[ring up]{v.} 1. To add and record on a cash register. •/The supermarket clerk rang up Mrs. Smith’s purchases and told her she owed $33./ •/Business was bad Tuesday; we didn’t ring up a sale all morning./ 2. {informal} To telephone. •/Sally rang up Sue and told her the news./
[riot] See: READ THE RIOT ACT, RUN RIOT.
[ripe] See: TIME IS RIPE.
[rip into] or [tear into] {v.}, {informal} 1. To start a fight with; attack. •/The puppy is tearing into the big dog./ Syn.: PITCH INTO. 2. To quarrel with; scold. •/Mrs. Brown ripped into her daughter for coming home late./ Syn.: BAWL OUT, LACE INTO, LAY OUT, LET HAVE IT.
[rip off]{v.}, {slang} (Stress on "off") Steal. •/The hippies ripped off the grocery store./
[rip-off]{n.}, {slang} (Stress on "rip") An act of stealing or burglary. •/Those food prices are so high, it’s almost a rip-off./
[rise] See: GET A RISE OUT OF, GIVE RISE TO.
[rise from the ashes]{v. phr.} To rise from ruin; start anew. •/A year after flunking out of medical school, Don rose from the ashes and passed his qualifying exams for the M.D. with honors./
[rise in the world] See: COME UP IN THE WORLD.
[rise to]{v.} To succeed in doing what is expected by trying especially hard in or on; show that you are able to do or say what is needed or proper in or on. •/Jane was surprised when the principal handed her the prize, but she rose to the occasion with a speech of thanks./ •/When Michael became sick on the day before the program, Paul rose to the need and learned Michael’s part./
[rise up]{v. phr.} To stage a rebellion; revolt. •/The people finally rose up and communism came to an end in Eastern Europe./
[risk] See: CALCULATED RISK, RUN A RISK.
[road] See: ALL ROADS LEAD TO ROME, BURN UP THE ROAD, END OF THE ROAD, GET THE SHOW ON THE ROAD, HIT THE ROAD, HUG THE ROAD, MIDDLE OF THE ROAD, ON THE ROAD.
[road gang]{n.} A group of men who work at road construction. •/Football players often work with road gangs during summer vacations./
[road hog]{n.}, {informal} A car driver who takes more than his share of the road. •/A road hog forced John’s car into the ditch./
[road show]{n.} A theatrical play that is performed for a few days in one town and then moves to other towns. •/Many actors get their start in road shows./ •/The road show is often not as good as the original play on Broadway./
[road sign]{n.} A sign on which there is information about a road or places; a sign with directions to drivers. •/The road sign read, "25 MPH LIMIT" but Jack drove along at fifty miles an hour./ •/The road sign said Westwood was four miles away./
[road test]{n.} 1. A test to see if you can drive a car. •/Jim took the road test and got his driver’s license last week./ 2. A test to see if a car works all right on the road. •/Most new cars are given road tests before they are put on the market./ •/After he repaired the car, the mechanic gave it a road test./
[roast] See: WEINER ROAST or HOT DOG ROAST.
[roasting ear]{n.} An ear of corn young and tender enough to be cooked and eaten; also corn cooked on the cob. •/The scouts buried the roasting ears in the coals of their campfire./ •/At the Fourth of July picnic we had fried chicken and roasting ears./
[robbery] See: HIGHWAY ROBBERY.
[robin] See: ROUND ROBIN.
[rob Peter to pay Paul]{v. phr.} To change one duty or need for another; take from one person or thing to pay another. •/Bill owed Sam a dollar, so he borrowed another from Joe to pay Sam back. He robbed Peter to pay Paul./ •/Trying to study a lesson for one class during another class is like robbing Peter to pay Paul./
[rob the cradle]{v. phr.}, {informal} To have dates with or marry a person much younger than yourself. •/When the old woman married a young man, everyone said she was robbing the cradle./ — [cradle-robber] {n.} •/The judge died when he was seventy. He was a real cradle-robber because he left a thirty-year-old widow./ — [cradle-robbing] {adj.} or {n.} •/Bob is seventeen and I just saw him with a girl about twelve years old. Has he started cradle-robbing? No, that girl was his sister, not his date!/
[rob the till] or [have one’s hand in the till] {v. phr.}, {informal} To steal money in your trust or for which you are responsible. •/The supermarket manager suspected that one of the clerks was robbing the till./ •/Mr. Jones deposited one thousand dollars in their joint savings account and told his wife not to rob the till./ •/The store owner thought his business was failing until he discovered that the treasurer had his hand in the till./
[rock] See: HAVE ROCKS IN ONE’S HEAD, ON THE ROCKS.
[rock and roll] See: ROCK N ROLL.
[rock-bottom]{n.} The lowest possible point. •/The nation’s morale hit rock bottom in the hours following the president’s assassination./ — Often used like an adjective, with a hyphen. •/The rock-bottom price of this radio is $25./
[rocker] See: OFF ONE’S ROCKER.
[rock hound]{n.}, {slang} A person who studies and collects rocks for a hobby. •/Many young rock hounds grow up to be geologists./ •/Tony is an eager rock hound, and we have rocks all through our house./
[rock’n'roll] or [rock and roll] {n.} A style of popular music with heavily accented rhythm. •/Rock’n'roll appeals mostly to youngsters nine to sixteen years old./ •/Rock and roll became popular for dances about 1954./
[rock the boat]{v. phr.}, {informal} To make trouble and risk losing or upsetting something; cause a disturbance that may spoil a plan. •/The other boys said that Henry was rocking the boat by wanting to let girls into their club./ •/Politicians don’t like to rock the boat around election time./ Compare: UPSET THE APPLE CART. Contrast: LET WELL ENOUGH ALONE.
