I. ˈrō(ə)r, ˈrȯ(ə)r, -ōə, -ȯ(ə) verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English roren, from Old English rārian; akin to Middle Dutch reren to roar, Old High German rērēn to bleat, Sanskrit rāyati he barks
intransitive verb
1.
a. : to utter or emit a full loud heavy prolonged sound
the lions roared
the little brass cannon roared again and again — American Guide Series: Texas
b. : to sing or shout with full force
the lumbermen had their own songs, roared in the forests and in mill-town saloons — American Guide Series: Michigan
2.
a. : to make or emit a loud mixed confused sound (as background reverberation or rumbling)
a city that normally grumbles and screeches and roars — I.J.C.Brown
b. : to laugh out loudly and continuously with fullest enjoyment
the audience roaring at the pantomime
3.
a. : to be boisterous : act or proceed in a riotous turbulent disorderly way
desperadoes from the hills regularly roared in to take over the town — R.A.Billington
b. : to show surprising or extravagant activity or noise
around which all this controversy roars — A.H.Vandenberg †1951
c. : to proceed or rush with great speed, activity, or impetus and with great noise or commotion
rivers roared in the abandoned channels of the glaciers — John Muir †1914
get a good view of the express as she roared through — O.S.Nock
4. : to make a loud noise in breathing (as horses afflicted with roaring)
transitive verb
1. : to utter or proclaim with a roar
roaring names … like a railway porter shouting out a list of stations — Robert Lynd
delegates to the union's … convention roared approval of a resolution — Mary K. Hammond
roar defiance
2. : to bring into a specified state by roaring
the river roared him to sleep
3. : to cause to roar
pressed on the accelerator, savagely roaring the engine — Russell Thacher
Synonyms:
howl , ululate , bellow , bawl , bluster , clamor , vociferate : roar suggests the full loud reverberating sound made by lions or the booming sea or by persons in rage or boisterous merriment
far away guns roar — Virginia Woolf
the harsh north wind … roared in the piazzas — Osbert Sitwell
roared the blacksmith, his face black with rage — T.B.Costain
howl indicates a higher, less reverberant sound often suggesting the doleful or agonized or the sounds of unrestrained laughter
frequent howling of jackals and hyenas — James Stevenson-Hamilton
how the wind does howl — J.C.Powys
roared at his subject … howled at … inconsistencies — Martin Gardner
ululate is a literary synonym for howl but may suggest mournful protraction and rhythmical delivery
an ululating baritone mushy with pumped-up pity — E.B.White
bellow suggests the loud, abrupt, hollow sound made typically by bulls or any similar loud, reverberating sound
most of them were drunk. They went bellowing through the town — Kenneth Roberts
bawl suggests a somewhat lighter, less reverberant, unmodulated sound made typically by calves
a woman bawling abuse from the door of an inn — C.E.Montague
the old judge was in the hall bawling hasty orders — Sheridan Le Fanu
bluster suggests the turbulent noisiness of gusts of wind; it often suggests swaggering and noisy threats or protests
expressed her opinion gently but firmly, while he blustered for a time and then gave in — Sherwood Anderson
swagger and bluster and take the limelight — Margaret Mead
clamor suggests sustained, mixed and confused noisy outcry as from a number of agitated persons
half-starved men and women clamoring for food — Kenneth Roberts
easy … for critics … to clamor for action — Sir Winston Churchill
vociferate suggests loud vehement insistence in speaking
was not willing to break off his talk; so he continued to vociferate his remarks — James Boswell
II. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English rore, from roren, v.
: the sound of roaring:
a. : the deep loud cry of some wild beasts
the roar of a lion
b. : a loud deep cry of emotion (as pain or anger)
c. : a loud continuous confused sound
the ominous, steady roar of airplane engines — Erle Stanley Gardner
a roar of conversation coming from the bar — Claud Cockburn
able to make his thin whistling rise above the roar of the stream — T.B.Costain
d. : a boisterous outcry or shouting
a roar of laughter