n. [ F. See Roll. ] A part, or character, performed by an actor in a drama; hence, a part of function taken or assumed by any one; as, he has now taken the role of philanthropist. [ 1913 Webster ]

Title role, the part, or character, which gives the title to a play, as the part of Hamlet in the play of that name. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. rôle a roll (in sense 3), fr. L. rotulus &unr_; little wheel, LL., a roll, dim. of L. rota a wheel. See Roll, v., and cf. Rôle, Rouleau, Roulette. ] 1. The act of rolling, or state of being rolled; as, the roll of a ball; the roll of waves. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. That which rolls; a roller. Specifically: (a) A heavy cylinder used to break clods. Mortimer. (b) One of a set of revolving cylinders, or rollers, between which metal is pressed, formed, or smoothed, as in a rolling mill; as, to pass rails through the rolls. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. That which is rolled up; as, a roll of fat, of wool, paper, cloth, etc. Specifically: (a) A document written on a piece of parchment, paper, or other materials which may be rolled up; a scroll. [ 1913 Webster ]

Busy angels spread
The lasting roll, recording what we say. Prior. [ 1913 Webster ]

(b) Hence, an official or public document; a register; a record; also, a catalogue; a list. [ 1913 Webster ]

The rolls of Parliament, the entry of the petitions, answers, and transactions in Parliament, are extant. Sir M. Hale. [ 1913 Webster ]

The roll and list of that army doth remain. Sir J. Davies. [ 1913 Webster ]

(c) A quantity of cloth wound into a cylindrical form; as, a roll of carpeting; a roll of ribbon. (d) A cylindrical twist of tobacco. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A kind of shortened raised biscuit or bread, often rolled or doubled upon itself. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Naut.) The oscillating movement of a vessel from side to side, in sea way, as distinguished from the alternate rise and fall of bow and stern called pitching. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. A heavy, reverberatory sound; as, the roll of cannon, or of thunder. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. The uniform beating of a drum with strokes so rapid as scarcely to be distinguished by the ear. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. Part; office; duty; role. [ Obs. ] L'Estrange. [ 1913 Webster ]

Long roll (Mil.), a prolonged roll of the drums, as the signal of an attack by the enemy, and for the troops to arrange themselves in line. --
Master of the rolls. See under Master. --
Roll call, the act, or the time, of calling over a list names, as among soldiers. --
Rolls of court,
of parliament (or of any public body), the parchments or rolls on which the acts and proceedings of that body are engrossed by the proper officer, and which constitute the records of such public body. --
To call the roll, to call off or recite a list or roll of names of persons belonging to an organization, in order to ascertain who are present or to obtain responses from those present. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- List; schedule; catalogue; register; inventory. See List. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To move, as a curved object may, along a surface by rotation without sliding; to revolve upon an axis; to turn over and over; as, a ball or wheel rolls on the earth; a body rolls on an inclined plane. [ 1913 Webster ]

And her foot, look you, is fixed upon a spherical stone, which rolls, and rolls, and rolls. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To move on wheels; as, the carriage rolls along the street. “The rolling chair.” Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To be wound or formed into a cylinder or ball; as, the cloth rolls unevenly; the snow rolls well. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To fall or tumble; -- with over; as, a stream rolls over a precipice. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To perform a periodical revolution; to move onward as with a revolution; as, the rolling year; ages roll away. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. To turn; to move circularly. [ 1913 Webster ]

And his red eyeballs roll with living fire. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. To move, as waves or billows, with alternate swell and depression. [ 1913 Webster ]

What different sorrows did within thee roll. Prior. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. To incline first to one side, then to the other; to rock; as, there is a great difference in ships about rolling; in a general semse, to be tossed about. [ 1913 Webster ]

Twice ten tempestuous nights I rolled. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

9. To turn over, or from side to side, while lying down; to wallow; as, a horse rolls. [ 1913 Webster ]

10. To spread under a roller or rolling-pin; as, the paste rolls well. [ 1913 Webster ]

11. To beat a drum with strokes so rapid that they can scarcely be distinguished by the ear. [ 1913 Webster ]

12. To make a loud or heavy rumbling noise; as, the thunder rolls. [ 1913 Webster ]

To roll about, to gad abroad. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Man shall not suffer his wife go roll about. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Rolled p. pr. & vb. n. Rolling. ] [ OF. roeler, roler, F. rouler, LL. rotulare, fr. L. royulus, rotula, a little wheel, dim. of rota wheel; akin to G. rad, and to Skr. ratha car, chariot. Cf. Control, Roll, n., Rotary. ] 1. To cause to revolve by turning over and over; to move by turning on an axis; to impel forward by causing to turn over and over on a supporting surface; as, to roll a wheel, a ball, or a barrel. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To wrap round on itself; to form into a spherical or cylindrical body by causing to turn over and over; as, to roll a sheet of paper; to roll parchment; to roll clay or putty into a ball. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To bind or involve by winding, as in a bandage; to inwrap; -- often with up; as, to roll up a parcel. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To drive or impel forward with an easy motion, as of rolling; as, a river rolls its waters to the ocean. [ 1913 Webster ]

