▪ I. roller, n.1
(ˈrəʊlə(r))
Forms: 5–6 (9) rollar, 6–7 (9 dial.) rouler (6 rouller), 6–8 (9 dial.) rowler (6 rowlar), 9 Sc. rower, rouer; 5– roller (6 roler).
[f. roll v.2]
I. 1. a. A rolling-pin. Now dial.
| c 1420 Liber Cocorum (1862) 40 Make þy past With water, þer of þy fele [read fole] þou make With a roller, and drye hit. [1648 Hexham ii, Een Rol-stock, a Past-roler to make Pyes with.] 1882 Jamieson's Dict., Rower, a roller for flattening dough;..West of S. |
b. A rubber-covered cylinder used for reducing one's weight.
| 1930 London Mercury Feb. 323 She makes the roller earn its keep, I can tell you! 1975 G. Howell In Vogue 55/2 The serpentine slimness was an essential... You bought rubber rollers with studs all over them. |
2. a. A cylinder of wood or metal, revolving on pivots or a fixed axis, for lessening the friction of anything passed over it; also, a rounded piece of wood over which an endless towel is passed.
| 1434 E.E. Wills (1882) 102 Y bequethe my roller for a towell to Margery Bokeler. 1563–4 Sarum Church-w. Accts. (Swayne) 110 A roler to save y⊇ rope of y⊇ clock from fretyng, vj d. 1680 Moxon Mech. Exerc. x. 186 Guiding the String from the Pole to the Work by throwing it over a Rowler, moving on two Iron Center-pins. 1769 Falconer Dict. Marine (1780), Roller, a cylindrical piece of timber, fixed..so as to revolve about an axis. It is used to prevent the cables, hawsers, &c. from being chafed. 1780 J. Howard Prisons 331 They had every day a clean towel hung on a roller. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. 324 The pin is relieved of friction by three rollers in the coak, placed equilaterally. 1889 Jessopp Coming of Friars vi. 298 The refinement of hanging a towel on a roller does not appear to have been thought of. |
b. The revolvable drum, barrel, or axis of a winch or windlass.
| 1659 J. Leak Waterwks. 25 Two Men with a Lever shall turn a Rowler to which a strong Cord is made fast. 1683 Moxon Mech. Exerc., Printing xi. 9 Upon that square is fitted a round Wooden-Rowler or Barrel. 1728 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Windlass, The Axis or Roller goes thro' two of the Pieces, and turns in them. 1875 Knight Dict. Mech. 2779/2 This is in cases where the windlass-roller is not solid, but consists of ratchet-heads [etc.]. |
3. a. One of a number of cylinders of wood or other material, either attached or free, for diminishing friction when rolling or moving a heavy body.
| 1565 Cooper Thesaurus, Palangæ,..rollers to conueigh thinges of great weight. 1606 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. iv. Magnificence 1148 What mighty Rowlers, and what massie Cars Could bring so far so many monstrous Quars? 1687 A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. ii. 24 They have a kind of sled made of four pieces of Timber in square; two of which serve for an Axle-tree to two great rowlers. 1719 De Foe Crusoe i. (Globe) 126, I went to the Woods, and cut Levers and Rollers. 1783 Hull Gaol Act 24 Any stall, shop, or shed..that shall be moved upon wheels or rollers. 1837 W. B. Adams Carriages Introd. 6 This was doubtless the origin of rollers or round logs of wood, which are placed under heavy trees or beams in order to move them over the surface of the earth. 1884 W. H. Greenwood Steel & Iron 338 The rail..is carried along upon a series of five rollers..to a circular saw. |
b. (See
quot.)
| 1837 W. B. Adams Carriages 95 Specimens of them may still be seen in the broad wheels of waggons, technically termed rollers. |
c. A type of exercise wheel (see
quot.).
| 1970 Which? Sept. 288/1 Once you got fit with skipping ropes and chest expanders... Now it is..rollers. Maybe you haven't seen one yet. It consists of a wheel about six inches in diameter, and a handle on each side. You kneel down, grasp the handles, roll forwards, and then roll back to the kneeling position. |
4. a. A heavy cylinder of wood, stone, or (now usually) metal, fitted in a frame with shafts or a handle, for crushing clods, etc., and smoothing the ground by compression.
| 1530 Palsgr. 263/2 Rollar or rammer of husbandrie. 1563 T. Hill Art Garden. (1593) 89 When the seedes be sowen and couered with earth, then to be pressed downe with a roller. 1623 J. Taylor (Water-P.) Wks. ii. 241/1 Their exercise is priuately..to rowle the great rowler in the alleies of their garden. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. i. 260 Let the weighty Rowler run the round, To smooth the Surface of th' unequal Ground. 1707 Mortimer Husb. (1721) I. 17 Where Meadows are flooded,..roll them with a large Barley Roller. 1787 W. Marshall E. Norfolk (1795) I. 145 The roller..is never used in Norfolk for the purpose of compression. 1855 Delamer Kitch. Gard. (1861) 17 A roller, for gravel-walks and grass. 1899 Rider Haggard Farmer's Year 145 One of the oldest and quietest horses..was dragging the wooden roller. |
| fig. 1864 Lowell Fireside Trav. 212 There was no heavy roller of public opinion to flatten all character. |
b. A rotating cylinder or roll for pressing, stamping, crushing, or rolling; one of a set of rolls for forming metal, etc., into bars or sheets; also, the revolving cylinder of a printing-machine for impressing the paper upon the printing-matter.
For various technical uses see Knight
Dict. Mech.| 1728 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Printing, The Arms of the Cross are pull'd; and by that means, the Plate with its Furniture [is] pass'd thro' between the Rollers. 1738 Patent in Encycl. Metrop. (1845) VIII. 687/2 The wooll or cotton being thus prepared, one end..is put betwixt a pair of rowlers. 1825 J. Nicholson Operat. Mech. 335 Placed under a tilt-hammer, or passed through the rolls, or rollers, which consolidates it. 1838 Penny Cycl. XI. 256/1 The large mass of melted glass..exhibiting changing colours in the sheet after the roller has been passed over it. 1882 Encycl. Brit. XIV. 385/2 Finally, the leather is rolled and compressed on a..wooden bed by a heavy hand roller. |
c. Printing. A cylinder or roll of thick, elastic composition, mounted on a metal or wooden axis, for inking a form of letter, etc., before printing; also, a metal cylinder for distributing ink upon this.
