roost
verbEtymology From Middle English roste (“chicken's roost; perch”), from Old English hrōst (“wooden framework of a roof; roost”), from Proto-West Germanic *hrōst, from Proto-Germanic *hrōstaz (“wooden framework; grill”); see *raustijan. Cognate with Dutch roest (“roost”), German Low German Rust (“roost”), German Rost (“grate; gridiron; grill”).
1
Of flying vertebrates To settle on a perch in order to sleep or rest.
2
Figuratively To spend the night.
- The UPS package centre for central London, a brief walk from Kentish Town tube station, holds a below-ground bay in which 170 vans roost every night.2019 November 21, Samanth Subramanian, “How our home delivery habit reshaped the world”, in The Guardian:
3
To kick (a ball) a long distance.
Australian rules football
- Derived terms
- aroost, rooster, the chickens come home to roost