ROOF


Meaning of ROOF in English

I. roof 1 S2 W2 /ruːf $ ruːf, rʊf/ BrE AmE noun [countable]

[ Language: Old English ; Origin: hrof ]

1 . the structure that covers or forms the top of a building, vehicle, tent etc:

They finally found the cat up on the roof.

roof of

We can probably strap the cases to the roof of her car.

slate/tiled/thatched etc roof

a flat roof

a pitched roof (=sloping roof)

red-roofed/metal-roofed etc

a wooden-roofed theatre

2 . the top of a passage under the ground:

Suddenly, the whole tunnel roof caved in.

3 . a roof over your head somewhere to live:

I may not have a job, but at least I’ve got a roof over my head.

4 . go through the roof informal

a) ( also hit the roof ) to suddenly become very angry:

Put that back before Dad sees you and hits the roof!

b) if a price, cost etc goes through the roof, it increases to a very high level

5 . the roof of sb’s mouth the hard upper part of the inside of your mouth

6 . under the same roof/under one roof in the same building or home:

If we’re going to live under the same roof, we need to get along.

Here you can buy food, clothes, and electrical goods all under one roof.

7 . under sb’s roof spoken in your home:

As long as you live under my roof, you’ll do as I say.

8 . the roof falls/caves in informal especially American English if the roof falls in or caves in, something bad suddenly happens to you when you do not expect it

⇨ raise the roof at ↑ raise 1 (23), ⇨ ↑ sunroof

• • •

COLLOCATIONS

■ ADJECTIVES/NOUN + roof

▪ a flat roof

She used to sunbathe on the flat roof.

▪ a sloping roof

The path led to a log cabin with a chalet-style sloping roof.

▪ a pitched roof (=with parts that slope down)

a row of garages with tiled pitched roofs.

▪ a tiled roof (=covered with pieces of baked clay)

▪ a slate roof (=covered with thin pieces of a grey rock)

▪ a thatched roof (=made of dried straw)

She lived in a pretty country cottage with a thatched roof.

▪ a leaky/leaking roof (=one that lets rain in)

We needed to fix the leaky roof.

II. roof 2 BrE AmE verb [transitive usually passive]

to put a roof on a building

be roofed with something

a cottage roofed with the local slate

roof something ↔ in/over phrasal verb British English

to cover an open space by putting a roof over it:

We’re going to roof in the yard to make a garage.

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.      Longman - Словарь современного английского языка.