roof
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A protective covering that covers or forms the top of a building.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
roofIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈɹuf
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
architecture
A protective covering that covers or forms the top of a building
architecture
Protective covering on top of a motor vehicle
The top external level of a building.
architecture
The external covering at the top of a building.
verb
To traverse buildings by walking or climbing across their roofs.
transitiveslang
To put into prison, to bird.
transitive
To cover or furnish with a roof.
transitive
To shelter as if under a roof.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A2 · Elementary (estimated)
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- General English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A protective covering that covers or forms the top of a building
Used this way, roof is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
Material used to construct a roof.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Common household pest originally from Asia that has spread worldwide.
The highest point of a roof.
The upper surface of the mouth that separates the oral and nasal cavities.
A large genus of fungi belonging to the family Pluteaceae.
Building material used in constructing roofs.
A heavy paper impregnated with tar and used as part of a roof for waterproofing.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
The top of a (usually flat) roof.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.