# rock
## English
### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ɹɒk/
* (General American) enPR: rŏk, IPA: /ɹɑk/
* Audio (US):(file)
* (General Australian) IPA: /ɹɔk/
* Homophones: roc, rawk
* Rhymes: -ɒk

### Etymology 1

From Middle English rocke, rokke (“rock formation”), from Old English *rocc (“rock”), as in Old English stānrocc (“high stone rock, peak, obelisk”), and also later from Anglo-Norman roque, (compare Modern French roc, roche, rocher), from Medieval Latin rocca (attested 767), of uncertain origin, sometimes said to be of Celtic (in particular, perhaps Gaulish) origin (compare Breton roc'h). Related also to Middle Low German rocke (“rock ledge”). One suggestion is that it derives from Vulgar Latin *rupica, from rupes (compare rupico).

#### Noun

rock (countable and uncountable, plural rocks)
* A formation of minerals, specifically:
** (uncountable) The naturally occurring aggregate of solid mineral matter that constitutes a significant part of the earth's crust.
*** 2013 June 29, “High and wet”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, page 28:Floods in northern India, mostly in the small state of Uttarakhand, have wrought disaster on an enormous scale. […] Rock-filled torrents smashed vehicles and homes, burying victims under rubble and sludge.
    The face of the cliff is solid rock.
** A mass of stone projecting out of the ground or water.
    The ship crashed on the rocks.
** (chiefly UK, Ireland) A boulder or large stone; or (US, Canada) a smaller stone; a pebble.
    Some fool has thrown a rock through my window.
** (geology) Any natural material with a distinctive composition of minerals.
** (slang) A precious stone or gem, especially a diamond.
    Look at the size of that rock on her finger!
*** 1997, “Mo Money Mo Problems”, in Life After Death, performed by The Notorious B.I.G. ft. Ma$e and Diddy:I call all the shots, rip all the spots / Rock all the rocks, cop all the drops
* A large hill or island having no vegetation.
    Pearl Rock near Cape Cod is so named because the morning sun makes it gleam like a pearl.
* (figuratively) Something that is strong, stable, and dependable; a person who provides security or support to another.
** 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 16:18:And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
** 1991, Robert Harling and Andrew Bergman, Soapdish, Paramount Pictures,
    Celeste Talbert: She is my rock, my right hand.
* A lump or cube of ice.
    I'll have a whisky on the rocks, please.
* (British, uncountable) A type of confectionery made from sugar in the shape of a stick, traditionally having some text running through its length.
    While we're in Brighton, let's get a stick of rock!
* (US, slang) A crystallized lump of crack cocaine.
    Synonyms: crack rock, candy
** 1995, “Dear Mama”, in Me Against the World, performed by 2Pac:I ain't guilty, ‘cause even though I sell rocks / It feels good puttin' money in your mailbox
** 2014, Russell Brand, “Prologue”, in Revolution, →ISBN, page xiii:When I necked five-quid bottles of vodka, I did not read the label. When I scored rocks and bags off tumbleweed hobos blowing through the no-man's-land of Hackney estates, I conducted no litmus test.
* (US, slang) An unintelligent person, especially one who repeats mistakes.
* (South Africa, slang, derogatory) An Afrikaner.
* (US poker slang) An extremely conservative player who is willing to play only the very strongest hands.
* Any of several fish:
** The striped bass.
** The huss or rock salmon.
    We ordered rock and chips to take away.
* (US, basketball, slang) A basketball.
    Yo homie, pass the rock!
** 2021 July 14, A. A. Dowd, “Space Jam: A New Legacy is one big, witless commercial for Warner Bros. properties”, in The A.V. Club‎:It [the original Space Jam limped to 88 minutes with detours into Jordan’s swanky mansion and forced its cartoon cavalry to compete for screen time against Wayne Knight and a bunch of basketball players who delivered their lines much less confidently than they put the rock through the net.
* (US, baseball, slang) A mistake.
** 2014, Joe Morgan, Richard Lally, Baseball For Dummies, page 227:Now, you should never make the last out of an inning at third, and when a player does it, everyone knows he pulled a rock.
* (curling) Synonym of stone.
* (rock paper scissors) A closed hand (a handshape resembling a rock), that beats scissors and loses to paper. It beats lizard and loses to Spock in rock-paper-scissors-lizard-Spock.
* (informal, cricket) A cricket ball, especially a new one that has not been softened by use
* (CB radio slang) A crystal used to control the radio frequency.
** 1980, Joseph J. Carr, The Complete Handbook of Radio Receivers, page 199:It was easily possible to double the cost of a CB rig just by adding all of the "rocks" necessary to do the job.