| 1790 [see inking vbl. n. b]. 1824 J. Johnson Typogr. II. 532 From its being a cylindrical power, rollers were indispensably necessary. 1841 Hansard Printing 118 If a printer employs six presses, and consequently six rollers. 1893 Labour Comm. Gloss. s.v., An iron roller covered with a composition of indigo. It works on a ‘slab’ ..and inks the type used in printing. |
d. Stationery. A rolling blotter. Also
attrib.| 1875 Knight Dict. Mech. 1963/1. 1899 Westm. Gaz. 28 Jan. 8/1 At present diplomatists invariably use the roller blotter for important documents. This, owing to its palimpsest character, is quite undecipherable. |
5. a. A cylindrical piece of wood, etc.;
esp. one on which cloth or other material is rolled up.
| 1567 J. Maplet Gr. Forest 18 Ther is another..which hath y⊇ figure of a narrow Rowler. 1600 Surflet Countrie Farme i. xxviii. 178 To fit the colt for the saddle, the good rider must first put vpon his head a halter, with a rouler of woode. 1691 Ray Creation (1692) ii. 89 The long slender Worms,..that breed between the Skin and Flesh.., are generally twisted out upon Sticks or Rowlers. 1802 James Milit. Dict., Roller,..a long piece of wood which is rounded and made taper to suit the regulated size of a military tail. 1889 T. Hardy Mayor Casterbr. xxxvii, A deal wand—probably the roller from a piece of calico. 1897 J. Hocking Mist on the Moors iii, The calico blind, which was fastened to a roller, was pulled down. |
b. A cylindrical device used for applying paint, wallpaper, etc., to a flat surface.
| 1955 N.Y. Times 12 June ii. 16/6 Self-feeding rollers should be emptied, and the inside cleaned with whatever solvent is indicated for the kind of paint used. 1959 Listener 12 Feb. 311/1, I am often asked whether it is better to use a brush or a roller for painting. 1975 Times 28 Aug. 5/1 Embossed wallpapers..can be..applied in different manners (by roller, or by sponge..are just two of them). |
6. a. Organ-building. A rounded slip of wood or piece of metal tube, turning, by the action of the key, on pins inserted into its ends, and having two or more arms at right angles to its length.
| 1632 [see roller-board]. 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XIII. 488/1 It pulls down the arm b, by the wire d, which turns about the roller s with the arm a. 1840–81 [see roller-board]. |
b. The toothed or studded revolvable barrel of a musical box.
| 1875 Knight Dict. Mech. 1963/1. |
7. a. A small wheel rotating on an axle or axis; a short cylinder serving as a wheel.
| 1802 James Milit. Dict., Roller, a small wheel placed at the foot of the hammer of a gun, or pistol lock, in order to lessen the friction of it against the hammer or feather spring. 1874 Vandervell & Witham Syst. Figure-Skating (ed. 2) iv. 63 There have been many attempts to imitate skating by means of small rollers or wheels attached to the feet. |
b. Bookbinding.
= roll n.1 15 c.
| 1880 J. W. Zaehnsdorf Bookbinding 122 A fine line worked on the centre of the edge of the board..requires more pains than simply running a roller over it. |
8. a. (See
quot.)
| 1856 ‘Stonehenge’ Brit. Rural Sports 544/1 The traces themselves either end with an eye, or, with a full fold upon themselves, with an iron eye, called a Roller, and intended to be used upon the Roller-bolt of the splinter-bar. |
b. A roller-chain for a cycle (
i.e. one in which flexibility is obtained by the use of small rollers in each link).
| 1897 A. C. Pemberton, etc. Compl. Cyclist 115 From a lengthy experience I can vouch for the old roller being by no means a bad chain. |
II. 9. † a. ? A roll of paste.
Obs.—1| c 1420 Liber Cocorum (1862) 39 Lay hit in a roller as sparlyng fysshe, Frye hit in grece. |
b. dial. A roll or cylinder of carded wool.
| 1844 W. Barnes Poems Rural Life 254 The whindlen chaps in town Wi' backs so weak as rollers. |
c. dial. A line or row of hay, etc., raked ready for ricking.
| 1844 W. Barnes Poems Rural Life 107 A-riaken auver humps an' hollers To riake the grass up into rollers. 1901 Longman's Mag. July 209 The long rollers of newly-cut grass over which he stepped were touched..by arrows of light. |
10. a. A long bandage, formed in a roll, for winding firmly round a limb, etc. Now more
freq. roller-bandage.
It is not certain that the first
quot. belongs here.
| 1534 Inv. Wardr. Katharine Aragon in Camden Misc. (1855) 40 Item, two roullers, the one lynnene, the other wullen. 1575 Turberv. Faulconrie 264 On everie side bynding them with the linnen rollers or fillets artificially. 1599 A. M. tr. Gabelhouer's Bk. Physicke 285/2 Applye it on the inflammation, and tye it with a Rowler, but not to stiffe. 1643 J. Steer tr. Exp. Chyrurg. vi. 21, I anointed the whole Arme.., and rowled about Rowlers dipped in Water and Vinegar. 1694 Salmon Bate's Dispens. (1713) 701/2 Holding it on with a Plaister..put over it, and binding it sufficiently fast with a Woollen Rouler. 1753 Bartlet Gent. Farriery (1754) 299 It would be very proper to keep the legs and pasterns rolled up with a firm bandage, or linnen rowler. 1783 H. Watson in Med. Comm. I. 171 A flannel roller..must..be applied after the operation. 1803 Med. Jrnl. X. 283 As this jacket produces but little sensible pressure, I should not altogether trust to it, without applying a roller over it. 1843 R. J. Graves Syst. Clin. Med. xxiv. 297 Using the moistened roller to keep the parts cool and retain the dressings. |
† b. A swaddling-band.
Obs. rare.
| 1656 W. Dugard tr. Comenius' Gate Lat. Unl. 233 From sucking they proceed to weaning, and from the cradle to the rollers of the legs. 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), Roller, a Swathing-band for young Children. |
c. A broad, padded girth for a horse.
| 1688 Holme Armoury iii. 93/1 Rowler or Body Girth,..which slippeth too and again on the body Girth, or Sursingle..to keep the Girth from fretting of the hair. 1856 ‘Stonehenge’ Brit. Rural Sports 347/1 When this has been done.., the side-reins are buckled on, and are attached also to the buckles in the roller, crossing them over the withers. Ibid., The roller has been hitherto the only kind of pressure round the chest. |
III. † 11. A large cylindrical block of stone, capable of rolling easily down a slope.
Obs.| 1555 Lydgate's Chron. Troy ii. xviii, Tyll the Troyans from the crestes caste The great stones..And Rollers [MSS. Callyon] eke grekes to oppresse. 1609 Holland Amm. Marcell. 430 Overwhelmed with stones, fragments of pillars, and with Cylinders [marg. or Rollers], borne downe the steepe descent. 1654 Hammond Fundam. 187 When a man tumbles a cylindre or roller down a hill,..the man is the violent enforcer of the first motion of it. |
† 12. = go-cart 1.
