Man shall not suffer his wife go roll about.
Chaucer.
Roll, n. [F. rôle a roll (in sense 3), fr. L. rotulus &?; little wheel,
LL., a roll, dim. of L. rota a wheel. See Roll, v., and cf. Rôle,
Rouleau, Roulette.] 1. The act of rolling, or state of being rolled;
as, the roll of a ball; the roll of waves.
2. That which rolls; a roller. Specifically: (a) A heavy cylinder used
to break clods. Mortimer. (b) One of a set of revolving cylinders, or
rollers, between which metal is pressed, formed, or smoothed, as in a
rolling mill; as, to pass rails through the rolls.
3. That which is rolled up; as, a roll of fat, of wool, paper, cloth,
etc. Specifically: (a) A document written on a piece of parchment,
paper, or other materials which may be rolled up; a scroll.
Busy angels spread The lasting roll, recording what we say.
Prior.
<! p. 1249 !>
(b) Hence, an official or public document; a register; a record; also,
a catalogue; a list.
The rolls of Parliament, the entry of the petitions, answers, and
transactions in Parliament, are extant.
Sir M. Hale.
The roll and list of that army doth remain.
Sir J. Davies.
(c) A quantity of cloth wound into a cylindrical form; as, a roll of
carpeting; a roll of ribbon. (d) A cylindrical twist of tobacco.
4. A kind of shortened raised biscuit or bread, often rolled or doubled
upon itself.
5. (Naut.) The oscillating movement of a vessel from side to side, in
sea way, as distinguished from the alternate rise and fall of bow and
stern called pitching.