roost

UK: /ˈruːst/ US: /rust/ ,(ro̅o̅st)

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

roost /rust/   n. [countable]

1. Birds a perch upon which birds rest.

v. [no object]

2. Birds to sit on a perch, etc.
3. to settle or stay, esp. for the night.

Idioms

4. Idioms come home to roost, [no object] (of an action) to boomerang or backfire:
   All his sneaky behavior has come home to roost because now no one trusts him.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

roost (ro̅o̅st),  n. 

1. Birds a perch upon which birds or fowls rest at night.
2. Birds a large cage, house, or place for fowls or birds to roost in.
3. a place for sitting, resting, or lodging.
4. rule the roost, to be in charge or control;
   dominate:
   It was only too apparent that his grandfather ruled the roost.

v.i. 

5. Birds to sit or rest on a roost, perch, etc.
6. to settle or stay, esp. for the night.
7. come home to roost, (of an action) to revert or react unfavorably to the doer;
   boomerang:
   an evil deed that came home to roost and ruined his life.

• bef. 1100; Middle English roost (noun, nominal), Old English hrōst; cognate with Middle Dutch roest

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

roost / ruːst/ noun

1. a place, perch, branch, etc, where birds, esp domestic fowl, rest or sleep
2. a temporary place to rest or stay
3. rule the roost ⇒
   See rule20

verb (intransitive)

1. to rest or sleep on a roost
2. to settle down or stay
3. come home to roost ⇒ to have unfavourable repercussions

Etymology: Old English hrōst; related to Old Saxon hrost loft, German Rost grid

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

Roost / ruːst/ noun

1. the Roost ⇒ a powerful current caused by conflicting tides around the Shetland and Orkney Islands

Etymology: 16th Century: from Old Norse röst