housetop
nounUK /ˈhaʊsˌtɒp/ · CA, US /ˈhaʊsˌtɑp/
Etymology From house + top.
1
The roof of a house.
- 26 Feare them not therefore: for there is nothing couered, that shall not be reueiled; and hidde, that shall not be knowen. 27 What I tell you in darkenesse, that speake yee in light: and what yee heare in the eare, that preach yee vpon the house tops.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 10:26–27:
- Up on the housetop, reindeer pause. / Out jumps good old Santa Claus.c. 1860, Benjamin R. Hamby, Up on the Housetop:
1 more example
- Not only did the distance to the The Pure Drop, the fully-licensed tavern at the further part of the dispersed village, render its accommodation practically unavailable for dwellers at this end; but the far more serious question, the quality of the liquor, confirmed the prevalent opinion that it was better to drink with Rolliver in a corner of the housetop than with the other landlord in a wide house.1891, Thomas Hardy, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, volume 1, London: James R. Osgood, McIlvaine and Co., page 41:
- Derived terms
- cry from the housetop