▪ I. roost, n.1
(ruːst)
Forms: 1 hrost, 4 rooste, 5 roist, 6 roust, rowst, ruste (7 roest), 6– roost.
[OE. hróst, = MDu. and Flem. roest, and prob. OS. hrôst the spars of a roof (cf. sense 3). The further relationship is uncertain.]
1. a. A perch for domestic fowls; also gen. a perching- or resting-place of a bird.
| a 1100 Gerefa in Anglia IX. 262 On odene cylne macian—ofn & aste & fela ðinga macian sceal to tune—ᵹe eac henna hrost. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xii. xvii. (Bodl. MS.), [The cock] setteþ nexte to hym one rooste þe henne þat is moste fatte and tendre. 1530 Palsgr. 264/1 Roost for capons or hennes, jevssover. 1565 Harding Confut. Apol. 17 b, Gete ye now vp into your pulpettes, like bragging cockes on the rowst, flappe your winges, and crow out alowde. 1593 Drayton Ecl. iii. 46 Since good Robin to his Roost is gone. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts 151 In a Dogge [the power of smell] is that sence which searcheth out and descryeth the roustes, fourmes, and lodgings of Wilde Beasts. 1700 Dryden Cock & Fox 46 Sooner than the matin-bell was rung, He clapp'd his wings upon his roost, and sung. 1751 Johnson Rambler No. 138 ¶12 When she is to see the hogs fed, or to count her poultry on the roost. 1820 W. Irving Sketch Bk. II. 359 The sudden rustling in the thicket of birds frightened from their roost. 1884 Allen Amer. Farm Book 491 Swabbed along the roosts and laying boxes..it has proved destructive to these vermin. |
b. A hen-house, or that part of one in which the fowls perch at night.
| 1580 Hollyband Treas. Fr. Tong, Gelinier, a hen house, a roust. 1589 Hay any Work 36 He sleepeth belike in the top of y⊇ roust. 1671 Milton Samson 1693 As an ev'ning Dragon came, Assailant on the perched roosts, And nests in order rang'd Of tame villatic Fowl. 1784 Cowper Task v. 58 Now from the roost, or from the neighb'ring pale,..Come trooping..The feather'd tribes domestic. 1821 Clare Vill. Minstr. I. 18 Sad deeds bewailing of the prowling fox; How in the roost the thief had knav'd his way. 1839 Lincoln Gaz. 12 Feb. 3/4 The rogues went to another roost adjoining the house. 1855 D. J. Browne Amer. Poultry Yard 83 The dormitory, or roost, should be well ventilated. Ibid., To let air or light into the roost. |
c. A collection or number of fowls, etc., such as may occupy a roost. Also without const.
| 1827 P. Hawker Diary (1893) I. 303, I killed a roost of small birds. 1966 D. Lack Population Stud. Birds ix. 156 At night they assemble in immense roosts, often in thorns. |
d. fig. A resting-place; a lodging bed.
| 1818 London Guide p. xii, Roost, bed. Ibid. 225 Coming from roost one morning,..I met old acquaintance, B―e, in Barbican. 1858 O. W. Holmes Aut. Breakf.-t. (1883) 122 The world has a million roosts for a man, but only one nest. 1864 Lowell Fireside Trav. 110 The only roost was in the garret, which..contained eleven double beds, ranged along the walls. 1891 C. Roberts Adrift Amer. 23, I selected what appeared to me to be about the best spot for a roost, and..made a fairly comfortable bed. 1930 R. Campbell Adamastor 72, I..Who now am but a roost for empty words. 1944 [see robot roost s.v. robot 2]. 1946 Mezzrow & Wolfe Really Blues xii. 219, I know I'm gonna call some hogs soon as I hit my roost. |
e. to rule the roost, now the more usual form of to rule the roast s.v. roast n. 1 b.