##### Synonyms

* (natural mineral aggregate): stone
* (projecting mass of rock): cliff
* (boulder or large stone): boulder, pebble, stone
* (something strong, stable, and dependable): foundation, support
* (precious stone or gem): gem, diamond
* (lump of ice): ice, ice cube
* (crystallized lump of crack cocaine): crack
* (Afrikaner): Afrikaner
* bedrock

##### Hyponyms

* (geology): country rock, ingenious rock

##### Derived terms

* abyssal rock
* alum rock, Alum Rock
* Ayers Rock
* azoic rock
* bedrock
* between a rock and a hard place
* Blackhall Rocks
* Black Rock
* cap rock
* Carvel Rock
* Castle Rock, Castlerock
* Chimney Rock
* cock of the rock, cock-of-the-rock (Rupicolinae spp.)
* dolomite rock
* duck on a rock
* dumb as a box of rocks
* dumb as a rock
* dumb as rocks
* dumber than a box of rocks
* dumber than a rock
* dyke-rock
* ear rocks
* Edinburgh rock
* Farallon Rock
* Flat Rock
* fly like a rock
* get one's rocks off
* Gibraltar rock
* gray rock method, grey rock method
* hard as a rock
* hit the rock, hit the rocks
* hit the rocks
* honeycomb rock
* host rock
* igneous rock
* Indian paint rock
* kick rocks
* like a cow on a flat rock
* like a cow pissing on a flat rock
* Little Rock
* live under a rock
* living rock
* logging rock
* Long Rock, Longrock
* look under rocks
* mantle rock
* metamorphic rock
* moon rock
* ninja rock
* on the rocks
* painting rocks
* Paint Rock
* paint rock
* Pawnee Rock
* pet rock
* Plymouth Rock
* pyroclastic rock
* Red Rock
* rock-alum, rock alum
* rock and rye
* rock ape (Macaca sylvanus)
* rock armour, rock armor
* rock art
* rock badger (Procavia capensis)
* rock barnacle (Semibalanus balanoides)
* rock bass (Ambloplites spp.)
* rock blenny (Xiphister mucosus)
* rock borer (Hiatella spp.)
* rock bottom
* rock-bound, rockbound
* rock brake
* rock broom (Genista sagittalis subsp. delphinensis)
* rock bun, rockbun
* rock bunting (Emberiza cia)
* rockburst
* rock bush quail (Perdicula argoondah)
* rock butter
* rock cake
* rock cam
* rock candy
* rock catchfly (Silene caroliniana)
* rock catfish (Austroglanis sclateri)
* rock cavy (Kerodon rupestris)
* rock cedar (Juniperus ashei)
* rock centaury (Centaurium beyrichii)
* rock chat
* rock chestnut oak (Quercus prinus)
* rock chuck (Marmota flaviventris)
* rock climber
* rock climbing
* rock club moss (Selaginella rupestris)
* rock cocaine
* rock cockle (Leukoma staminea)
* rock cock (Rupicola rupicola, Rupicola peruviana)
* rock cod (Lotella rhacina)
* rock conure (Pyrrhura rupicola)
* rock cork
* rock cormorant (Phalacrocorax magellanicus)
* Rock County
* rock crab
* rock cranberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea)
* rock crawler (Grylloblattidae)
* Rock Creek
* rockcress (Brassicaceae: Arabis, Arabidopsis, Boechera spp.)
* rockcrusher
* rock crystal
* rock cycle
* rock dassie (Procavia capensis)
* rock dormouse (Graphiurus platyops)
* rock dots, röck döts
* rock dove (Columba livia)
* rock drill
* rock duck (Histrionicus histrionicus)
* rock-dumb
* rock dust
* rock eagle-owl (Bubo bengalensis)
* rock eel (Pholidae spp; Xiphister mucosus)
* rock elegant (Neophema petrophila)
* rock elm (Ulmus thomasii)
* Rock English
* rockery
* rock face
* rock falcon
* rockfall, rock fall
* Rock Falls
* rock fern
* Rock Ferry
* rock fever
* rockfill
* rock firefinch (Lagonosticta sanguinodorsalis)
* rockfish
* rock flour
* rock flower (Crossosoma spp.)
* rock formation
* rockfowl (Picathartes spp.)
* rock frog
* rock garden
* rock geranium (Heuchera spp.)
* rock glacier
* rock glass
* rock goat (Capra spp.)
* rock goby (Gobius paganellus)
* rock goldenrod (Solidago pumila)
* rock goose (Chloephaga hybrida)
* rock grape
* rock greenling (Hexagrammos decagrammus)
* rock grouper (Mycteroperca venenosa)
* rock grouse
* rock guano
* rock guenon (Erythrocebus patas)
* rock gunnel (Pholis gunnellus)
* rock gym
* rock happy
* rock-hard, rock hard
* rock hare (Pronolagus)
* rock hawk (Falco columbarius)
* rock herring
* rock hind (Epinephelus adscensionis)
* rockhole