The flood of Catholic reaction was rolled over Europe. J. A. Symonds. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To utter copiously, esp. with sounding words; to utter with a deep sound; -- often with forth, or out; as, to roll forth some one's praises; to roll out sentences. [ 1913 Webster ]

Who roll'd the psalm to wintry skies. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. To press or level with a roller; to spread or form with a roll, roller, or rollers; as, to roll a field; to roll paste; to roll steel rails, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. To move, or cause to be moved, upon, or by means of, rollers or small wheels. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. To beat with rapid, continuous strokes, as a drum; to sound a roll upon. [ 1913 Webster ]

9. (Geom.) To apply (one line or surface) to another without slipping; to bring all the parts of (one line or surface) into successive contact with another, in suck manner that at every instant the parts that have been in contact are equal. [ 1913 Webster ]

10. To turn over in one's mind; to revolve. [ 1913 Webster ]

Full oft in heart he rolleth up and down
The beauty of these florins new and bright. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ 1913 Webster ]

To roll one's self, to wallow. --
To roll the eye, to direct its axis hither and thither in quick succession. --
To roll one's r's, to utter the letter r with a trill. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Capable of being rolled. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One who, or that which, rolls; especially, a cylinder, sometimes grooved, of wood, stone, metal, etc., used in husbandry and the arts. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A bandage; a fillet; properly, a long and broad bandage used in surgery. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Naut.) One of series of long, heavy waves which roll in upon a coast, sometimes in calm weather. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A long, belt-formed towel, to be suspended on a rolling cylinder; -- called also roller towel. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Print.) A cylinder coated with a composition made principally of glue and molassess, with which forms of type are inked previously to taking an impression from them. W. Savage. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. A long cylinder on which something is rolled up; as, the roller of a map. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. A small wheel, as of a caster, a roller skate, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. (Zool.) Any insect whose larva rolls up leaves; a leaf roller. see Tortrix. [ 1913 Webster ]

9. [ CF. F. rollier. ] (Zool.) Any one of numerous species of Old World picarian birds of the family Coraciadae. The name alludes to their habit of suddenly turning over or “tumbling” in flight. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Many of the species are brilliantly colored. The common European species (Coracias garrula) has the head, neck, and under parts light blue varied with green, the scapulars chestnut brown, and the tail blue, green, and black. The broad-billed rollers of India and Africa belong to the genus Eurystomus, as the oriental roller (Eurystomus orientalis), and the Australian roller, or dollar bird (Eurystomus Pacificus). The latter is dark brown on the head and neck, sea green on the back, and bright blue on the throat, base of the tail, and parts of the wings. It has a silvery-white spot on the middle of each wing. The lilac-breasted roller of Africa is Corcia caudata caudata, a brightly colored bird of the family Corciidae having malachite green, blue, purple-lilac, brown and sea-green feathers from head to tail; it is a popular sight with tourists in Africa. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

Zimbabwe Menu

10. (Zool.) Any species of small ground snakes of the family Tortricidae. [ 1913 Webster ]

Ground roller (Zool.), any one of several species of Madagascar rollers belonging to Atelornis and allied genera. They are nocturnal birds, and feed on the ground. --
Roller bolt, the bar in a carriage to which the traces are attached; a whiffletree. [ Eng. ] --
Roller gin, a cotton gin inn which rolls are used for separating the seeds from the fiber. --
Roller mill. See under Mill. --
Roller skate, a skate which has small wheels in the place of the metallic runner; -- designed for use in skating upon a smooth, hard surface, other than ice. [ 1913 Webster ]

. (Mach.) A bearing containing friction rollers. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

. [ from Rollerblade, a trade name. ] a type of roller skate having more than two wheels, aligned in a single row rather than in two rows. [ PJC ]

. An amusement railroad of varying design in which open cars coast by gravity over a long winding track in a closed circuit, with steep pitches and ascents, and in some cases loops in which the cars are briefly upside-down; typically, the cars are pulled by a chain device to the top of the first peak, after which gravity and momentum provide the only propulsive forces. In some cases, the cars are suspended from a monorail rather than resting on a track, and such cars may be made to swing outward at an angle near to the horizontal. It is a popular amusement at many amusement parks, but is sufficiently frightening to some people that they refuse to ride in one. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC ]

. to glide on roller skates, as one might on ice skates. [ PJC ]