Obs.—1| 1714 Alex. Smith Lives Highwaymen (ed. 2) II. 208 He was such a forward Child that he could run about without a Rowler, or Leading-Strings. |
† 13. A kind of stocking;
= roll-up n. 1.
Obs.—1| 1756 Connoisseur No. 115 ¶3, While I am employed in brushing the dust from my black rollers,..my wig is suddenly conveyed away. |
14. a. Zool. Some infusorian.
| 1769 Phil. Trans. LIX. 149 Fig. 3 is the volvox volutans, or the roller. |
b. Conch. The giant stromb,
Strombus gigas.
| 1815 E. J. Burrow Conch. 202 [Strombus] Gigas. Large Conch; large Roller. |
c. A variety of tumbler-pigeon.
| 1867 Tegetmeier Pigeons xii. 127 The propensity to the performance of eccentric movements which distinguishes the breeds known as Tumblers and Rollers. 1879 L. Wright Pract. Pigeon Kpr. 128 The true Birmingham Roller, which turns over backwards with inconceivable rapidity. |
d. A cylinder-snake of the family
Tortricidæ; a short-tail.
15. a. A long, swelling wave, moving with a steady sweep or roll; a heavy billow.
| 1829 Marryat F. Mildmay xx, A..sloop of war was caught in the rollers. 1855 Kingsley Westw. Ho! vi, Not even a roller broke the perfect stillness of the cove. 1897 F. T. Bullen Cruise Cachalot 90 The immense rollers setting in⁓shore..would soon carry a vessel up against the beetling crags. |
| fig. 1863 Q. Rev. CXIV. 567 The long rollers which followed the storm of the Reform Bill yet swelled heavily across the ecclesiastical waters. |
b. A low rising or undulation on land.
U.S.| 1849 N. Kingsley Diary 29 Nov. (1914) 88 The land on the left rises in rollers from 10 to 50 feet and the soil appears rich. |
† 16. a. Cant. (See
quot.)
Obs. rare—0.
| 1812 J. H. Vaux Flash Dict., Rollers, horse and foot patrole, who parade the roads round about London during the night for the prevention of robberies. |
b. U.S. slang. A policeman.
| 1964 N.Y. Times Mag. 23 Aug. 62/3 Rollers, police. 1967 ‘I. Slim’ in T. Kochman Rappin' & stylin' Out (1972) 388 The rollers cruised by in a squad car. 1973 C. & R. Milner Black Players v. 108 Look, for a roller (policeman) to come to this door—he's insane, he's gotta be a nut. |
17. a. A ship that rolls or rocks.
| 1890 Stevenson Lett. (1899) II. 185 The Janet is the worst roller I was ever aboard of. 1897 Punch 6 Nov. 207/2 Very few steamers in which I have..voyaged that have not been ‘rollers’. |
b. One who rolls, swings, or sways from side to side.
Holy Rollers: (see
quot. 1893). Also
attrib. and as
Roller.
| 1842 Southern Q. Rev. (New Orleans) I. 400 It is a new species of religion, which sprang up..contemporaneously with the enthusiasm of the ‘Holy Rollers’. 1891 Pall Mall G. 16 Nov. 1/3 All of them rolled from side to side like ducks on a common. In a great hall.. were fifty or sixty more of these rollers, smoking, laughing,..reading. 1893 Leland Mem. I. 300 When the Holy Spirit seized them..the Holy Rollers..rolled over and over on the floor. 1927 M. de la Roche Jalna v. 65 You'd make a good Methodist of the Holy Roller variety. 1928 Amer. Mercury Oct. 182/1 To the true Roller every word in his theological vocabulary..and every moral experience, no matter how trivial, is a symbol of forces whose presence inspires him to delirium. 1958 M. Argyle Relig. Behaviour iv. 34 The Baptists and other Evangelical groups were rather similar in 1850 to the Pentecostalists of today, and there are signs that the present Holy Rollers are becoming assimilated. 1961 C. McCullers Clock without Hands x. 198 A part-time preacher who was able to make his Holy Roller congregation talk in strange tongues. 1969 New Yorker 14 June 78/2 They sound like fire-and-brimstone preachers in Holy Roller churches. |
c. In baseball, a ball that rolls along the ground after being hit by the batter.
| 1880 Chicago Inter-Ocean 15 May 7/1 Flint sent a roller to Crane, and he touched the first batter on the way to second. 1949 Fargo (N. Dakota) Forum 23 July 8/8 Corcoran's roller, on which there was an error, enabled Erickson to count, making it 3 to 2. 1973 Tucson (Arizona) Daily Citizen 22 Aug. 57/6 Walslewski mishandled a slow roller by Burney. 1976 Billings (Montana) Gaz. 16 June 1-c/3 Martin beat out a slow roller over second base. |
d. Formerly, a machine used in the early stages of a pilot's training (see
quots.).
| 1917 J. R. McConnell Flying for France iv. 143 First of all, the [flying] student is put on what is called a roller. It is a low-powered machine with very small wings. It is strongly built to stand the rough wear it gets, and no matter how much one might try it could not leave the ground. 1929 Papers Mich. Acad. Sci., Arts & Lett. X. 319/1 Roller.., an aviators' training machine which ran along the ground. Just about ready to fly, but which could not quite rise. |
IV. 18. a. One who rolls up or forms into a roll or coil; one who compresses or shapes metal by passing it between cylinders or rolls.
| 1591 Percivall Sp. Dict., Embolvedor, a roller, a wrapper vp. 1793 Regal Rambler 76 The tall taylor, the six feet broad-shouldered roller of ribbands. 1832 H. Martineau Hill & Valley (1843) 83 They saw the roller and his catcher at work. 1871 Daily News 26 Sept., A meeting of all classes of ironworkers,..shinglers, rollers, and puddlers, was held. 1890 Melbourne Argus 20 Sept. 13/7 The ‘roller’ now, after first gently shaking the fleece to rid it of any dirt or adhering locks, turns back the neck. |
b. One who rolls a thing along.
rare—0.
| 1648 Hexham ii, Een Roller, a Roler, or a Trundler. |
c. dial. (See
quot. and
cf. roller v. 2.)
| 1892 P. H. Emerson Son of Fens 13 The rollers are women who roll barley into ridges or tie the wheat. |
d. A thief; one who steals from drunken persons; a prostitute,
esp. one who robs her customers.