[rod] See: HOT ROD.
[roll] See: GET THE BALL ROLLING, KEEP THE BALL ROLLING, ROCK N ROLL OT ROCK AND ROLL.
[roll around]{v.}, {informal} To return at a regular or usual time; come back. •/When winter rolls around, out come the skis and skates./
[rolling stone gathers no moss] A person who changes jobs or where he lives often will not be able to save money or things of his own. — A proverb. •/Uncle Willie was a rolling stone that gathered no moss. He worked in different jobs all over the country./
[roll out the red carpet]{v. phr.} 1. To welcome an important guest by putting a red carpet down for him to walk on. •/They rolled out the red carpet for the Queen when she arrived in Australia./ 2. To greet a person with great respect and honor; give a hearty welcome. •/Margaret’s family rolled out the red carpet for her teacher when she came to dinner./ Compare: WELCOME MAT. — [red-carpet] {adj.} •/When the president visited the foreign country, he was given the red-carpet treatment and welcomed by a great crowd./ •/We gave Uncle Willie the red-carpet treatment when he returned from Hong Kong./
[roll up one’s sleeves] To get ready for a hard job; prepare to work hard or seriously. •/When Paul took his science examination, he saw how little he knew about science. He rolled up his sleeves and went to work./
[Roman collar]{n.} The high, plain, white collar worn by priests and clergymen. •/The man with the Roman collar is the new Episcopalian preacher./ •/Many Protestant churches do not require their ministers to wear Roman collars./
[Rome] See: ALL ROADS LEAD TO ROME.
[Rome wasn’t built in a day] Great things are not accomplished overnight; great deeds take a long time. — A proverb. •/A takes a long time to write a successful novel, but don’t worry; Rome wasn’t built in a day, as the saying goes./
[roof] See: HIT THE CEILING or HIT THE ROOF, RAISE THE ROOF.
[rooftop] See: SHOUT PROM THE HOUSE- TOPS or SHOUT FROM THE ROOFTOPS.
[room] See: CONTROL ROOM, POWDER ROOM, UTILITY ROOM.
[room and board]{n. phr.} A room for rent with meals included. •/A room alone in that country costs only $10 a day, but room and board together run $22 a day./
[room clerk] or [desk clerk] {n.} A person who is responsible for assigning rooms and providing service to guests in hotels, motels, inns, etc. •/At first-class hotels, room clerks are trained to be at the service of every guest./ •/Sometimes resort hotels in the mountains hire college students as room clerks during the summer./
[room to] See: LIVE IN.
[room service]{n.} Service provided to hotel guests in their rooms. Also: The hotel workers who give this service. •/We called for room service when we wanted ice./ •/Room service will install a TV set in your room upon demand./
[room with]{v. phr.} 1. To live in a furnished room with someone as a roommate without having an affair. •/I roomed with him in college for four years./ 2. To live together as husband and wife without the benefit of marriage. •/Dan and Sue have been rooming together for quite a while and people are wondering if they will ever get married./
[roost] See: CHICKENS COME HOME TO ROOST, RULE THE ROOST.
[root] See: TAKE ROOT.
[root-bound]{adj.} 1. Having a limited amount of space for root growth. •/After seven or eight years day lilies become root-bound and will not bloom well unless they are divided./ 2. Liking the familiar place where you live and not wanting to go away from it; having a sentimental attachment to one place. •/Mr. Jones has lived in Connecticut all his life. He is too root-bound to consider moving to another state./
[root for]{v. phr.} To cheer for; applaud; support. •/During the Olympics one usually roots for the team of one’s own country./
[rope] See: END OF ONE’S ROPE, GIVE ONE ENOUGH ROPE AND HE WILL HANG HIMSELF, ON THE ROPES, THE ROPES.
[rope in]{v.}, {informal} 1. To use a trick to make (someone) do something; deceive; fool. •/The company ropes in high school students to sell magazine subscriptions by telling them big stories of how much money they can earn./ Syn.: TAKE UP(5a). 2. To get (someone to join or help); persuade to do something. •/Martha roped in Charles to help her decorate the gym for the party./ •/I didn’t want the job of selling tickets for the dance, but I was roped in because everyone else was too busy to do it./
[rope Into]{v.}, {informal} 1. To trick into; persuade dishonestly. •/Jerry let the big boys rope him into stealing some apples./ 2. To get (someone) to join in; persuade to work at. •/It was Sue’s job to bathe the dog but she roped Sam into helping her./ •/Mother did not go to the first meeting of the club because she was afraid she would be roped into something./ Compare: TALK INTO.
[rope off]{v. phr.} To divide into sections by use of a rope. •/The police roped off the section of the street where the president was expected to jog./
[rose] See: BED OF ROSES, LOOK AT THE WORLD THROUGH ROSE-COLORED GLASSES.
[rose-colored glasses] See: LOOK AT THE WORLD THROUGH ROSE-COLORED GLASSES.
[rotten egg]{n.}, {informal} A person whose character or way of acting is not good. •/His friends have all learned he is a rotten egg./ Often used by children in fun, as of someone who is slow in doing something. •/The boys ran to the river to go swimming and Dick cried, "Last one in is a rotten egg!"/
[rotten to the core]{adj. phr.} 1. Thoroughly decayed or spoiled. •/This apple is inedible; it is brown and soft and rotten to the core./ 2. In total moral collapse. •/The Communist government of Cuba is rotten to the core./
[rough] See: DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH.
[rough-and-ready]{adj.} 1. Not finished in detail; not perfected; rough but ready for use now. •/We asked Mr. Brown how long it would take to drive to Chicago and his rough-and-ready answer was two days./ 2. Not having nice manners but full of energy and ability. •/Jim is a rough-and-ready character; he’d rather fight than talk things over./
