[rock the boat] <v. phr.>, <informal> To make trouble and risk losing or upsetting something; cause a disturbance that may spoil a plan. * /The other boys said that Henry was rocking the boat by wanting to let girls into their club./ * /Politicians don't like to rock the boat around election time./ Compare: UPSET THE APPLE CART. Contrast: LET WELL ENOUGH ALONE.
[rod] See: HOT ROD.
[roll] See: GET THE BALL ROLLING, KEEP THE BALL ROLLING, ROCK 'N' ROLL OT ROCK AND ROLL.
[roll around] <v.>, <informal> To return at a regular or usual time; come back. * /When winter rolls around, out come the skis and skates./
[rolling stone gathers no moss] A person who changes jobs or where he lives often will not be able to save money or things of his own. A proverb. * /Uncle Willie was a rolling stone that gathered no moss. He worked in different jobs all over the country./
[roll out the red carpet] <v. phr.> 1. To welcome an important guest by putting a red carpet down for him to walk on. * /They rolled out the red carpet for the Queen when she arrived in Australia./ 2. To greet a person with great respect and honor; give a hearty welcome. * /Margaret's family rolled out the red carpet for her teacher when she came to dinner./ Compare: WELCOME MAT. - [red-carpet] <adj.> * /When the president visited the foreign country, he was given the red-carpet treatment and welcomed by a great crowd./ * /We gave Uncle Willie the red-carpet treatment when he returned from Hong Kong./
[roll up one's sleeves] To get ready for a hard job; prepare to work hard or seriously. * /When Paul took his science examination, he saw how little he knew about science. He rolled up his sleeves and went to work./
[Roman collar] <n.> The high, plain, white collar worn by priests and clergymen. * /The man with the Roman collar is the new Episcopalian preacher./ * /Many Protestant churches do not require their ministers to wear Roman collars./
[Rome] See: ALL ROADS LEAD TO ROME.
[Rome wasn't built in a day] Great things are not accomplished overnight; great deeds take a long time. - A proverb. * /A takes a long time to write a successful novel, but don't worry; Rome wasn't built in a day, as the saying goes./
[roof] See: HIT THE CEILING or HIT THE ROOF, RAISE THE ROOF.
[rooftop] See: SHOUT PROM THE HOUSETOPS or SHOUT FROM THE ROOFTOPS.
[room] See: CONTROL ROOM, POWDER ROOM, UTILITY ROOM.
[room and board] <n. phr.> A room for rent with meals included. * /A room alone in that country costs only $10 a day, but room and board together run $22 a day./
[room clerk] or [desk clerk] <n.> A person who is responsible for assigning rooms and providing service to guests in hotels, motels, inns, etc. * /At first-class hotels, room clerks are trained to be at the service of every guest./ * /Sometimes resort hotels in the mountains hire college students as room clerks during the summer./
[room to] See: LIVE IN.
[room service] <n.> Service provided to hotel guests in their rooms. Also: The hotel workers who give this service. * /We called for room service when we wanted ice./ * /Room service will install a TV set in your room upon demand./
[room with] <v. phr.> 1. To live in a furnished room with someone as a roommate without having an affair. * /I roomed with him in college for four years./ 2. To live together as husband and wife without the benefit of marriage. * /Dan and Sue have been rooming together for quite a while and people are wondering if they will ever get married./
[roost] See: CHICKENS COME HOME TO ROOST, RULE THE ROOST.
[root] See: TAKE ROOT.
[root-bound] <adj.> 1. Having a limited amount of space for root growth. * /After seven or eight years day lilies become root-bound and will not bloom well unless they are divided./ 2. Liking the familiar place where you live and not wanting to go away from it; having a sentimental attachment to one place. * /Mr. Jones has lived in Connecticut all his life. He is too root-bound to consider moving to another state./
[root for] <v. phr.> To cheer for; applaud; support. * /During the Olympics one usually roots for the team of one's own country./
[rope] See: END OF ONE'S ROPE, GIVE ONE ENOUGH ROPE AND HE WILL HANG HIMSELF, ON THE ROPES, THE ROPES.
[rope in] <v.>, <informal> 1. To use a trick to make (someone) do something; deceive; fool. * /The company ropes in high school students to sell magazine subscriptions by telling them big stories of how much money they can earn./ Syn.: TAKE UP(5a). 2. To get (someone to join or help); persuade to do something. * /Martha roped in Charles to help her decorate the gym for the party./ * /I didn't want the job of selling tickets for the dance, but I was roped in because everyone else was too busy to do it./
[rope Into] <v.>, <informal> 1. To trick into; persuade dishonestly. * /Jerry let the big boys rope him into stealing some apples./ 2. To get (someone) to join in; persuade to work at. * /It was Sue's job to bathe the dog but she roped Sam into helping her./ * /Mother did not go to the first meeting of the club because she was afraid she would be roped into something./ Compare: TALK INTO.
