Syn. -- Strong; lusty; sinewy; sturdy; muscular; hale; hearty;
vigorous; forceful; sound. -- Robust, Strong. Robust means, literally,
made of oak, and hence implies great compactness and toughness of
muscle, connected with a thick-set frame and great powers of endurance.
Strong denotes the power of exerting great physical force. The robust
man can bear heat or cold, excess or privation, and toil on through
every kind of hardship; the strong man can lift a great weight, can
give a heavy blow, and a hard gripe. "Robust, tough sinews bred to
toil." Cowper.
Then 'gan the villain wax so fierce and strong, That nothing may
sustain his furious force.
Spenser.
Ro*bus"tious (?), a. [Cf. L. robusteus of oak.] Robust. [Obs. or
Humorous] W. Irving.
In Scotland they had handled the bishops in a more robustious
manner.
Milton.
-- Ro*bus"tious*ly, adv. -- Ro*bus"tious*ness, n.
Ro*bust"ly, adv. In a robust manner.
Ro*bust"ness, n. The quality or state of being robust.
Roc (?), n. [Ar. & Per. rokh or rukh. Cf. Rook a castle.] A monstrous
bird of Arabian mythology. [Written also rock, and rukh.] Brande & C.
Roc"am*bole (?), n. [F.] [Written also rokambole.] (Bot.) A name of
Allium Scorodoprasum and A. Ascalonium, two kinds of garlic, the latter
of which is also called shallot.
Roc*cel"lic (?), a. [F. roccellique, fr. roccelle archil, It. & NL.
roccella, fr. It. rocca a rock, because archil grows on rock.] (Chem.)
Pertaining to, or designating, a dibasic acid of the oxalic series
found in archil (Roccella tinctoria, etc.), and other lichens, and
extracted as a white crystalline substance C17H32O4.
Roc*cel"lin (?), n. A red dyestuff, used as a substitute for cochineal,
archil, etc. It consists of the sodium salt of a complex azo derivative
of naphtol.
Roche (?), n. [See Rock.] Rock. [Obs.] Chaucer.
Roche" al`um (?). (Chem.) A kind of alum occuring in small fragments;
-- so called from Rocca, in Syria, whence alum is said to have been
obtained; -- also called rock alum.
Roche"lime` (?), n. [F. roche rock + E. lime.] Lime in the lump after
it is burned; quicklime. [Eng.]
Ro*chelle" (?), n. A seaport town in France.
Rochelle powders. Same as Seidlitz powders. -- Rochelle salt (Chem.),
the double tartrate of sodium and potassium, a white crystalline
substance. It has a cooling, saline, slightly bitter taste and is
employed as a mild purgative. It was discovered by Seignette, an
apothecary of Rochelle, and is called also Seignete's salt.
||Roche" mou`ton`née" (?). [F., sheep-shaped rock.] (Geol.) See
||Sheepback.
Roch"et (?), n. [F., dim. fr. OHG. rocch coat, G. rock.] 1. (Eccl.) A
linen garment resembling the surplise, but with narrower sleeves, also
without sleeves, worn by bishops, and by some other ecclesiastical
dignitaries, in certain religious ceremonies.
They see no difference between an idler with a hat and national
cockade, and an idler in a cowl or in a rochet.
Burke.
2. A frock or outer garment worn in the thirteenth and fourteenth
centuries. [Obs.] Rom. of R.
Roch"et, n. [Probably corrupted fr. F. rouget the red gurnet, from
rouge red. CF. Rouge.] (Zoöl.) The red gurnard, or gurnet. See Gurnard.
Roch"ing cask` (?). [Probably from F. roche a rock.] A tank in which
alum is crystallized from a solution.
Rock (?), n. See Roc.
Rock, n. [OE. rocke; akin to D. rok, rokken, G. rocken, OHG. roccho,
Dan. rok, Icel. rokkr. Cf. Rocket a firework.] A distaff used in
spinning; the staff or frame about which flax is arranged, and from
which the thread is drawn in spinning. Chapman.
Sad Clotho held the rocke, the whiles the thread By grisly Lachesis
was spun with pain, That cruel Atropos eftsoon undid.
Spenser.
Rock, n. [OF. roke, F. roche; cf. Armor. roc'h, and AS. rocc.] 1. A
large concreted mass of stony material; a large fixed stone or crag.
See Stone.
Come one, come all! this rock shall fly From its firm base as soon
as I.
Sir W. Scott.
2. (Geol.) Any natural deposit forming a part of the earth's crust,
whether consolidated or not, including sand, earth, clay, etc., when in
natural beds.
3. That which resembles a rock in firmness; a defense; a support; a
refuge.
The Lord is my rock, and my fortress.