Cf. jack-roller s.v. Jack n.1 34 a. Chiefly
N. Amer. slang.| 1915 N.Y. World Mag. 9 May 14/3 Roller, a pickpocket. 1935 Amer. Speech X. 14/1 Creeper, a prostitute who robs inebriated patrons. Modern roller. 1935 L. Bogan in P. Oliver Screening Blues (1968) vi. 230 I'm just a stomp⁓down roller and I like to strut my stuff. 1948 [see lush n.2 2]. 1973 Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 17 May 24/2 In addition to warning the public that rollers have been operating, the spokesman asked persons who are robbed to notify police. |
19. pl. Curl-papers, hair-curlers. Also
sing. Now
usu. a metal or plastic cylinder round which the hair is rolled.
| 1795 tr. C. P. Moritz's Trav. 87 In the morning, it is usual to walk out in a sort of negligèe [sic]..your hair not dressed, but merely rolled up in rollers, and in a frock and boots. 1799 Mrs. J. West Tale of Times I. 143, I will put my hair in rollers this very evening. 1881 Queen 12 Mar. (Advt.), The Parisian leather roller, for curling the fringe, 1s. the dozen. 1940 C. McCullers Heart is Lonely Hunter i. iii. 32 Her hair was done up in steel rollers. 1941–2 Sears, Roebuck Catal. 637/3 Bob Roller, a real aid in achieving the smooth, neat appearance of a well-groomed pompadour hair-do! Catches up all loose ends—..invisible when in hair. Makes neat, low rolls at the nape of your neck. Ibid. 637/4 Hair Rollers. Use these rayon and lastex tube rollettes to make those puffy, pompadour rolls at the front and the sides of your new hair-do. 1959 Woman 2 May 4/4 How do I keep my bouffant hair style looking just set? The secret lies in my home-made rollers—big, fat ones made from cotton wool wrapped round with paper hankies. 1960 Sunday Express 24 July 12/5 He was winding some of my hair on to a roller. Mr. Roger is my hair⁓dresser. 1971 New Scientist 19 Aug. 401/2 The inamorata..with hair in rollers, or hanging rat-tailed from the bath. 1977 P. Carter Under Goliath iii. 17 The women in pink rollers nattered on the doorsteps. |
20. A butterfly or moth which causes leaves to roll up (see
quots.).
| 1832 J. Rennie Consp. Butterfl. & M. 156 The Filbert Leaf Roller (Lozotænia Anellana, Stephens) appears [in]..July, but not common. Ibid., The Gooseberry Leaf Roller. |
21. A control in an aircraft for regulating roll.
| 1959 Hopkin & Thomas in Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. LXIII. 572/2 Roller, pitcher, yawer may well find general acceptance. 1961 Shell Aviation News Dec. 4/1 Instead of a stick,..we ought to have a motivator, or perhaps three motivators, namely a roller, a pitcher, and a yawer. |
V. attrib. and
Comb. 22. Attrib. with names of persons, as
roller-boy,
roller-coverer,
roller-joiner,
roller-maker,
roller-man, etc.
| 1896 Howells Impr. & Exp. 27 He became a *roller boy, and served long behind the press before he was promoted to..set type. |
| 1851 Census (1854) 140 *Roller-coverer. 1894 Labour Comm. Gloss., Roller-Coverer, a person who covers rollers for spinning purposes. |
| 1858 Simmonds Dict. Trade, *Roller-joiners, children employed in certain processes of the woollen manufacture. |
| Ibid., *Roller-maker, a manufacturer of cylinders of different kinds. |
| 1885 Census Instruct. Index 21 *Roller Man. 1893 Westm. Gaz. 24 July 2/7 A foreman roller-man in the employment of the South Wales Tin Plate Company. |
23. Attrib. with names of things:
a. In the senses ‘of or pertaining to a roller or rollers’, ‘having the form or movement of a roller’, ‘operating as or by means of rollers’, etc., as
roller-belt,
roller-head,
roller machine,
roller shelf.
See also Knight
Dict. Mech. for other examples.
| 1877 Raymond Statist. Mines & Mining 430 To prevent the *roller-attachment of the lever from striking the body of the trip-wheel. |
| 1967 E. Chambers Photolitho-Offset ix. 127 A positive *roller-belt transport system is provided accepting any film base from 0·002 to 0·075 in. thick without the use of leaders, hangers, clips, etc. |
| 1835 Ure Philos. Manuf. 168 Being rubbed..by a fluted cylinder called the *roller⁓bowl. |
| 1861 Chambers's Encycl. II. 512/2 The cloth..is first brought in contact with *roller brushes. |
| 1896 Godey's Mag. Apr. 375/2 A third has both *roller-chain and roller-sprocket. |
| 1884 F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. 207 *Roller Edges for Lever and Chronometer Escapements. |
| 1879 Lumberman's Gaz. Oct. 15 The abrogating of the old style of edging up on the log through the introduction of the *roller edger. |
| 1967 M. Chandler Ceramics in Mod. World ii. 68 A rotating jigger-tool or *roller-head, which completes the shaping of the back. |
| 1950 Chambers's Encycl. II. 788/1 In all printing processes, whether they use blocks, *roller machines or silk screens it is important to make use of special devices or expedients to ensure that the successive colour applications ‘register’ exactly. 1960 Farmer & Stockbreeder 22 Mar. (Suppl.) 8/2 The cost of running a mains-driven mower like the Ladybird roller-machine..works out at about 1d per hour. |
| 1835 Ure Philos. Manuf. 225 The *roller-pair..which receives the fine rovings from bobbins. |
| 1866 Tomlinson's Cycl. Usef. Arts II. 399/1 The notes are printed..by means of *roller presses worked by steam. |
| 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm II. 292 The corresponding end of the *roller-shaft. |
| 1958 T. Landau Encycl. Librarianship 273/1 *Roller shelves, large shelves for storing folios, etc., which rest on a series of small rollers. 1976 Gloss. Documentation Terms (B.S.I.) 57 Roller shelves, large shelves which rest on a series of rollers, designed for storing folios and other large volumes. Sometimes the volumes rest directly on the rollers. |
| 1878 Abney Photogr. (1881) 217 Warnerke's *roller slide is of necessity only applicable to sensitive tissue. |
b. In sense ‘fitted with, coiling up on, a roller’, as
roller-blind,
roller caption,
roller-curtain,
roller door,
roller-map,
roller reefing,
roller shade,
roller shutter, etc.