| 1769 in William & Mary Coll. Q. Mag. (1908) Jan. 175 They say she rules the Roost, it is a pity, I like her Husband vastly. 1828 A. N. Royall Black Bk. II. 315 These priests will rule the roost. 1893 Boston Jrnl. 20 Apr. 5/3 England rules the roost. Her ships at Hampton Roads admittedly the finest. 1926 Fowler Mod. Eng. Usage 509/1 Rule the roast (roost). The OED gives no countenance to roost, it does not even recognize that the phrase ever takes that form; but most unliterary persons say roost & not roast; I have just inquired of three such, & have been informed that they never heard of rule the roast, & that the reference is to a cock keeping his hens in order. 1931 R. Campbell Georgiad ii. 29 The great Tu Quoque rules the golden roost. 1938 A. Christie Appointment with Death v. 37 Her husband thought a lot of her and adopted her judgment on almost every point. He was an invalid for some years before he died, and she practically ruled the roost. 1955 ‘A. Gilbert’ Is she Dead Too? vi. 114 ‘Miss Bannerman was very jealous, and she didn't care for children or animals.’ ‘Then she could have found herself some other lodgings. You'd scarcely let her rule your roost.’ 1963 New Yorker 15 June 16/3 The London underworld, where Peter Sellers rules the roost. 1974 S. Ellin Stronghold (1975) 36 My grandfather..ruled the roost, and he was a firm ruler for all his mild manner. |
2. Without article, in various phrases: a. to go, etc., to roost. Also fig. of persons: To retire to rest. (Cf. Flem. te roest gaan.)
| a 1529 Skelton E. Rummyng 191 The hennes ron in the mashfat; For they go to roust Streyght ouer the ale ioust. a 1631 Drayton Noah's Flood 383 When the crowned cock..Comes to roost by him. 1648 Hexham 11, Roesten, to Jugge, or goe to Roest, as Hens, Patridges, &c. 1797–1808 Vince Astron. xxi. 228 The birds went to roost. 1836 Macgillivray Trav. Humboldt viii. 109 These birds go to roost long before night. 1867 ‘Ouida’ Castlemaine's Gage (1879) 20 The swallows were gone to roost amidst the ivy. |
| fig. 1829 Scott Jrnl. II. 314 So to roost upon a crust of bread and a glass of small beer, my usual supper. 1852 Thackeray Esmond i. xiii, 'Tis time for me to go to roost. I will have my gruel a-bed. 1879 Stevenson Travels in Cevennes (1886) 212 Half an hour later, and I must have gone supperless to roost. |
b. at roost, roosting, perched. Also to take roost, to perch.
| 1692 Sir R. L'Estrange Fables cccliii, A Fox spy'd a Cock at Roost with his Hens about him. 1713 Derham Phys.-Theol. vii. ii, The Breast, and its Bone, made like a Keel..to counterpoise the Body, and support and rest it upon at Roost. 1848 Lytton Harold vii. ii, Where the falcon took roost. 1864 Browning Mr. Sludge, While you cling by half a claw To the perch whereon you puff yourselves at roost. |
c. to come home to roost, to come back upon the originator.
| 1810 Southey Kehama Motto, Curses are like young chickens: they always come home to roost. 1838 Lytton Alice 340 The curse has come home to roost. 1887 Lowell Democr. 173 All our mistakes sooner or later surely come home to roost. |
3. In various local applications (see quots.).
| 1790 Morison Poems 105 (E.D.D.), Frae the roost a rung she drew. 1808 Jamieson, Roost,..the inner roof of a cottage, composed of spars of wood reaching from the one wall to the other... It is also vulgarly used to denote a garret. 1856 Morton Cycl. Agric. II. 725/2 Roost, (Lancas.), the upper part of a cow-house; loft over stable. |
4. attrib., as roost-time, roost-tree; roost lay (see quot.).
| 1780 G. White Selborne xciv, They happened to be suddenly roused from their roost-trees. 1823 Egan Grose's Dict. Vulg. T., Roost Lay, stealing poultry. 1884 Jefferies Life of Fields (1908) 97 A loud..clamour of rooks and daws, who have restlessly moved in their roost-trees. 1889 ― Open Air 216 The partridges may run through to join their friends before roost-time on the ground. |
▪ II. roost, n.2
(ruːst)
Also 7–9 roust, 8–9 rost, 9 rust.
[a. ON. rǫst (Norw. r{obar}st), in the same sense.]
