roller

UK: /ˈrəʊlə^r/ US: /ˈroʊlɚ/ ,(rō′lər)

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

roll•er¹ /ˈroʊlɚ/   n. [countable]

1. a person or thing that rolls.
2. a cylinder, wheel, etc., upon which something is rolled.
3. a long, rounded object upon which something is rolled up:
   the roller of a window shade.
4. Mechanical Engineering a long, rounded object for spreading, crushing, or flattening something.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

roll•er¹  (rō′lər), n. 

1. a person or thing that rolls.
2. a cylinder, wheel, caster, or the like, upon which something is rolled along.
3. a cylindrical body, revolving on a fixed axis, esp. one to facilitate the movement of something passed over or around it.
4. a cylindrical object upon which something is rolled up:
   the roller of a window shade.
5. a hollow, cylindrical object of plastic, stiff net, or the like, upon which hair is rolled up for setting.
6. Mechanical Engineering a cylindrical body for rolling over something to be spread out, leveled, crushed, smoothed, compacted, impressed, inked, etc.
7. any of various other revolving cylindrical bodies, as the barrel of a music box.
8. Metallurgy a person in charge of a rolling mill.
9. a long, swelling wave advancing steadily.
10. Medicine a rolled bandage.

• 1375–1425; late Middle English; see roll, -er¹

Synonyms

• 9. breaker, comber.

roll•er²  (rō′lər), n. [Ornith.]

1. Birds any of several Old World birds of the family Coraciidae that tumble or roll over in flight, esp. in the breeding season.
2. Birds tumbler (def. 9).
3. Birds one of a variety of canaries having a warbling or trilling song.

• German Roller, derivative of rollen to roll
• 1655–65

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

roller / ˈrəʊlə/ noun

1. a cylinder having an absorbent surface and a handle, used for spreading paint
2. Also called: garden roller a heavy cast-iron cylinder or pair of cylinders on an axle to which a handle is attached; used for flattening lawns
3. a long heavy wave of the sea, advancing towards the shore
   Compare breaker12
4. a hardened cylinder of precision-ground steel that forms one of the rolling components of a roller bearing or of a linked driving chain
5. a cylinder fitted on pivots, used to enable heavy objects to be easily moved; castor
6. a cylinder, usually of hard rubber, used to ink a forme or plate before impression
7. any of various other cylindrical devices that rotate about a cylinder, used for any of various purposes
8. a small cylinder, esp one that is heated, onto which a woman's hair may be rolled to make it curl
9. a bandage consisting of a long strip of muslin or cheesecloth rolled tightly into a cylindrical form before application
10. any of various Old World birds of the family Coraciidae, such as Coracias garrulus (European roller), that have a blue, green, and brown plumage, a slightly hooked bill, and an erratic flight: order Coraciiformes (kingfishers, etc)
11. (often capital) a variety of tumbler pigeon that performs characteristic backward somersaults in flight
12. a person or thing that rolls
13. short for roadroller, steamroller