| 1833 Loudon Encycl. Archit. §673 But the chief [kinds] are *roller blinds, Venetian blinds, and wire blinds. 1909 Chambers's Jrnl. Nov. 767/1 Also the hideous, cumbersome, expensive concomitant, the roller-blind? 1956 Railway Mag. Nov. 735/1 A large inward-opening aluminium door on which is mounted the roller-blind route indicator. 1973 Times 23 Mar. 13/5 In theory a roller-blind is a simple thing to make. |
| 1960 D. Wilson in Television Playwright 259 We move in towards the painted Dove on the fuselage and hold for the *roller caption. |
| 1904 Westm. Gaz. 4 Jan. 9/1 All theatres must be provided with steel *roller-curtains. |
| 1976 Star (Sheffield) 26 Nov., The man walked up to the lorry..pushed up the *roller door and walked off with two cartons of..cigarettes. |
| 1897 Kipling Capt. Cour. 199 He was looking earnestly at the vast *roller-map of America. |
| 1924 Trans. Newcomen Soc. 1922–3 III. 47 John Bywater (No. 2782 of 1804) patented a *roller reefing gear in which a hit-and-miss arrangement allowed the sweeps to be reefed or unreefed from inside the mill. 1945 Archit. Rev. XCVIII. 72/2 A further step forward was the invention, by Captain Stephen Hooper in 1789, of the ‘roller reefing sail’. 1962 Listener 11 Jan. 85/3 Water-skiing with roaring speed-boats, and roller-reefing gear on yachts. 1976 Yachts & Yachting 20 Aug. 385/3 (Advt.), Proctor alloy spars, roller reefing, spinnaker and jib winches. |
| 1961 Webster, *Roller shade. 1962 Amer. Speech XXXVII. 173 The typically Southern coast expressions lightwood..for ‘kindling wood’, and curtain for ‘roller shade’. |
| 1937 Times British Motor Number 13 Apr. p. vi/3 There are more *roller shutters for vans instead of hinged doors, which are apt to swing out. 1938 Archit. Rev. LXXXIII. 81 Access to the window is by means of a roller shutter. 1978 Cornish Guardian 27 Apr. 5/3 (Advt.), Roller shutter garage doors. |
c. In sense 4 c, as
roller-box,
roller-composition,
roller-mould,
roller-stock, etc.
| 1875 Knight Dict. Mech. 1964/1. 1888 Jacobi Printer's Vocab. 114. |
d. In sense 6, as
roller-arm,
roller-frame,
roller-movement,
roller-peg. Also
roller-board.
| 1852 Seidel Organ 63 Instead of the roller-board, there is in some organs a roller-frame. 1881 C. A. Edwards Organs 73 The roller movement..requires a number of rollers in its construction. 1881 W. E. Dickson Organ-Build. viii. 106 Iron roller-arms have some great advantages. |
24. a. Objective, as
roller-carrier,
roller-carrying adj.,
roller-making.
| 1875 Knight Dict. Mech. 1799/2 The arm m s is the roller-carrier, which swings on a pivot. 1887 Daily News 21 Oct. 3/5 My first phonograph consisted simply of a roller-carrying foil. 1888 Encycl. Brit. XXIII. 708/1 Since then glycerin has been introduced for roller making. |
b. Instrumental, as
roller-drying,
roller-grinding,
roller levelling,
roller-milling,
roller painting,
roller printing,
roller-spinning; also
roller-dried,
roller-driven,
roller-made,
roller-milled adjs.;
roller-dry,
roller-paint,
roller-print vbs.| 1939 Jrnl. Dairy Res. X. 202 *Roller-dried milk cannot be reconstituted so completely as spray-dried milk. |
| 1932 Bull. Hannah Dairy Res. Inst. No. 3. 123 This milk was *roller-dried. 1950 J. G. Davis Dict. Dairying 486 Whey from cheese or acid casein manufacture can be successfully roller dried after neutralisation with calcium hydroxide. |
| 1962 J. T. Marsh Self-Smoothing Fabrics xi. 174 In general, festoon chambers were very commonly employed until after World War II, when *roller-driven machines became more popular, particularly those with independent drive for each roller. |
| 1932 Bull. Hannah Dairy Res. Inst. No. 3. 119 Broadly speaking, the successful commercial processes [for the manufacture of milk powder] may be reduced to three main types:—(1) *Roller-drying, (2) Spray-drying, (3) Dough-drying. 1939 Jrnl. Dairy Res. X. 202 The great heat to which milk is exposed in roller drying. |
| 1879 Encycl. Brit. IX. 344/2 The various systems of *roller grinding. |
| 1933 Jrnl. Iron & Steel Inst. CXXVII. 593 In order to eliminate these strains, the sheets are generally passed through *roller levelling machines just prior to the stamping operation. 1973 J. G. Tweeddale Materials Technol. II. iv. 97 Roller-levelling is a means for producing a reasonably-straight flat product from a long prismatic shape. The principle involves ‘snaking’ the section through a series of offset rolls which bend the section plastically, alternately in opposite directions. Starting first with a fairly severe bend and then with progressively less severe bends until the section is almost perfectly straight... The alternate bending irons out kinks and plastic flow difference left in the material from previous operations. |
| 1892 Daily News 13 Sept. 5/4 Millers..say that there is less nutriment in *roller-made flour. |
| 1879 Encycl. Brit. IX. 344/2 *Roller milling or crushing. 1888 Powles tr. Kick's Flour Manuf. 151 Not..that with roller milling larger bran is made than with stones. |
| 1960 Times 12 Dec. 15/3 Having *roller-painted all her rooms herself. |
| 1959 House & Garden July 94/3 *Roller painting, with all its attendant perils of upsetting the paint tray. |
| 1959 Manch. Guardian 2 July 4/1 All London bus tickets were *roller-printed by the conductors. |
| 1911 Encycl. Brit. XXVI. 696/2 In its simplest form the *roller-printing machine consists of a strong cast iron cylinder mounted in adjustable bearings capable of sliding up and down slots in the sides of the rigid iron framework. 1936 [see hand block s.v. hand n. 65]. 1963 A. J. Hall Textile Sci. iv. 203 Roller printing is the most convenient and satisfactory method of printing long ‘runs’ of a multi-coloured pattern on fabric. 1975 Oxf. Compan. Decorative Arts 281/1 Copper-plate printing replaced block printing in 1781 and roller printing followed shortly after. |
| a 1854 Rickards in M{supc}Culloch Acc. Brit. Empire (ed. 4) I. 701 The wonderful discoveries.., such as *roller-spinning, the jenny, the carding-machine. |
