Collins English-English Dictionary

roll [rəυl]

1. 1. vb to move or cause to move along by turning over and over

2. 2. vb to move or cause to move along on wheels or rollers

3. 3. vb to flow or cause to flow onwards in an undulating movement

   billows of smoke rolled over the ground

4. 4. vi. [intr] to extend in undulations

   the hills roll down to the sea

5. 5. vi. [intr; usually foll by around] to move or occur in cycles

6. 6. vi. [intr] (of a planet, the moon, etc) to revolve in an orbit

7. 7. vi. [intr; foll by on, by, etc] to pass or elapse

   the years roll by

8. 8. vi. to rotate or cause to rotate wholly or partially

   to roll one's eyes

9. 9. vi. to curl, cause to curl, or admit of being curled, so as to form a ball, tube, or cylinder; coil

10. 10. vi. to make or form by shaping into a ball, tube, or cylinder

    to roll a cigarette

11. 11. vi. [often foll by out] to spread or cause to spread out flat or smooth under or as if under a roller

    to roll the lawn

    to roll pastry

12. 12. vi. to emit, produce, or utter with a deep prolonged reverberating sound

    the thunder rolled continuously

13. 13. vi. to trill or cause to be trilled

    to roll one's r's

14. 14. vi. [intr] (of a vessel, aircraft, rocket, etc) to turn from side to side around the longitudinal axis - Compare pitch yaw

15. 15. vi. to cause (an aircraft) to execute a roll or (of an aircraft) to execute a roll (sense 40)

16. 16. vi. [intr] to walk with a swaying gait, as when drunk; sway

17. 17. vi. [intr; often foll by over] (of an animal, esp a dog) to lie on its back and wriggle while kicking its legs in the air, without moving along

18. 18. vi. [intr] to wallow or envelop oneself (in)

19. 19. vt. [tr] to apply ink to (type, etc) with a roller or rollers

20. 20. vt. to throw (dice)

21. 21. vi. [intr] to operate or begin to operate

    the presses rolled

22. 22. vi. [intr] [informal] to make progress; move or go ahead

    let the good times roll

23. 23. vt. [tr] [informal] [chiefly US and NZ] to rob (a helpless person, such as someone drunk or asleep)

24. 24. vt. [tr] [slang] to have sexual intercourse or foreplay with (a person)

25. 25. n the act or an instance of rolling

26. 26. n anything rolled up in a cylindrical form

    a roll of newspaper

27. 27. n an official list or register, esp of names

    an electoral roll

28. 28. n a rounded mass

    rolls of flesh

29. 29. n a strip of material, esp leather, fitted with pockets or pouches for holding tools, toilet articles, needles and thread, etc

30. 30. n a cylinder used to flatten something; roller

31. 31. n a small loaf of bread for one person: eaten plain, with butter, or as a light meal when filled with meat, cheese, etc

32. 32. n a flat pastry or cake rolled up with a meat (sausage roll), jam (jam roll), or other filling - See also swiss roll

33. 33. n a swell, ripple, or undulation on a surface

    the roll of the hills

34. 34. n a swaying, rolling, or unsteady movement or gait

35. 35. n a deep prolonged reverberating sound

    the roll of thunder

36. 36. n a rhythmic cadenced flow of words

37. 37. n a trilling sound; trill

38. 38. n a very rapid beating of the sticks on a drum

39. 39. n a flight manoeuvre in which an aircraft makes one complete rotation about its longitudinal axis without loss of height or change in direction

40. 40. n the angular displacement of a vessel, rocket, missile, etc, caused by rolling

41. 41. n a throw of dice

42. 42. n a bookbinder's tool having a brass wheel, used to impress a line or repeated pattern on the cover of a book

43. 43. n [slang] an act of sexual intercourse or petting (esp in the phrase a roll in the hay)

44. 44. n [US] [slang] an amount of money, esp a wad of paper money

45. 45. n See also roll in roll off roll on roll out roll over roll up

46. 46. n [Etymology] C14 rollen, from Old French roler, from Latin rotulus a little wheel, from rota a wheel