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Role vs. Roll — What's the Difference?

Difference Between Role and Roll

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Definitions

Role

A role (also rôle or social role) is a set of connected behaviors, rights, obligations, beliefs, and norms as conceptualized by people in a social situation. It is an expected or free or continuously changing behavior and may have a given individual social status or social position.

Roll

Move in a particular direction by turning over and over on an axis
The car rolled down into a ditch
She rolled the ball across the floor

Role

Also rôle A character or part played by a performer.

Roll

(of a vehicle) move or run on wheels
The van was rolling along the lane

Role

The characteristic and expected social behavior of an individual.
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Roll

Turn (something flexible) over and over on itself to form a cylinder, tube, or ball
She started to roll up her sleeping bag

Role

A function or position.

Roll

Flatten (something) by passing a roller over it or by passing it between rollers
Roll out the dough on a floured surface

Role

(Linguistics) The function of a word or construction, as in a sentence.

Roll

(of a loud, deep sound) reverberate
The first peals of thunder rolled across the sky
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Role

A character or part played by a performer or actor.
My neighbor was the lead role in last year's village play.
Her dream was to get a role in a Hollywood movie, no matter how small.

Roll

Rob (someone, typically when they are intoxicated or asleep)
If you don't get drunk, you don't get rolled

Role

The expected behaviour of an individual in a society.
The role of women has changed significantly in the last century.

Roll

A cylinder formed by winding flexible material round a tube or by turning it over and over on itself without folding
A roll of carpet

Role

The function or position of something.
Local volunteers played an important role in cleaning the beach after the oil spill.
What role does the wax in your earhole fulfill?

Roll

A movement in which someone or something turns or is turned over on itself
A roll of the dice

Role

Designation that denotes an associated set of responsibilities, knowledge, skills, and attitudes
The project manager role is responsible for ensuring that everyone on the team knows and executes his or her assigned tasks.

Roll

A prolonged, deep, reverberating sound
Thunder exploded, roll after roll

Role

(grammar) The function of a word in a phrase.

Roll

A very small loaf of bread, to be eaten by one person
Soup with a roll
A bacon roll

Role

(object-oriented) In the Raku programming language, a code element akin to an interface, used for composition of classes without adding to their inheritance chain.

Roll

An official list or register of names
The school had no one by his name on its roll

Role

A part, or character, performed by an actor in a drama; hence, a part of function taken or assumed by any one; as, he has now taken the rôle of philanthropist.

Roll

Undulation of the landscape
Hidden by the roll of the land was a refinery

Role

The actions and activities assigned to or required or expected of a person or group;
The function of a teacher
The government must do its part
Play its role

Roll

A roller for flattening something, especially one used to shape metal in a rolling mill.

Role

An actor's portrayal of someone in a play;
She played the part of Desdemona

Roll

To move forward along a surface by revolving on an axis or by repeatedly turning over.

Role

What something is used for;
The function of an auger is to bore holes
Ballet is beautiful but what use is it?

Roll

To travel or be moved on wheels or rollers
Rolled down the sidewalk on their scooters.

Role

Normal or customary activity of a person in a particular social setting;
What is your role on the team?

Roll

To travel around; wander
Roll from town to town.

Roll

To travel or be carried in a vehicle.

Roll

To be carried on a stream
The logs rolled down the cascading river.

Roll

To start to move or operate
The press wouldn't roll.

Roll

To work or succeed in a sustained way; gain momentum
The political campaign finally began to roll.

Roll

To go by; elapse
The days rolled along.

Roll

To recur. Often used with around
Summer has rolled around again.

Roll

To move in a periodic revolution, as a planet in its orbit.

Roll

To turn over and over
The puppy rolled in the mud.

Roll

To shift the gaze usually quickly and continually
The child's eyes rolled with fright.

Roll

To turn around or revolve on an axis.

Roll

To move or advance with a rising and falling motion; undulate
The waves rolled toward shore.

Roll

To extend or appear to extend in gentle rises and falls
The dunes roll to the sea.

Roll

To move or rock from side to side
The ship pitched and rolled in heavy seas.