c. Parasynthetic, as
roller-bearinged adj.| 1922 Encycl. Brit. XXX. 36/2 Connecting-rods of rotary and radial engines consist usually of one master⁓rod, ball or roller-bearinged [etc.]. |
25. Special combs., as
roller arena, a roller-skating rink;
roller bandage,
= sense 10;
roller-beam, part of a drawing-frame for cotton;
roller bearing, a bearing in which the journal is free to rotate round a ring of metal rollers;
roller bit Oil Industry, a drilling bit in which the cutting teeth are on rotating conical or circular cutters;
roller-boiling,
= roll-boiling (see
roll n.1 14 c);
roller-bolt, part of the splinter-bar of a carriage, serving also as a step;
roller box, a box containing rollers;
spec. (
a) one containing drawing-rolls in a cotton-spinning machine; (
b) (see
quot. 1967);
roller-chair,
= rolling-chair;
roller-cloth = roller-towel;
roller coaster, a kind of switchback railway at an amusement park; also
transf.,
fig., and
attrib.; hence as
v. intr.; so
roller-coasting; hence (as back-formation)
roller-coast vb. trans. and
intr.;
roller-coat v. trans., to apply with a roller (sense 5 b);
roller derby,
Roller Derby, a name for a type of speed-skating competition on roller-skates, now one with specified periods during which skaters can physically assist their own team members and impede opponents; such a competition;
roller disco, a discothèque at which the dancers wear roller-skates; disco-dancing on roller-skates;
roller drier, an apparatus in which milk is dried on the surface of one or more heated rollers, in the manufacture of milk powder;
roller hearth furnace (see
quot. 1970);
roller hockey, a type of hockey played on roller-skates;
= roller-polo;
roller-mill, a mill in which the grinding is done by rollers; hence
roller-miller;
roller polo = rink polo s.v. polo 2;
roller print, (
a) a fabric with a design produced by roller-printing; (
b) a roller for printing or impressing a design;
roller-shop, the part of an iron-works where the metal is rolled;
roller steady Engin. [
steady n. 2 b], a device which grips between rollers the article being turned on a lathe;
roller-top,
= roll-top n. (also
attrib.);
roller-towel, a towel running on a roller;
roller-towelling, a type of cloth used for roller-towels;
roller tube Biol., a tube which is continually rotated so as to moisten with nutrient solution the cells or tissue being grown in it;
freq. attrib.;
roller-type a., of a kind that has the form or movement of a roller.
| 1971 Islander (Victoria, B.C.) 18 July 11/1 A large assemblage was at the *roller arena to see the sights. |
| 1885 Buck's Ref. Hand-bk. Med. Sci. I. 470 The usual form of bandage is what is known as a ‘*roller-bandage’. |
| 1835 Ure Philos. Manuf. 118 The strong *roller-beam, on which are fixed several such drawing-heads. |
| 1857 J. B. Pascal Brit. Pat. 465 4 Figure 3 is an elevation of the *roller bearing of the axis. 1884 Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl., Roller Bearing. 1886 Bicycling News 6 Aug. 664/1 Bicycle, Singer's roller bearings. 1915 V. W. Pagé Model T Ford Car iii. 117 The differential mechanism and the wheel end of the axle utilize roller bearings. 1958 Times Rev. Industry Aug. 32/1 The spindle..runs in pre-loaded taper roller bearings. 1970 B. Pugh Pract. Lubrication v. 45 An advantage of..roller bearings in preference to sleeve bearings is that they require the minimum of maintenance. |
| 1918 Oil Weekly 27 July 25 (Advt.), Caddo bits will make more hole in hard rock for any given amount of money, than any other *roller bit on the market. 1924 L. C. Uren Textbk. Petroleum Production Engin. vi. 152 The Reed roller bit..is equipped with eight disc-shaped cutters having teeth milled around their circumference and mounted in a massive steel frame. 1966 McGraw-Hill Encycl. Sci. & Technol. II. 295/2 Penetration is by rotation of drill bits of two types: (1) roller bits, which have rolling cutters with projecting hard teeth; and (2) drag bits, with fixed chisel-type hard cutting edges. |
| 1879 Cassell's Techn. Educ. IV. 376/1 This process, called ‘*roller boiling’.., effected a wonderful improvement on the finish. |
| 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 1294 Two splinter-bars, with their *roller⁓bolts, for connecting the traces of the harness. 1851 ‘Nimrod’ The Road 16 He placed his right foot on the roller-bolt,—i.e., the last step but one to the box. |
| 1888 C. T. Jacobi Printers' Vocab. 113 *Roller box, the receptacle in which rollers are kept to protect them from dust, etc. 1902 T. Thornley Cotton Combing Machines iii. 85 In times past a good deal of trouble has arisen in connection with the quadrant and roller box system. 1950 A. W. Judge Centre, Capstan & Automatic Lathes II. v. 204 Fig. 242 shows a roller box tool..in operation on a turret automatic. 1967 J. L. & G. H. F. Nayler Dict. Mech. Engin. 299 Roller box, a cutting tool-holder used on capstan lathes and automatic lathes. The box holds a cutting tool and two rollers positioned so that part of the reaction force from the cutting tool is taken by the rollers, thus preventing distortion of the work. 1975 Bram & Downs Manuf. Technol. v. 135 Various methods are used to set up the roller box, the one chosen depending on whether or not the work has been previously machined. |
| 1897 Westm. Gaz. 21 June 7/1 She..was then placed in her *roller chair and wheeled out. |
| 1862 ‘G. Hamilton’ Country Living 11, I become acquainted..with the modus operandi of ‘*roller-cloths’. 1877 E. S. Ward Story of Avis 224 A roller-cloth would do, dear. |
| 1973 Nation Rev. (Melbourne) 31 Aug. 1465/1 It is a ritual that defies time..and the giant forces that *roller⁓coast us at increasing velocity to some eerie destination. 1978 Chatelaine (Canada) Dec. 14/2 Canada's rates of inflation and cost of living are roller-coasting. |
