roast

 

When meat roasts, it cooks for a long time in an oven or outside over hot coals.

  • Many Americans roast a turkey for Thanksgiving.
  • Do you like pot roast? (This is beef that is cooked slowly over several hours.)
  • Have you ever attended a pig roast? (A whole pig is cooked outside over a pit filled with charcoal. This is popular during large parties held in the summer.)
  • Many grocery stores sell whole roasted chickens that you can take home and serve immediately to your family.
  • A roasting pan that has a cover is very useful when roasting food.

roasting panroasting pan

The word "roast" is also used to describe hot weather:

  • It’s so hot outside it feels like I’m roasting.
  • Three girls roasting on the beach all afternoon were badly sunburned.
  • It’s roasting out here!

A roast can also be a fun celebration of a person’s life or career, or it might be sharp criticism:

  • Dan was roasted by his boss for failing to fill out his time sheet properly.
  • A comedy roast on TV honored the lifetime achievements of a famous actor.

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This page was first published on November 20, 2012. It was updated on May 24, 2015.