• Roller

    Pronunciation

    • Rhymes: -əʊlÉ™(r)

    Origin

    {1} + -er

    Noun

    roller

    (plural rollers)
    1. Anything that rolls.
      1. Any rotating cylindrical device that is part of a machine, especially one used to apply or reduce pressure.
      2. (cricket) A heavy rolling device used to flatten the surface of the pitch.
      3. A cylindrical tool for applying paint or ink.
      4. An agricultural machine used for flattening land and breaking up lumps of earth.
      5. One of a set of small cylindrical tubes used to curl hair.
    2. A large, wide, curling wave that falls back on itself as it breaks on a coast.
      • 1907, Robert Chambers, The Younger Set Chapter 9/2, He and Gerald usually challenged the rollers in a sponson canoe when Gerald was there for the weekend ; or, when Lansing came down, the two took long swims seaward or cruised about in Gerald's dory, clad in their swimming-suits ; …
    3. A bird.
      1. A bread or variety of roller pigeon that rolls (i.e. tumbles or somersaults) backwards (cf. Penson roller, Birmingham roller, tumbler, tumbler pigeon, English Short Faced Tumbler, English Long Faced Tumbler).
      2. Any of various aggressive birds, of the family Coraciidae, having bright blue wings and hooked beaks.
    4. (also written Roller) A car made by Rolls-Royce.
    5. The police (old blues slang).
    6. A padded surcingle that is used on horses for training and vaulting.
    7. (TV, film) A roll of titles or (especially) credits played over film or video; television or film credits.
      • 2006, Clive James, North Face of Soho, Picador 2007, p. 69:I learned a lot from watching, but the part that I should have studied harder was the roller. The names of the writers went on for ever.

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