnson. 
ROA'RING, s. Cry of the lion or other beast.—The 
king’s wrath is as the roaring of a lion. Prov. —Outcry 
of distress.—My sighing cometh before I eat, and my 
roarings are poured out like water. Job, iii. 24.—Sound 
of the wind or sea.—They shall roar against them like the 
roaring of the sea. Isaiah. 
ROARING RIVER, a river of the United States, in Ten¬ 
nessee, which runs into the Cumberland below Obeds. 
ROARING RIVER, a river of the United' States, in the 
North-western Territory, so called from a rumbling noise 
which it makes during the warm season, and which is oc¬ 
casioned, it is thought, by the vast quantities of copper 
found near it, which attract the electric fluid to this place. 
ROARING WATER, a river of Ireland, which rims 
into Roaring Water bay ; 5 miles west-south-west of Skib- 
bereen. 
ROARING WATER BAY, a bay on the south coast of 
Ireland, 