| 1888 Pall Mall G. 11 Sept. 4/2 The rage for rapid transit through the air,..by tobogganing, switchbacks, or *roller-coasters. 1903 Boston Transcript 7 Oct. 16 The cable cars run over routes that would shame a Coney Island roller coaster. 1931 [see jitter n. 1]. 1945 J. Steinbeck Cannery Row xvi. 100 Phyllis Mae had broken her leg getting out of the roller coaster. 1949 Sun (Baltimore) 1 July 28/5 Maryland found herself saddled with a system of ‘roller coaster’ roads. 1957 N. Frye Sound & Poetry p. xx, Speeded-up metrical rhythms, such as Swinburne's roller-coaster anapests, are unmusical. 1961 John o' London's 6 July 21/1 The ever-accelerating roller-coaster of science. 1962 Wodehouse Service with Smile vii. 116 Her emotions were somewhat similar to those of a nervous passenger on a roller coaster at an amusement park who when it is too late to get off feels the contraption gathering speed beneath him. 1965 L. R. Hubbard Scientology Abridged Dict. 26 A person ‘roller coasters’, i.e., gets better, then worse, etc., only when connected to a Suppressive Person or Group, and in order to cease roller coastering must receive processing intended to handle such. 1967 A. West in Coast to Coast 1965–66 214 They entered [the restaurant] through an underwater tunnel that began just next to the roller-coaster ticket office. 1968 Surfer Mag. Jan. 53/2 Martinson attempts a roller coaster down an Arpoador wave. 1969 Observer 3 Aug. 35/1 He may ‘rollercoaster’, bursting through a breaking wave, turning and bouncing down through the foam. 1970 Studies in English (Univ. Cape Town) I. 27 Yet another kind of wave is the rollercoaster... A rollercoaster wave is one that does not break continuously from one end to the other, but breaks in sections all along its length, thus offering the surfer a tricky, ‘up and down’ ride. 1971 G. G. Luce Body Time v. 170 A physician who knew his patient's time print, the shape of his temperature and activity-rest cycle, and who knew where his patient was on this daily roller coaster, might have much less trouble interpreting the results of clinic tests. 1975 New Yorker 21 Apr. 36/1 She lost John—left him the way popcorn flies out of the bag on the roller coaster. 1977 Time 24 Jan. 14/2 Private sterling deposits have fluctuated little, while official deposits have roller-coastered. |
| 1887 Contemp. Rev. May 733 Here are boating, fishing,..*roller-coasting..for boys. 1960 R. W. Marks Dymaxion World of B. Fuller 27/2 Ducks, however, are anatomically unfitted for such aerial roller coasting. 1968 W. Warwick Surfriding in N.Z. p. iv, Roller coasting, one way of dropping and climbing on a wave. |
| 1961 Webster, *Roller-coat vt. 1971 Engineering Apr. 61/2 Protectalac..can be brushed, sprayed, roller or curtain coated. 1976 Broadcast 29 Mar. 8/3 An epoxy/polyurethane material..was then roller-coated on to the..floor space. |
| [1935 Chicago Tribune 13 Aug. 19/6 A 3000 mile roller skating derby will open at noon today when 50 skaters begin the long grind inside the main hall of the Coliseum.] 1936 N.Y. Times 11 Sept. 34/4 The *Roller Derby, first of the kind to be seen in New York, and in which fourteen teams of skaters composed of men and girls are entered, got well under way at the Hippodrome last night... The derby is a mythical race from Salt Lake City to New York. 1945 Life 21 May 81/1 The Chicago Coliseum fairly whistled with roller skates. The occasion was the tenth annual Roller Derby. 1972 Guardian 17 Feb. 10/1 A documentary study of a young man..trying to become a Roller Derby star..practising an amalgam of speed-skating and all-in wrestling. 1975 R. Hoban Turtle Diary xxv. 115 She was American... She'd..been a rodeo rider, done roller derbies, wrestled. 1979 Tucson Mag. Apr. 38/1 However, if you didn't know Tucson is the only city in America where roller derby is played on radials. |
| 1978 S. Boorstin Keep on Rollin' 9/2 Skaters pursuing their passion..under the strobe lights of a *roller disco. 1984 S. Townsend Growing Pains A. Mole 54 Then the roller disco started and she sped off to do wild disco dancing on her skates. |
| 1932 Bull. Hannah Dairy Res. Inst. No. 4. 61 The powder obtained from the standard *roller drier is not a high class product. 1963 A. W. Farrall Engin. for Dairy & Food Products xiv. 410 The drum dryer, often called roller dryer. |
| 1958 Engineering 11 Apr. 472/2 The mesh-belt type of furnace is satisfactory for strip of relatively low melting point material such as copper, but *roller-hearth or walking beam furnaces may be required for..iron or nickel. 1970 Gloss. Industr. Furnace Terms (B.S.I.) 15 Roller hearth furnace, a furnace in which the charge is carried forward on driven alloy steel or refractory rollers. |
| 1926 Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 9 Jan. 12/4 *Roller Hockey League entries close today. 1975 Oxf. Compan. Sports & Games 845/1 The roller hockey stick is similar in shape to a field hockey stick but flat on both sides of the blade. |
| 1875 Knight Dict. Mech. 1964/1 *Roller-mill. 1882 Lancet 10 June 967 To produce by means of roller mills the largest bulk of white flour from a given bulk of corn. |
| 1892 Daily News 13 Sept. 5/4 Even *roller millers, however, have not got it all their own way. |
| 1895 Spalding's Official Roller Polo Guide for 1896 5 New England is now the only section in which *roller polo rages. |
| 1968 J. Ironside Fashion Alphabet 246 *Roller print: the colours for the design are applied directly to the cloth. 1969 E. H. Pinto Treen 100 Butter prints are of five distinct types and many patterns and sizes. The types are..(5) roller prints. |
| 1890 W. J. Gordon Foundry 111 In the same range as the *roller-shop is the laboratory. |