Roll

To walk with a swaying, unsteady motion.

Roll

(Slang) To experience periodic rushes after taking an intoxicating drug, especially MDMA.

Roll

To take the shape of a ball or cylinder
Yarn rolls easily.

Roll

To become flattened by pressure applied by a roller.

Roll

To make a deep, prolonged, surging sound
Thunder rolled in the distance.

Roll

To make a sustained trilling sound, as certain birds do.

Roll

To beat a drum in a continuous series of short blows.

Roll

To pour, flow, or move in a continual stream
Tourists rolling into the city.

Roll

To enjoy ample amounts
Rolled in the money.

Roll

To cause to move forward along a surface by revolving on an axis or by repeatedly turning over.

Roll

To move or push along on wheels or rollers
Rolled the plane out of the hangar.

Roll

To impel or send onward in a steady, swelling motion
The sea rolls its waves onto the sand.

Roll

To impart a swaying, rocking motion to
Heavy seas rolled the ship.

Roll

To turn around or partly turn around; rotate
Rolled his head toward the door.

Roll

To cause to begin moving or operating
Roll the cameras.
Roll the presses.

Roll

To extend or lay out
Rolled out a long rope.

Roll

To pronounce or utter with a trill
You must roll your r's in Spanish.

Roll

To utter or emit in full, swelling tones.

Roll

To beat (a drum) with a continuous series of short blows.

Roll

To wrap (something) round and round upon itself or around something else. Often used with up
Roll up a poster.

Roll

To envelop or enfold in a covering
Roll dirty laundry in a sheet.

Roll

To make by shaping into a ball or cylinder
Roll a cigarette.

Roll

To spread, compress, or flatten by applying pressure with a roller
Roll pastry dough.

Roll

(Printing) To apply ink to (type) with a roller or rollers.

Roll

(Games) To throw (dice), as in craps.

Roll

(Slang) To rob (a drunken, sleeping, or otherwise helpless person).

Roll

The act or an instance of rolling.

Roll

Something rolled up
A roll of tape.

Roll

A quantity, as of cloth or wallpaper, rolled into a cylinder and often considered as a unit of measure.

Roll

A piece of parchment or paper that may be or is rolled up; a scroll.

Roll

A register or a catalogue.

Roll

A list of names of persons belonging to a group.

Roll

A mass in cylindrical or rounded form
A roll of tobacco.

Roll

A small loaf of bread, portioned for one individual and often served as a side dish or appetizer or used to make a sandwich.

Roll

A portion of food wrapped around a filling
Cinnamon roll.
Sushi roll.

Roll

A rolling, swaying, or rocking motion.

Roll

A gentle swell or undulation of a surface
The roll of the plains.

Roll

A deep reverberation or rumble
The roll of thunder.

Roll

A rapid succession of short sounds
The roll of a drum.

Roll

A trill
The roll of his r's.

Roll

A resonant, rhythmical flow of words.

Roll

A roller, especially a cylinder on which to roll something up or with which to flatten something.

Roll

An amount of rotation around a longitudinal axis, as of an aircraft or boat.

Roll

A maneuver in which an airplane makes a single complete rotation about its longitudinal axis without changing direction or losing altitude.

Roll

(Slang) Money, especially a wad of paper money.

Roll

(transitive) To cause to revolve by turning over and over; to move by turning on an axis; to impel forward by causing to turn over and over on a supporting surface.
To roll a wheel, a ball, or a barrel.

Roll

(intransitive) To turn over and over.
The child will roll on the floor.

Roll

(intransitive) To tumble in gymnastics; to do a somersault.

Roll

(transitive) To wrap (something) round on itself; to form into a spherical or cylindrical body by causing to turn over and over.
To roll a sheet of paper; to roll clay or putty into a ball.

Roll

(transitive) To bind or involve by winding, as in a bandage; to enwrap; often with up.
To roll up the map for shipping.

Roll

(intransitive) To be wound or formed into a cylinder or ball.
The cloth rolls unevenly; the snow rolls well.

