roller
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈɹəʊlə/
ipa: /ˈɹoʊlɚ/
rhymes: -əʊlə(ɹ)
Forms: form: rollers
Etymology: * From Middle English rollere, equivalent to roll + -er.
* (credits in TV or film): These were originally printed on a physical cylinder that was rotated in front of the camera.
Senses: topics: heading
glosses: Anything that rolls.
Any rotating cylindrical device that is part of a machine, especially one used to apply or reduce pressure.
topics: heading
glosses: Anything that rolls.
A cylindrical (or approximately cylindrical) item used under a heavy object to facilitate moving it; usually several are needed.
topics: heading
glosses: Anything that rolls.
A person who rolls something, such as cigars or molten metal.
topics: heading
glosses: Anything that rolls.
A large rolling device used to flatten a grass surface; commonly in relation to a cricket pitch.
examples: text: The deposit of color on the stone is transmitted to the metal by the lithographic roller the same as for paper.
ref: 1857, Patents for Inventions: Abridgments of Specifications, page 118:
topics: heading
glosses: Anything that rolls.
A cylindrical tool for applying paint or ink.
synonyms: paint roller
rolling paint brush
rolling brush
topics: heading
glosses: Anything that rolls.
An agricultural machine used for flattening land and breaking up lumps of earth.
topics: heading
glosses: Anything that rolls.
One of a set of small cylindrical tubes used to curl hair.
topics: heading
glosses: Anything that rolls.
A roller towel.
examples: text: The cable used for hauling the wagons on the incline may still be seen, but several of the guiding rollers have disappeared.
ref: 1947 March and April, “Notes and News: The Edge Hill Light Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 116:
topics: heading
glosses: Anything that rolls.
A small wheel, as of a caster, a roller skate, etc.
topics: heading
glosses: Anything that rolls.
A rolling element inside a roller bearing: a small cylinder or sphere of metal.
topics: cycling
heading
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: Anything that rolls.
One of a set of rolling cylinders allowing a rider to practise balance while training indoors.
topics: heading
glosses: Anything that rolls.
Any insect whose larva rolls up leaves, especially those in family Tortricidae.
topics: heading
glosses: Anything that rolls.
A dung beetle that rolls dung into balls.
topics: heading
glosses: Anything that rolls.
A cylinder snakes, small ground snakes of the genus Cylindrophis.
topics: heading
glosses: Anything that rolls.
A rolling pin
examples: text: He threw a beautiful roller that cut the corner perfectly and stopped just outside the circle.
topics: heading
glosses: Anything that rolls.
A throw which involves the player throwing the disc in a way that makes it roll, by that being able to travel further than if thrown in the air. Only used on holes with open areas with short or no grass.
qualifier: disc golf
glosses: A long wide bandage used in surgery.
examples: text: He and Gerald usually challenged the rollers in a sponson canoe when Gerald was there for the weekend ; or, when Lansing came down, the two took long swims seaward or cruised about in Gerald's dory, clad in their swimming-suits ; and Selwyn's youth became renewed in a manner almost ridiculous,[…].
ref: 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter IX, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:
text: A road that runs due west from Dale passes the village church and Dale Castle, and a footpath continues to Westdale Bay, a sandy beach used by surfers when the westerlies send great rollers crashing in from the Atlantic.
ref: 1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 141:
glosses: A large, wide, curling wave that falls back on itself as it breaks on a coast.
topics: heading
glosses: A bird.
A breed or variety of roller pigeon that rolls (i.e. tumbles or somersaults) backwards (compare Penson roller, Birmingham roller, tumbler).
topics: heading
glosses: A bird.
Any of various aggressive birds, of the family Coraciidae, having bright blue wings and hooked beaks.
glosses: A police patrol car or patrolman (rather than an unmarked police car or a detective)
glosses: A padded surcingle that is used on horses for training and vaulting.
examples: text: I learned a lot from watching, but the part that I should have studied harder was the roller. The names of the writers went on for ever.
ref: 2006, Clive James, North Face of Soho, Picador, published 2007, page 69:
topics: broadcasting
film
media
television
glosses: A roll of titles or (especially) credits played over film or video; television or film credits.
glosses: A wheelchair user.
glosses: A Rolls-Royce motorcar.
topics: entertainment
lifestyle
music
glosses: A type break that consists of drum rolls; a drum and bass track made with such breaks.
Derived terms: ab roller
ab roller wheel
Cambridge roller
coal roller
cuckoo-roller
dandy roller
dandy-roller
European roller
fancy roller
foam roller
foot roller
ground roller
hair roller
heavy roller
high roller
high-roller
Indian roller
leaf-roller
leaf roller
light roller
lint roller
lush-roller
lush roller
mine roller
Oriental roller
paint roller
pea roller
pinch roller
road roller
roller bearing
roller bed
roller blade
rollerblade
roller blind
roller bolt
roller boot
roller bottle
roller chain
roller-coaster
roller-coasterish
roller coaster
rollercoaster
roller-cone bit
roller cone bit
roller derby
roller-disco
roller disco
roller docker
roller football
roller gin
roller hockey
roller machine
roller mill
rolleron
roller organ
roller rink
roller shade
roller shoe
roller shutter
roller skate
roller-skate
roller skating
roller sledge hockey
roller sled hockey
roller sport
roller table
sap roller
snow roller
steam roller
steamroller
stoneroller
threshing-roller
threshing roller