* rockhopper, rockhopper penguin (Eudyptes spp.)
* rock horned lizard (Phrynosoma ditmarsi)
* rock hound
* rock house
* rock hyrax (Procavia capensis)
* rock iguana (Cyclura)
* rockish
* Rock Island
* rock jasmine (Androsace)
* rock jock
* rock-jumper, rockjumper (Chaetops spp.)
* rock kangaroo (Petrogale spp.)
* rock kelp (Fucales spp.)
* rock kestrel (Falco rupicolus)
* rock lark (Anthus petrosus)
* rock larkspur (Delphinium tricorne)
* rockless
* rock licker
* rocklike
* rock-like
* rock lily
* rockling
* rock lizard
* rock lobster (Palinuridae)
* rock louse (Deto marina)
* rock madwort
* rock manakin (Pyrrhura rupicola)
* rock maple (Acer saccharum)
* rock martin (Ptyonoprogne fuligula)
* rock mechanics
* rockmelon (Cucumis melo subsp. reticulatus)
* rock milk
* rock moss (Ochrolechia tartarea)
* rock mouse (Petromyscus collinus)
* rock mulching
* rockness
* Rock of Ages
* Rock of Gibraltar
* rock oil
* rock opossum (Petrogale xanthopus)
* rock ousel (Turdus torquatus)
* rock oyster (Saccostrea spp.)
* rock paper scissors
* rock parakeet (Pyrrhura rupicola)
* rock parrot (Neophema petrophila)
* rock partridge (Alectoris graeca)
* rock penstemon (Penstemon rupicola)
* rock peppler (Polytelis anthopeplus)
* rock petronia (Petronia petronia)
* rock pigeon (Columba livia)
* rockpile
* rock pine (Orostachys japonica)
* rock pink (Talinum calycinum)
* rock pipit (Anthus petrosus)
* rock plant (lithophyte)
* rock plover
* rock pocket mouse (Chaetodipus intermedius)
* rock poison
* rock polypody (Polypodium virgianum)
* rockpool
* Rock Port
* rock pratincole (Glareola nuchalis)
* rock prickleback (Xiphister mucosus)
* rock ptarmigan (Lagopus muta)
* rock purslane (Calandrinia)
* rock python (Python spp.)
* Rock Quarry
* rock rabbit (Procavia capensis)
* Rock Rapids
* rock rat (Petromys typicus)
* rock rattlesnake (Crotalus spp.)
* rock record
* rock-ribbed
* rock ringtail possum (Petropseudes dahli)
* rockrose
* rock ruby
* Rock Run
* rock salmon
* rock salt
* rock samphire (Crithmum maritimum)
* rock sandpiper (Calidris ptilocnemis)
* rock sandwort (Arenaria stricta)
* rock saxifrage (Saxifraga virginiensis)
* rockscape
* rock scorpion
* rock sea bass (Centropristis philadelphica)
* rock sea lavender (Limonium binervosum)
* rock seal (Phoca vitulina)
* rock sequence
* rocks for jocks
* rocks glass
* rock shag (Phalacrocorax magellanicus)
* rock shandy
* rock shed
* rock shell (Muricidae spp.)
* rock shelter
* rock shrike (Monticola spp.)
* rock shrimp (Sicyonia spp.)
* rocks in one's head
* rock skipper (Staurois latopalmatus)
* rock slide
* rock snail (Codringtonia codringtonii)
* rock snake
* rock snipe (Calidris maritima)
* rock snot (Didymosphenia geminata)
* rock soap
* rock soapwort (Saponaria ocymoides)
* rock solid, rock-solid
* rock sparrow (Petronia petronia)
* rock spider
* rock spikemoss (Selaginella rupestris)
* rock spiraea (Holodiscus spp.)
* Rocksprings
* rock squirrel (Otospermophilus variegatus)
* rockstar
* rock starling (Turdus torquatus)
* rock-steady
* rock sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens)
* rocksucker (Petromyzontidae)
* rock sugar
* rock sunfish (Ambloplites rupestris)
* rock swallow (esp. Ptyonoprogne rupestris)
* rock tapaculo (Scytalopus petrophilus)
* rock tar
* rock thrush (Monticola saxatilis)
* rock tripe (Umbilicaria)
* rock trout (Hexagrammos decagrammus)
* rock varnish
* rock violet (Trentepohlia iolithus)
* rock vole (Microtus chrotorrhinus)
* Rockwall
* rock-wallaby (Petrogale spp.)
* rockwarbler (Origma solitaria)
* rock water
* rockweed (Silvetia spp.)
* rock whiting (Odacidae spp.)
* rockwood
* rock wool
* rockwork
* rock wren
* rocky
* Round Rock
* Saba Rock
* scholar's rock
* schooner on the rocks
* seaside rock
* sedimentary rock
* see rocks ahead
* sheet rock
* shot rock
* sleep like a rock
* Soldado Rock
* solid as a rock
* South Rock
* South West Rocks
* split on a rock
* steady as a rock
* suck rocks
* sunken rock
* Tarpeian Rock
* tent rock
* The Rock
* the Rock
* TV rock
* Water-rock
* weeping rock

##### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

#### References

* ↑ Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “rock”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
* ↑ https://www.etymonline.com/word/rock

### Etymology 2

From Middle English rokken, from Old English roccian, from Proto-West Germanic *rokkōn, from Proto-Germanic *rukkōną, from Proto-Germanic *rukkōną, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃ruknéh₂ti, from *h₃rewk-, *h₃runk-.
See also obsolete Dutch rokken, Middle High German rocken (“to drag, jerk”), Modern German rücken (“to move, shift”), Icelandic rukka (“to yank”); also Latin runcāre (“to weed”), Latvian rũķēt (“to toss, dig”).

#### Verb

rock (third-person singular simple present rocks, present participle rocking, simple past and past participle rocked)
* (transitive and intransitive) To move gently back and forth.
    Rock the baby to sleep.
    The empty swing rocked back and forth in the wind.
** 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:To Edward […] he was terrible, nerve-inflaming, poisonously asphyxiating. He sat rocking himself in the late Mr. Churchill's swing chair, smoking and twaddling.
* (transitive) To cause to shake or sway violently.
    Don't rock the boat.
** 1700, [John] Dryden, “Theodore and Honoria, from Boccace”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:A rising earthquake rocked the ground.
* (intransitive) To sway or tilt violently back and forth.
    The boat rocked at anchor.
* (transitive and intransitive, of ore etc.) To be washed and panned in a cradle or in a rocker.
    The ores had been rocked and laid out for inspection.
* (transitive) To disturb the emotional equilibrium of; to distress; to greatly impact (most often positively).
    Downing Street has been rocked by yet another sex scandal.
    She rocked my world.
* (intransitive) To do well or to be operating at high efficiency.
** 2012 April 24, Phil Dawkes, “Barcelona 2-2 Chelsea”, in BBC Sport:The Blues' challenge had been rocking at that point, with Terry's centre-back partner Gary Cahill lost to injury and Barca having just levelled the tie through Busquets's neat, close-range finish from Isaac Cuenca's pull-back.
* (intransitive, stative) To be cool.
    That band rocks!
* (slang, ambitransitive, euphemistic) To make love to or have sex (with).
    I wanna rock!
** 1973, Noddy Holder, Jim Lea (lyrics and music), “Cum On Feel the Noize”, performed by Slade:Cum on feel the noize, girls, rock your boys.
** 1974, Andy Kim (lyrics and music), “Rock Me Gently”:Rock me gently, rock me slowly, take it easy, don't you know, that I have never been loved like this before.
** 1974, Harry Wayne Casey, Richard Finch (lyrics and music), “Rock Your Baby”, performed by George McCrae:Open up your heart / And let the loving start / Oh, woman, take me in your arms / Rock your baby.
** 1980, Jonah Ellis, Alisa Peoples, Cavin Yarbrough (lyrics and music), “Don't Stop the Music”, in The Two of Us, performed by Yarbrough and Peoples:I just wanna rock you, all night long.
** 1999, Harry Connick Jr. (lyrics and music), “Come By Me”:Try me out, and if you get excited Take me home, I'd love to be invited Once we're there, I'm sure you'll be delighted We could rock all night
* (intransitive) To sway one's body as a stim.
** 2019 May 4, C. L. Lynch, “"Autism is a Spectrum" Doesn’t Mean What You Think”, in NeuroClastic:Tends to tap fingers on desk or spin ring on finger, especially when stressed. Sucks thumb in private. Loves to rock.

##### Synonyms

* (move gently back and forth): waver; see also Thesaurus:sway
* (cause to shake violently): agitate, trouble
* (sway violently back and forth): judder; see also Thesaurus:shake
* (do well): cook with gas, flourish
* (be good): rules
* (have sex with): go to bed with, hit, sleep with; see also Thesaurus:copulate with

##### Derived terms

* rerock
* rockabye
* rock along
* rock and roll, rock 'n' roll
* rocker
* rocking
* rock on
* rock out
* rock someone's socks
* rock someone's socks off
* rock someone's world
* rock the boat
* rock the house
* rock up
* rock with laughter
* rocky
* the hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world, the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world

##### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

#### Noun

rock (plural rocks)
* An act of rocking; a rocking motion; a sway.

##### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.