Roll

(ergative) To drive or impel forward with an easy motion, as of rolling.
This river will roll its waters to the ocean.

Roll

(ergative) To utter copiously, especially with sounding words; to utter with a deep sound; — often with forth, or out.
To roll forth someone's praises; to roll out sentences.

Roll

(transitive) To press or level with a roller; to spread or form with a roll, roller, or rollers.
To roll a field;
To roll paste;
To roll steel rails.

Roll

(intransitive) To spread itself under a roller or rolling-pin.
The pastry rolls well.

Roll

(ergative) To move, or cause to be moved, upon, or by means of, rollers or small wheels.

Roll

To leave or begin a journey.
I want to get there early; let's roll.

Roll

To compete, especially with vigor.
OK guys, we're only down by two points. Let's roll!

Roll

(transitive) To beat with rapid, continuous strokes, as a drum; to sound a roll upon.

Roll

(geometry) To apply (one line or surface) to another without slipping; to bring all the parts of (one line or surface) into successive contact with another, in such a manner that at every instant the parts that have been in contact are equal.

Roll

(transitive) To turn over in one's mind; to revolve.

Roll

To behave in a certain way; to adopt a general disposition toward a situation.
I was going to kick his ass, but he wasn't worth getting all worked up over; I don't roll like that.

Roll

To throw dice.

Roll

To roll dice such that they form a given pattern or total.
If you roll doubles, you get an extra turn.
With two dice, you're more likely to roll seven than ten.

Roll

(RPG) To create a new character in a role-playing game, especially by using dice to determine properties.
I'm gonna go and roll a new shaman tonight.

Roll

To generate a random number.

Roll

To rotate about the fore-and-aft axis, causing its sides to go up and down. Compare pitch.

Roll

To travel by sailing.

Roll

(transitive) To beat up; to assault.

Roll

To cause to betray secrets or to testify for the prosecution.
The feds rolled him by giving him a free pass for most of what he'd done.

Roll

To betray secrets.
He rolled on those guys after being in jail two days.

Roll

To be under the influence of MDMA (a psychedelic stimulant, also known as ecstasy).

Roll

To (cause to) film.
The cameras are rolling.
It's time to roll the cameras.

Roll

To slip past (a defender) with the ball.

Roll

(intransitive) To have a rolling aspect.
The hills rolled on

Roll

To perform a periodical revolution; to move onward as with a revolution.
The years roll on.

Roll

(intransitive) To move, like waves or billows, with alternate swell and depression.

Roll

To move and cause an effect on someone

Roll

(intransitive) To make a loud or heavy rumbling noise.
The thunder rolled and the lightning flashed.

Roll

(transitive) To utter with an alveolar trill.
Many languages roll their r's.

Roll

To enrobe in toilet-paper (as a prank or spectacle).
The kids rolled the principal's house and yard.

Roll

(transitive) To create a customized version of.

Roll

2010, page 208, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Io7hHlVN3qQC&pg=PA208&dq=%22roll%22]

Roll

To engage in sparring in the context of jujitsu or other grappling disciplines.

Roll

To load ocean freight cargo onto a vessel other than the one it was meant to sail on.
Containers will be rolled to another mother vessel.

Roll

The act or result of rolling, or state of being rolled.
The roll of a ball
Look at the roll of the waves.
The roll of her eyes

Roll

A forward or backward roll in gymnastics; going head over heels. A tumble.

Roll

Something which rolls.

Roll

A heavy cylinder used to break clods.

Roll

One of a set of revolving cylinders, or rollers, between which metal is pressed, formed, or smoothed, as in a rolling mill.
To pass rails through the rolls

Roll

A swagger or rolling gait.

Roll

A heavy, reverberatory sound.
Hear the roll of cannon.
There was a roll of thunder and the rain began to pour down.

Roll

The uniform beating of a drum with strokes so rapid as scarcely to be distinguished by the ear.

Roll

The oscillating movement of a nautical vessel as it rotates from side to side, about its fore-and-aft axis, causing its sides to go up and down, as distinguished from the alternate rise and fall of bow and stern called pitching; or the equivalent in an aircraft.

