[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./