rest
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: enpr: rĕst
ipa: /ɹɛst/
rhymes: -ɛst
homophone: wrest
Forms: form: rests
form: resting
form: rested
form: rested
Etymology: From Middle English resten, from Old English restan, from Proto-West Germanic *rastijan (“to rest”), from Proto-Indo-European *ros-, *res-, *erH- (“rest”). Cognate with Dutch rusten (“to rest”), Middle Low German resten (“to rest”), German rasten (“to rest”), Danish raste (“to rest”), Swedish rasta (“to rest”).
Senses: examples: text: My day's work is over; now I will rest.
text: I shall not rest until I have uncovered the truth.
text: Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest.
ref: 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Exodus 23:12:
glosses: To cease from action, motion, work, or performance of any kind; stop; desist; be without motion.
glosses: To come to a pause or an end; end.
examples: text: There rest, if any rest can harbour there.
ref: 1667, John Milton, “Book I”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
glosses: To be free from that which harasses or disturbs; be quiet or still; be undisturbed.
examples: text: We need to rest the horses before we ride any further.
text: And thereby at a pryory they rested them all nyght.
ref: 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte d'Arthur, Book X:
text: With the north London derby to come at the weekend, Spurs boss Harry Redknapp opted to rest many of his key players, although he brought back Aaron Lennon after a month out through injury.
ref: 2011 September 29, Jon Smith, “Tottenham 3-1 Shamrock Rovers”, in BBC Sport:
glosses: To put into a state of rest.
examples: text: The blame seems to rest with your father.
text: Copyright in the typographical arrangement rests with the Crown.
glosses: To stay, remain, be situated, or belong to.
examples: text: The decision rests on getting a bank loan.
text: On him I rested, after long debate, / And not without considering, fixed fate.
ref: 1700, John Dryden, Sigismonda and Guiscardo:
text: Economics is a messy discipline: too fluid to be a science, too rigorous to be an art. Perhaps it is fitting that economists’ most-used metric, gross domestic product (GDP), is a tangle too.[…]But as a foundation for analysis it is highly subjective: it rests on difficult decisions about what counts as a territory, what counts as output and how to value it. Indeed, economists are still tweaking it.
ref: 2013 August 3, “Boundary problems”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8847:
glosses: To rely or depend on.
examples: text: A column rests on its pedestal.
text: I rested my head in my hands.
text: She rested against my shoulder.
text: I rested against the wall for a minute.
glosses: To lean, lie, or lay.
examples: text: The defense rests, your Honor.
text: I rest my case.
topics: law
glosses: To complete one's active advocacy in a trial or other proceeding, and thus to wait for the outcome (however, one is still generally available to answer questions, etc.)
glosses: To sleep; slumber.
glosses: To lie dormant.
examples: text: I sing to him that rests below,
⁠And, since the grasses round me wave,
⁠I take the grasses of the grave,
And make them pipes whereon to blow.
ref: 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XXI”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 35:
glosses: To sleep the final sleep; sleep in death; die; be dead.
examples: text: to rest in Heaven's determination
ref: 1712 (date written), [Joseph] Addison, Cato, a Tragedy. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], published 1713, →OCLC, Act I, scene ii, page 1:
glosses: To be satisfied; to acquiesce.
Synonyms: sense: lie down and take repose, especially by sleeping
word: relax
sense: give rest to
word: relieve
sense: stop working
word: have a breather
sense: stop working
word: pause
sense: stop working
word: take a break
sense: stop working
word: take time off
sense: stop working
word: take time out
sense: be situated
word: be
sense: be situated
word: lie
sense: be situated
word: remain
sense: be situated
word: reside
sense: be situated
word: stay
sense: transitive: lean, lay
word: lay
word: lean
word: place
word: put
sense: intransitive: lie, lean
word: lean
word: lie
Derived terms: God rest her soul
God rest his soul
God rest their soul
God rest their souls
I rest my case
Lord rest his soul
rest-and-digest
rest easy
rest his soul
rest in peace
RIP
rest in piss
rest in power
rest on
rest one's case
rest one's soul
rest on one's laurels
rest up