Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Roast

Roast , transitive verb

[Old English rosten, Old French rostir, French rôtir; of German origin; compare Old High German rōsten, German rosten, from Old High German rōst, rōsta, gridiron, German rost; compare Anglo-Saxon hyrstan to roast.]

1.
To cook by exposure to radiant heat before a fire; as, to roast meat on a spit, or in an oven open toward the fire and having reflecting surfaces within; also, to cook in a close oven.
2.
To cook by surrounding with hot embers, ashes, sand, etc.; as, to roast a potato in ashes.
In eggs boiled and roasted there is scarce difference to be discerned. — BAcon
3.
To dry and parch by exposure to heat; as, to roast coffee; to roast chestnuts, or peanuts.
4.
Hence, to heat to excess; to heat violently; to burn.
Roasted in wrath and fire. — Shakespeare
5.
(Metallurgy) To dissipate by heat the volatile parts of, as ores.
6.
To banter severely. [Colloquial] — Atterbury

Roast , intransitive verb

1.
To cook meat, fish, etc., by heat, as before the fire or in an oven.
He could roast, and seethe, and broil, and fry. — Chaucer
2.
To undergo the process of being roasted.

Roast , noun

That which is roasted; a piece of meat which has been roasted, or is suitable for being roasted.
A fat swan loved he best of any roost [roast]. — Chaucer
Collocations (1)
To rule the roast , to be at the head of affairs. The new-made duke that rules the roast.

Roast , adjective

[For roasted.]

Roasted; as, roast beef.