| 1920 J. G. Horner Turret Lathe Practice ii. 20 *Roller steadies were found essential at the time that attempts were being made to utilise the high-speed steel to the greatest advantage in turret practice. 1964 S. Crawford Basic Engin. Processes v. 140 Many jobs require a special form on their end face... This can readily be produced with a roller steady ending tool which consists of two hardened-steel rollers which contact the finished diameter of the work and are closely followed by a form tool which produces the desired shape on the end of the component. 1975 Bram & Downs Manuf. Technol. v. 135 The roller-steady turning tool-holder has two rollers incorporated into the design. |
| 1897 Kipling Capt. Cour. 198 The father..laid his head down on the *roller-top of the shut desk. 1897 Westm. Gaz. 15 Jan. 9/2 Roller-top desks..sell in Chemnitz for {pstlg}14. |
| 1845 Knickerbocker XXV. 444 Beside the window was the linen *roller-towel. 1862 Mrs. H. Wood Mrs. Hallib. xix, Patience dried her hands upon the *roller⁓towel. 1980 D. Williams Murder for Treasure v. 46 A copious length of roller towel unhitched from its cabinet. |
| 1881 C. C. Harrison Woman's Handiwork i. 48 Among other washing fabrics used in art needlework are crash, *roller⁓towelling, bamboo-cloth, [etc.]. 1932 D. C. Minter Mod. Needlecraft 246/2 Roller towelling or Russian crash or zephyr. |
| 1933 Amer. Jrnl. Cancer XVII. 753 With the *roller tube method these cells can be allowed to re⁓implant themselves in another portion of the tube. 1936 Ibid. XXVII. 49 Roller tubes of different types have been used with good results. 1947 Anat. Rec. XCIX. 157 We cultured the hearts of 10-day-old chick embryos and grew them in test tubes in a roller-tube apparatus. 1964 M. Hynes Med. Bacteriol. (ed. 8) xxiv. 353 An analogy to solid bacterial media was first provided by the roller⁓tube technique of tissue culture. Fragments of tissue are embedded in plasma clot in the tube, and continually moistened with culture medium by rotating the tube. Sheets of cells grow out from the tissue inoculum. |
| 1960 Farmer & Stockbreeder 1 Mar. 72/1 For moving, the washer is mounted on *roller-type wheels. 1964 S. Crawford Basic Engin. Processes xiv. 304 Similar in general principle to the above, but having roller-type anvils. |
Add:
[I.] [4.] e. The platen of a typewriter (see
platen n. 3 b);
orig., any of the cylinders (including the platen) which served to hold and move the paper.
| 1880 U.S. Pat. 224, 183 3 Feb. 1/1 The construction of the key-levers of the rollers for holding the paper. 1888 J. Harrison Man. Remington Standard Typewriter 18 On top of the typewriter are two rollers. The larger one is covered with hardened india-rubber, the smaller is of wood. 1920 H. Etheridge Dict. Typewriting 181 The platen (or cylinder) of a typewriter is the large roller in the centre of the carriage. 1959 Sears, Roebuck Catal. Spring & Summer 837/2 You can't buy a better portable [typewriter]... Removable roller for easy, thorough cleaning. 1980 J. Thomson Alibi in Time vi. 72 On the front stood a typewriter, a half-completed page still in the roller. |
▪ II. roller, n.2 Ornith. (
ˈrəʊlə(r))
[a. G. roller, f. rollen to roll. Hence also F. rollier in sense 1.] 1. An insessorial coracoid bird (usually the common roller,
Coracias garrulus), having the form of a crow, and brilliant plumage.
The original source appears to be Gesner
Hist. Anim. iii.
Aves (1604) 702, who says the bird was so called at Strasburg (
Argentoratum) ‘per onomatopœiam’. Later writers have variously explained the name as referring to a habit of rolling about in the air, or of rolling over sticks and stones in seeking food. A number of varieties, as
Angola,
Indian,
black,
crimson, etc., are enumerated in Shaw's
Gen. Zool. (1809) VII. ii. 387 ff.
| [1663 P. Skippon Journ. Low C. 21 Aug., We..kill'd a curious bird call'd Rollar Argentoratensis, of the bigness of a dove, and of a blue colour.] 1678 Ray tr. Willughby's Ornith. 132, I am verily perswaded that this bird is no other than the Strasburgh Roller. 1752 Hill Hist. Anim. 388 The Corvus, with a blood-red back, a green tail, and black wings, the Roller... I think it the most beautiful of all European birds. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) V. 242 The Roller..may be distinguished from all others by a sort of naked tubercles or warts near the eyes, which still farther contribute to encrease its beauty. 1825 Vigors & Horsfield in Trans. Linn. Soc. XV. 202 This bird [Eurystomus orientalis]..was originally placed by Linnæus among the Rollers. 1873 Tristram Moab xv. 294 In their flight these ravens often gambolled like the roller, dipping perpendicularly and performing somersaults in the air. 1893 F. C. Selous Trav. S.E. Africa 48 A pair of those rare and beautiful rollers (Coracias spatulatus)..came and perched upon the tree. |
| attrib. 1855 Kingsley Glaucus (1878) 29 The blue and green Roller-birds, walking behind the plough. |
b. Applied to other birds (see
quots.).
| 1752 Hill Hist. Anim. 503 The grey Ampelis, with the head variegated with black, the Roller. This is of the size of the common black-bird. 1848 Gould Birds Austr. II. pl. 17 Eurystomus Australis,..Australian Roller. 1869 Wallace Malay Archip. 42, I was rewarded by finding a splendid deep blue roller (Eurystomus azureus). |
2. A variety of canary, remarkable for rolling or trilling in song.
| 1884 R. L. Wallace Canary Bk., The most valued of all [German canaries] are the variety known by the name of the Hartz Mountain Rollers. |
▪ III. ˈroller, n.3 Oxford slang. = roll-call n.| 1883 Oxford Review 26 April 345/1 Up to this time a nominal five, a practical four, and a possible three ‘rollers’ would suffice. |
▪ IV. ˈroller, v. [f. roller n.1] 1. trans. To roll; to press or pass between rolls.
| 1827 Patents in Ann. Reg. 534/2 Machinery for rolling or rollering wool from the carding engine. |
2. dial. To rake
up (hay) into rows.
| c 1830 Morton Glouc. Farm Rep. 15 in L.U.K., Husb. III, When the hay-making machine has done its work, the hay is hatched or rollered up, as it is called. Ibid., When the field is all hatched or rollered, people with forks make up the hatches into cocks. 1893 Dartnell & Goddard Wilts. Words 77 Hay is ‘put in rollers’, or ‘rollered up’. |