Roll

(nautical) The measure or extent to which a vessel rotates from side to side, about its fore-and-aft axis.

Roll

The rotation angle about the longitudinal axis.
Calculate the roll of that aircraft.

Roll

An instance of the act of rolling an aircraft through one or more complete rotations about its longitudinal axis.
The pilots entertained the spectators at the airshow by doing multiple rolls.

Roll

The act of, or total resulting from, rolling one or more dice.
Make your roll.
Whoever gets the highest roll moves first.

Roll

A winning streak of continuing luck, especially at gambling and especially in the phrase on a roll.
He is on a roll tonight.

Roll

A training match for a fighting dog.

Roll

An instance of the act of righting a canoe or kayak which has capsized, without exiting the watercraft, or being assisted.
That was a good roll.

Roll

(paddlesport) The skill of righting a canoe or kayak which has capsized, without exiting the watercraft, or being assisted.
She has a bombproof roll.

Roll

(finance) Any of various financial instruments or transactions that involve opposite positions at different expiries, "rolling" a position from one expiry to another.

Roll

That which is rolled up.
A roll of fat, of wool, paper, cloth, etc.

Roll

A document written on a piece of parchment, paper, or other materials which may be rolled up; a scroll.

Roll

An official or public document; a register; a record.

Roll

A catalogue or list, (especially) one kept for official purposes.
Several people sued the state after finding out that they'd been removed from the voter rolls for having died, despite their not actually being dead.

Roll

A quantity of cloth wound into a cylindrical form.
A roll of carpeting; a roll of ribbon

Roll

A cylindrical twist of tobacco.

Roll

A kind of shortened raised biscuit or bread, often rolled or doubled upon itself; see also bread roll.

Roll

(obsolete) A part; an office; a duty; a role.

Roll

A measure of parchments, containing five dozen.

Roll

To cause to revolve by turning over and over; to move by turning on an axis; to impel forward by causing to turn over and over on a supporting surface; as, to roll a wheel, a ball, or a barrel.

Roll

To wrap round on itself; to form into a spherical or cylindrical body by causing to turn over and over; as, to roll a sheet of paper; to roll parchment; to roll clay or putty into a ball.

Roll

To bind or involve by winding, as in a bandage; to inwrap; - often with up; as, to roll up a parcel.

Roll

To drive or impel forward with an easy motion, as of rolling; as, a river rolls its waters to the ocean.
The flood of Catholic reaction was rolled over Europe.

Roll

To utter copiously, esp. with sounding words; to utter with a deep sound; - often with forth, or out; as, to roll forth some one's praises; to roll out sentences.
Who roll'd the psalm to wintry skies.

Roll

To press or level with a roller; to spread or form with a roll, roller, or rollers; as, to roll a field; to roll paste; to roll steel rails, etc.

Roll

To move, or cause to be moved, upon, or by means of, rollers or small wheels.

Roll

To beat with rapid, continuous strokes, as a drum; to sound a roll upon.

Roll

To apply (one line or surface) to another without slipping; to bring all the parts of (one line or surface) into successive contact with another, in suck manner that at every instant the parts that have been in contact are equal.

Roll

To turn over in one's mind; to revolve.
Full oft in heart he rolleth up and downThe beauty of these florins new and bright.

Roll

To move, as a curved object may, along a surface by rotation without sliding; to revolve upon an axis; to turn over and over; as, a ball or wheel rolls on the earth; a body rolls on an inclined plane.
And her foot, look you, is fixed upon a spherical stone, which rolls, and rolls, and rolls.

Roll

To move on wheels; as, the carriage rolls along the street.

Roll

To be wound or formed into a cylinder or ball; as, the cloth rolls unevenly; the snow rolls well.

Roll

To fall or tumble; - with over; as, a stream rolls over a precipice.

Roll

To perform a periodical revolution; to move onward as with a revolution; as, the rolling year; ages roll away.

Roll

To turn; to move circularly.
And his red eyeballs roll with living fire.

