I. roast 1 /rəʊst $ roʊst/ BrE AmE verb [intransitive and transitive]
[ Date: 1200-1300 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: rostir ]
1 . to cook something, such as meat, in an ↑ oven or over a fire, or to cook in this way ⇨ grill , bake :
Are you going to roast the chicken?
the delicious smell of meat roasting
We caught a rabbit and roasted it over an open fire.
2 . to heat nuts, coffee beans etc quickly in order to dry them and give them a particular taste:
dry-roasted peanuts
• • •
THESAURUS
■ ways of cooking something
▪ bake to cook things such as bread or cakes in an oven:
Tom baked a cake for my birthday.
▪ roast to cook meat or vegetables in an oven:
Roast the potatoes for an hour.
▪ fry to cook food in hot oil:
She was frying some mushrooms.
▪ stir-fry to fry small pieces of food while moving them around continuously:
stir-fried tofu and bean sprouts
▪ sauté /ˈsəʊteɪ $ soʊˈteɪ/ to fry vegetables for a short time in a small amount of butter or oil:
Sauté the potatoes in butter.
▪ grill to cook food over or under strong heat:
grilled fish
▪ broil American English to cook food under heat:
broiled fish
▪ boil to cook something in very hot water:
He doesn’t even know how to boil an egg.
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English people seem to love boiled vegetables.
▪ steam to cook vegetables over hot water:
Steam the rice for 15 minutes.
▪ poach to cook food, especially fish or eggs, slowly in hot water:
poached salmon
▪ toast to cook the outside surfaces of bread:
toasted muffins
▪ barbecue to cook food on a metal frame over a fire outdoors:
I thought we could barbecue some mackerel.
▪ microwave to cook food in a microwave oven:
The beans can be microwaved.
II. roast 2 BrE AmE noun [countable]
1 . a large piece of roasted meat:
a traditional Sunday roast
2 . hot dog roast/oyster roast etc American English an outdoor party at which food is cooked on an open fire
3 . American English an occasion at which people celebrate a special event in someone’s life by telling funny stories or giving speeches about them:
a celebrity roast
III. roast 3 BrE AmE adjective [only before noun]
roasted:
roast chicken