What does "roast" mean?
Roast: To cook by surrounding with hot embers, ashes, sand, etc.; as, to roast a potato in ashes. In eggs boiled and roasted there is scarce difference to be discerned. BAcon.
Additional senses
- 2.To dry and parch by exposure to heat; as, to roast coffee; to roast chestnuts, or peanuts.
- 3.Hence, to heat to excess; to heat violently; to burn. "Roasted in wrath and fire." Shak.
- 4.(Metal.) To dissipate by heat the volatile parts of, as ores.
- 5.To banter severely. [Colloq.] Atterbury.
- 6.To cook meat, fish, etc., by heat, as before the fire or in an oven. He could roast, and seethe, and broil, and fry. Chaucer.
- 7.To undergo the process of being roasted.
- 8.That which is roasted; a piece of meat which has been roasted, or is suitable for being roasted. A fat swan loved he best of any roost [roast]. Chaucer. To rule the roast, to be at the head of affairs. "The new-made duke that rules the roast." Shak.
- 9.Roasted; as, roast beef.
Sources
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
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- Published: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00 · Modified: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00