A tumultuous tidal race formed by the meeting of conflicting currents off various parts of the Orkney and Shetland Islands.
| 1654 Blaeu Atlas, Scotia 150 Exiguis scaphulis quas facile maris æstus ac fluctus, quem Roosts appellant, absorbet. 1693 J. Wallace Orkney 93 Roust, a very tempestuous tide. 1774 Low Orkney (1879) 14 Where the water breaks on Stroma, it goes off in vast whirls, and forms a roust by the dancing of the stream. 1821 Scott Pirate i, The current of a strong and furious tide, which..is called the Roost of Sumburgh. 1841 Penny Cycl. XXI. 384/1 The majestic cliffs and towering headlands that frown over the dark and stormy seas and rousts. 1868 D. Gorrie Summers & W. Orkneys v. 161 The roosts are in their wildest state of agitation with ebb tides and westerly swells. |
▪ III. roost
obs. form of roast n. and v.
▪ IV. roost, v.
(ruːst)
Forms: 6 rust(e, roste, 6–7 roust(e, rowst, 7– roost.
[f. roost n.1 Cf. Flem. roesten (Kilian).]
1. intr. Of birds: To settle on a perch or the like for sleep or rest; to settle for sleep, go to rest.
| 1530 Palsgr. 696/1 These capons ruste whan it draweth towardes nyght, they be wyser than men be. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. iv. (1586) 166 After the seuenth moneth, you may put them to roust in the house with the other Peacockes. 1600 Surflet Countrie Farme i. xv. 96 By hauing rousted vpon the trees in the open aire. a 1682 Sir T. Browne Tracts (1683) 29 Sitting, roosting, covering and resting in the boughs. 1748 Anson's Voy. iii. i. 400 The greatest part of the birds..were such as are known to roost on shore. 1791 Cowper Yardley Oak 52 Time hath made thee what thou art—a cave For owls to roost in. 1852 M. Arnold Empedocles ii. 432 On the cliff-side, the pigeons Roost deep in the rocks. |
| transf. 1567 Turberv. Epit., etc. 36 No sooner stirres Auroras Starre,..But they that rousted were in rest..Do pack apace to labours left. a 1661 Fuller Worthies (1840) I. 106 Verres..never saw the sun either to rise or set, as roosted after or before. |
b. Of persons: To seat oneself, to perch. colloq.
| 1816 Scott Antiq. viii, Down to the flat shelf on which the sufferers had roosted. 1852 Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. vi, About a dozen young imps were roosting, like so many crows, on the verandah railings. 1897 Flandrau Harvard Episodes 60 She is the woman who, when you call, roosts discreetly at the extreme end of a long sofa. |
2. To lodge, harbour, make one's abode or quarters. In mod. use: To pass the night.
| 1593 Nashe Christ's T. Wks. (Grosart) IV. 95 Banisht he was, and longer in Ierusalem might hee not roust. 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. (1637) 366 A rabblement of Danes rousted heere one whole yeare. [1664 J. Webb Stone-Heng (1725) 206 Camden finds him and his Danes roosting after⁓wards for one whole Year at Cirencester.] 1716 B. Church Hist. Philip's War (1865) I. 161 It was hard to tell where to find Annawon, for he never roosted twice in a place. 1813 Sir R. Wilson Priv. Diary (1862) II. 486, I am most anxious to be on the wing, and again roosted. 1855 Thackeray Newcomes xxxix, Stopped to roost at Terracina. 1883 J. A. Symonds Shaks. Predec. v. (1900) 166 These vagrants wandered up and down the country, roosting in hedge-rows. |
b. fig. or in fig. contexts.
| c 1554 Coverdale Hope of Faithful Pref. A iij, It vnknowne, all vices swarm and roste in vs. 1598 Marston Sco. Villanie i. ii. 178 Modestie is rousted in the skyes. 1607 S. Hieron Wks. I. 262 Men haue euen determined with themselues, that, let the word of the kingdome roust where it will, sure with them it shall not harbour. 1660 C. Bonde Scut. Reg. 108 So great ignorance cannot roust in their pates, who are so worldly wise. 1730 Young 1st Ep. to Pope 10 Where speculation roosted near the sky. 1793 Burns Address spoken by Miss Fontenelle 5 So [I] sought a Poet, roosted near the skies. |
3. trans. To afford a resting-place to (one); to accommodate, harbour. Also fig.
| 1854 S. Dobell Balder iii. Poet. Wks. 1875 II. 17 They defy the storms of heaven, and roost The weary-winged Ages. 1873 Carleton Farm Ball. 43 You have often slept in pens; I've a mind to take you out there now, and roost you with the hens! |