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# roost

«roost» in Mova's school dictionary: **a place where birds or bats rest or sleep, such as a…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 2 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (a roost, roosts); verb (roost, roosts, roosted, roosting)

### meaning for a pupil

1) A roost is a place where birds or bats rest or sleep, such as a branch, a perch or a barn. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/roost/#m1)

2) To roost is for birds or bats to settle down to rest or sleep there. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/roost/#m2)

3) «Rule the roost» means to be the boss of a group or a home. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/roost/#m3)

4) «Come home to roost» means that bad things someone did come back to cause trouble for them. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/roost/#m4)

### sense in the lessons

In science lessons about birds and bats, roosts are where they sleep, often in large groups; bat roosts are protected by law in the UK. Chickens roost on a perch in their coop at night. In stories the idioms show who is in charge or how bad deeds return. Phrases: rule the roost, come home to roost, bat roost, go to roost.

### examples

- The hens went to roost as the sun set. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/roost/#x1)
- Hundreds of starlings roost under the pier. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/roost/#x2)
- Bats roost in the old church roof. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/roost/#x3)
- You must not disturb a bat roost. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/roost/#x4)
- In our house the cat rules the roost. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/roost/#x5)
- The owl roosts in the hollow tree during the day. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/roost/#x6)
- His lies came home to roost when the truth came out. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/roost/#x7)
- The parrot has a favourite roost by the window. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/roost/#x8)
- Evil wishes, like chickens, come home to roost. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/roost/#x9)

### note

Noun: a roost, roosts. Verb: roost, roosts, roosted, roosting. «Rooster» (US, Australia) is a male chicken (UK: cockerel), from the same word. Both idioms are figurative, not about real birds.

### In the corpora

- [British bats raise one baby a year in summer roosts in roofs and trees, and sleep through winter in cold places.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/315-bats-near-home-pipistrelles-noctules-bat-boxes-and-why-never-to-pick-one-up/4/)
- [Because they lose roosts easily, the law protects them and their roosts.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/315-bats-near-home-pipistrelles-noctules-bat-boxes-and-why-never-to-pick-one-up/5/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «roost» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/roost/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.