Roll

To move, as waves or billows, with alternate swell and depression.
What different sorrows did within thee roll.

Roll

To incline first to one side, then to the other; to rock; as, there is a great difference in ships about rolling; in a general semse, to be tossed about.
Twice ten tempestuous nights I rolled.

Roll

To turn over, or from side to side, while lying down; to wallow; as, a horse rolls.

Roll

To spread under a roller or rolling-pin; as, the paste rolls well.

Roll

To beat a drum with strokes so rapid that they can scarcely be distinguished by the ear.

Roll

To make a loud or heavy rumbling noise; as, the thunder rolls.
Man shall not suffer his wife go roll about.

Roll

The act of rolling, or state of being rolled; as, the roll of a ball; the roll of waves.

Roll

That which rolls; a roller.

Roll

That which is rolled up; as, a roll of fat, of wool, paper, cloth, etc.
Busy angels spreadThe lasting roll, recording what we say.

Roll

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.
The roll and list of that army doth remain.

Roll

A kind of shortened raised biscuit or bread, often rolled or doubled upon itself.

Roll

A quantity of cloth wound into a cylindrical form; as, a roll of carpeting; a roll of ribbon.

Roll

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.

Roll

A heavy, reverberatory sound; as, the roll of cannon, or of thunder.

Roll

The uniform beating of a drum with strokes so rapid as scarcely to be distinguished by the ear.

Roll

Part; office; duty; rôle.

Roll

Rotary motion of an object around its own axis;
Wheels in axial rotation

Roll

A list of names;
His name was struck off the rolls

Roll

A long heavy sea wave as it advances towards the shore

Roll

Photographic film rolled up inside a container to protect it from light

Roll

A round shape formed by a series of concentric circles

Roll

A roll of currency notes (often taken as the resources of a person or business etc.);
He shot his roll on a bob-tailed nag

Roll

Small rounded bread either plain or sweet

Roll

A deep prolonged sound (as of thunder or large bells)

Roll

The sound of a drum (especially a snare drum) beaten rapidly and continuously

Roll

A document that can be rolled up (as for storage)

Roll

Anything rolled up in cylindrical form

Roll

The act of throwing dice

Roll

Walking with a rolling gait

Roll

A flight maneuver; aircraft rotates about its longitudinal axis without changing direction or losing altitude

Roll

The act of rolling something (as the ball in bowling)

Roll

Move by turning over or rotating;
The child rolled down the hill
Turn over on your left side

Roll

Move along on or as if on wheels or a wheeled vehicle;
The President's convoy rolled past the crowds

Roll

Occur in soft rounded shapes;
The hills rolled past

Roll

Flatten or spread with a roller;
Roll out the paper

Roll

Emit, produce, or utter with a deep prolonged reverberating sound;
The thunder rolled
Rolling drums

Roll

Wrap or coil around;
Roll your hair around your finger
Twine the thread around the spool

Roll

Begin operating or running;
The cameras were rolling
The presses are already rolling

Roll

Shape by rolling;
Roll a cigarette

Roll

Execute a roll, in tumbling;
The gymnasts rolled and jumped

Roll

Sell something to or obtain something from by energetic and especially underhanded activity

Roll

Move in a wavy pattern or with a rising and falling motion;
The curtains undulated
The waves rolled towards the beach

Roll

Move about aimlessly or without any destination, often in search of food or employment;
The gypsies roamed the woods
Roving vagabonds
The wandering Jew
The cattle roam across the prairie
The laborers drift from one town to the next
They rolled from town to town

Roll

Move, rock, or sway from side to side;
The ship rolled on the heavy seas

Roll

Cause to move by turning over or in a circular manner of as if on an axis;
She rolled the ball
They rolled their eyes at his words

Roll

Pronounce with a roll, of the phoneme /r/;
She rolls her r's

Roll

Boil vigorously;
The liquid was seething
The water rolled

Roll

Take the shape of a roll or cylinder;
The carpet rolled out
Yarn rolls well

Roll

Show certain properties when being rolled;
The carpet rolls unevenly
Dried-out tobacco rolls badly

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