[rope off] <v. phr.> To divide into sections by use of a rope. * /The police roped off the section of the street where the president was expected to jog./
[rose] See: BED OF ROSES, LOOK AT THE WORLD THROUGH ROSE-COLORED GLASSES.
[rose-colored glasses] See: LOOK AT THE WORLD THROUGH ROSE-COLORED GLASSES.
[rotten egg] <n.>, <informal> A person whose character or way of acting is not good. * /His friends have all learned he is a rotten egg./ Often used by children in fun, as of someone who is slow in doing something. * /The boys ran to the river to go swimming and Dick cried, "Last one in is a rotten egg!"/
[rotten to the core] <adj. phr.> 1. Thoroughly decayed or spoiled. * /This apple is inedible; it is brown and soft and rotten to the core./ 2. In total moral collapse. * /The Communist government of Cuba is rotten to the core./
[rough] See: DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH.
[rough-and-ready] <adj.> 1. Not finished in detail; not perfected; rough but ready for use now. * /We asked Mr. Brown how long it would take to drive to Chicago and his rough-and-ready answer was two days./ 2. Not having nice manners but full of energy and ability. * /Jim is a rough-and-ready character; he'd rather fight than talk things over./
[rough-and-tumble] 1. <n.> Very rough, hard fighting or arguing that does not follow any rules. * /There was a rough-and-tumble on the street last night between some soldiers and sailors./ * /Many people don't like the rough-and-tumble of politics./ 2. <adj.> Fighting or arguing in a very rough and reckless way; struggling hard; not following rules or laws. * /It took strong men to stay alive in the rough-and-tumble life of the western frontier./
[rough diamond] See: DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH.
[roughhouse] <n.> Riotous play or commotion. * /? told the boys they can play in the attic if there is no roughhouse./
[roughhouse] <v.> To play very wildly; be running around as young boys usually do. * /"Stop roughhousing this minute," Grandma cried. "Your father will be home soon."/
[rough it] <v. phr.> To live like primitive people; live with little of the comfort and equipment of civilization. * /Scouts like to rough it in the woods on weekend hikes./
[roughneck] <n.> A low, coarse fellow. * /The only boys in the neighborhood are a bunch of roughnecks, and Mrs. Smith is unhappy about the fact that her son is rapidly becoming one of them./
[rough-shod] See: RIDE ROUGH-SHOD OVER.
[rough sledding] See: HARD SLEDDING.
[rough up] <v.> To attack or hurt physically; treat roughly; beat. * /Three boys were sent home for a week because they roughed up a player on the visiting team./ * /While Pete was walking in a strange part of town some boys roughed him up and told him to stay out of their territory./
[roughly speaking] <adv. phr.> Approximately; in general terms. * /Roughly speaking, about 250 people attended the annual convention of the Dictionary Society of America./
[roulette] See: RUSSIAN ROULETTE.
[round] See: BRING AROUND or BRING ROUND, COME ROUND, GO THE ROUNDS, MAKE ROUNDS, SQUARE PEG IN A ROUND HOLE, YEAR-ROUND.
[round-eyed] or [wide-eyed] also [large-eyed] <adj.> Very much surprised; astonished; awed. * /The people were round-eyed when they learned what the computer could do./ * /The children were wide-eyed at the sight of the Christmas tree and didn't make a sound./
[round off] <v.> 1. To make round or curved. * /John decided to round off the corners of the table he was making so that no one would be hurt by bumping them./ 2. To change to the nearest whole number. * /The teacher said to round off the averages./ 3. To end in a satisfactory way; put a finishing touch on; finish nicely. * /We rounded off the dinner with mixed nuts./ * /A boat ride in the moonlight rounded off the day at the lake./ Compare: TOP OFF.
[round out] <v. phr.> To complete; make whole. * /He needs only one or two more rare compact discs to round out his collection of Vivaldi./
[round robin] <n. phr.> 1. Something written, especially a request or protest that is signed by a group of people. - Often used like an adjective. * /The people in our neighborhood are sending a round robin to the Air Force to protest the noise the jet planes make flying over our houses./ 2. A letter written by a group of people each writing one or two paragraphs and then sending the letter to another person, who adds a paragraph, and so on. * /The class sent a round-robin letter to Bill in the hospital./ 3. A meeting in which each one in a group of people takes part; a talk between various members of a group. - Often used like an adjective. * /There is a round-robin meeting of expert fishermen on the radio, giving advice on how to catch fish./ 4. A contest or games in which each player or team plays every other player or team in turn. - Often used like an adjective. * /The tournament will be a round robin for all the high school teams in the city./
[rounds] See: GO THE ROUNDS.