roar

See also: Roar and róar

English

Etymology

From Middle English roren, raren, from Old English rārian (“to roar; wail; lament”), from Proto-West Germanic *rairōn, from Proto-Germanic *rairōną (“to bellow; roar”), from Proto-Indo-European *rey- (“to shout; bellow; yell; bark”), perhaps of imitative origin.

Cognate with Saterland Frisian roorje (“to roar”), German röhren (“to roar”).

Pronunciation

Verb

roar (third-person singular simple present roars, present participle roaring, simple past and past participle roared)

  1. (intransitive) To make a loud, deep cry, especially from pain, anger, or other strong emotion.
    • a. 1701 (date written), John Dryden, “The First Book of Homer’s Ilias”, in The Miscellaneous Works of John Dryden, […], volume IV, London: […] J[acob] and R[ichard] Tonson, […], published 1760, →OCLC, page 434:
      Sole on the barren ſands the ſuff'ring chief / Roar'd out for anguiſh, and indulg'd his grief.
  2. To laugh in a particularly loud manner.
    The audience roared at his jokes.
  3. Of animals (especially a lion), to make a loud deep noise.
    The lioness roared to scare off the hyenas.
  4. Generally, of inanimate objects etc., to make a loud resounding noise.
  5. (figuratively) To proceed vigorously.
    • 2011 January 25, Phil McNulty, “Blackpool 2-3 Man Utd”, in BBC:
      United's attempt to extend their unbeaten league sequence to 23 games this season looked to be in shreds as the Seasiders - managed by Ian Holloway - roared into a fully deserved two-goal lead at the interval.
  6. (transitive) To cry aloud; to proclaim loudly.
    • 1639, John Ford, The Lady's Trial:
      This last action will roar thy infamy.
    • 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter VII, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:
      I made a speaking trumpet of my hands and commenced to whoop “Ahoy!” and “Hello!” at the top of my lungs. […] The Colonel woke up, and, after asking what in brimstone was the matter, opened his mouth and roared “Hi!” and “Hello!” like the bull of Bashan.
  7. To be boisterous; to be disorderly.
    • 1724, Gilbert Burnet, History of My Own Time:
      It was a mad, roaring time, full of extravagance.
  8. To make a loud noise in breathing, as horses do when they have a certain disease.
  9. (British Yorkshire, North Midlands, informal) To cry.
    • 1886, James Orchard Halliwell, “Third Class: Tales: LX”, in The Nursery Rhymes of England:
      Tom, Tom, the piper's son,
      Stole a pig, and away he run!
      The pig was eat, and Tom was beat,
      And Tom went roaring down the street.

Translations

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Translations to be checked

Noun

roar (plural roars)

  1. A long, loud, deep shout, as of rage or laughter, made with the mouth wide open.
  2. The cry of the lion.
    • 1900 May 17, L[yman] Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Chicago, Ill.; New York, N.Y.: Geo[rge] M[elvin] Hill Co., →OCLC:
      The Winkies were not a brave people, but they had to do as they were told. So they marched away until they came near to Dorothy. Then the Lion gave a great roar and sprang towards them, and the poor Winkies were so frightened that they ran back as fast as they could.
    • 1913, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Return of Tarzan, New York: Ballantine Books, published 1963, page 120:
      Tarzan could imagine how old Numa’s eyes were shining—how he was already sucking in his breath for the awful roar which would freeze his prey for the brief instant between the moment of the spring and the sinking of terrible fangs into splintering bones.
  3. The deep cry of the bull.
  4. A loud resounding noise.
    the roar of a motorbike
    • 1849 March 31, Edgar Allan Poe, “A Dream Within a Dream”, in The Works of the Late Edgar Allan Poe: […], volumes II (Poems and Miscellanies), New York, N.Y.: J. S. Redfield, […], published 1850, →OCLC, page 40:
      I stand amid the roar / Of a surf-tormented shore, / And I hold within my hand / Grains of the golden sand—
    • 1944, Ernie Pyle, Brave Men, University of Nebraska Press (2001), page 107:
      "Those lovely valleys and mountains were filled throughout the day and night with the roar of heavy shooting."
  5. A show of strength or character.

Translations

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Translations to be checked

Derived terms

from verb or noun

Anagrams

Mokilese

Verb

roar

  1. (intransitive) to shudder

Swedish

Verb

roar

  1. present indicative of roa
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