I. room 1 S1 W1 /ruːm, rʊm/ BrE AmE noun
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: rum ]
1 . IN A BUILDING [countable] a part of the inside of a building that has its own walls, floor, and ceiling:
I looked around the room.
She nodded toward a man who was standing across the room (=on the other side of the room) .
Someone was laughing in the next room (=the one beside the one you are in) .
sb’s room (=someone’s bedroom)
Beth, it’s time to clean up your room.
bathroom/dining room/meeting room etc
the doctor’s waiting room
one-room(ed)/two-room(ed) etc
a three-room apartment
single/double room (=a room in a hotel for one person or for two)
I’d like to book a double room for two nights.
Here’s your key – room 348.
⇨ ↑ front room , ↑ living room , ↑ sitting room
2 . SPACE [uncountable] space somewhere for a particular thing, person, or activity
room in
I hope there’s going to be enough room in the fridge.
room for
My suitcase was so full I didn’t have room for anything else.
room to do something
The museum doesn’t have enough room to show everything in their collection.
plenty of room/enough room
There’s plenty of room in the boot for your luggage.
I’m trying to make room for a vegetable garden in the backyard.
Step back, leave room for people to get past.
The old wardrobe took up too much room.
leg-room/head-room (=space for your legs or head in a vehicle) ⇨ elbow-room at ↑ elbow 1 (5)
3 . OPPORTUNITY/POSSIBILITY [uncountable] the chance to do something, or the possibility that something exists or can happen
room for
There’s little room for innovation.
room for doubt/debate/argument etc
The evidence was clear, and there was little room for doubt.
room for manoeuvre British English room for maneuver American English (=the possibility of changing what you do or decide)
Teachers feel they have little room for manoeuvre when the curriculum is so demanding.
room to do something
Children need to have room to develop their natural creativity.
Make room in your day for exercise.
4 . there’s room for improvement used to say that something is not perfect and needs to be improved:
The report shows that there is room for improvement.
5 . there’s not enough room to swing a cat used humorously to say that an area or room is not very big
6 . APARTMENT rooms [plural] old-fashioned especially British English two or more rooms that you rent in a building, or stay in at a college
7 . PEOPLE [singular] all the people in a room:
The whole room started singing ‘Happy Birthday’.
II. room 2 BrE AmE verb [intransitive] American English
to rent and live in a room somewhere
room with somebody phrasal verb
to share a room or house with someone, especially at college:
I roomed with Al at UCSD.