rafter

UK: /ˈrɑːftə^r/ US: /ˈræftɚ/ ,(raf′tər, räf′-)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

raf•ter¹ /ˈræftɚ/   n. [countable]

1. Building any of a series of sloped, large pieces of wood, timber, or the like, used for holding up a roof.

Idioms

2. packed to the rafters, filled completely:
   The auditorium was packed to the rafters.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

raf•ter¹  (raf′tər, räf′-), n. 

1. Building any of a series of timbers or the like, usually having a pronounced slope, for supporting the sheathing and covering of a roof.

v.t. 

2. Agriculture, British Terms [Brit. Dial.] to plow (a field) so that the soil of a furrow is pushed over onto an unplowed adjacent strip.

• bef. 900; Middle English; Old English rǣfter; cognate with Middle Low German rafter, Old Norse raptr. See raft¹

raft•er²  (raf′tər, räf′-), n. 

1. a person who engages in the sport or pastime of rafting.
2. a person who travels on a raft, esp. to flee a country.

raft•er³  (raf′tər, räf′-), n. 

1. Animal Husbandry a flock, esp. of turkeys.

• raft² + -er¹

rafter²,² +n. 

1. a person who travels on a raft, esp. to flee a country.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

rafter / ˈrɑːftə/ noun

1. any one of a set of sloping beams that form the framework of a roof

Etymology: Old English ræfter; related to Old Saxon rehter, Old Norse raptr, Old High German rāvo; see raft¹