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View synonyms for rocker

rocker

[ rok-er ]

noun

  1. Also called runner. one of the curved pieces on which a cradle or a rocking chair rocks.
  2. a performer or fan of rock-'n'-roll. music.
  3. a rock-'n'-roll song:

    She sang a ballad and followed that with two of her well-known rockers.

  4. any of various devices that operate with a rocking motion.
  5. Graphic Arts. a small steel plate with one curved and toothed edge for roughening a copperplate to make a mezzotint.
  6. an ice skate that has a curved blade.


rocker

/ ˈrɒkə /

noun

  1. any of various devices that transmit or operate with a rocking motion See also rocker arm
  2. another word for rocking chair
  3. either of two curved supports on the legs of a chair or other article of furniture on which it may rock
  4. a steel tool with a curved toothed cage, used to roughen the copper plate in engraving a mezzotint
  5. mining another word for cradle
    1. an ice skate with a curved blade
    2. the curve itself
  6. skating
    1. a figure consisting of three interconnecting circles
    2. a half turn in which the skater turns through 180°, so facing about while continuing to move in the same direction
  7. a rock-music performer, fan, or song
  8. an adherent of a youth movement rooted in the 1950s, characterized by motorcycle trappings Compare mod 1
  9. off one's rocker slang.
    crazy; demented
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Word History and Origins

Origin of rocker1

1400–50; late Middle English: one who rocks a cradle; rock 2, -er 1
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Idioms and Phrases

Idioms
  1. off one's rocker, Slang. insane; crazy:

    You're off your rocker if you think I'm going to climb that mountain.

More idioms and phrases containing rocker

see off one's head (rocker) .
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Example Sentences

Washington, in addition to giving up alcohol and drugs, said he has also started to focus on his physical strength — thanks to a personal trainer recommended by friend and rocker Lenny Kravitz.

The Northern California rockers of AFI will be their special guests at that show and several others.

Aside from fronting his namesake band Dio from 1982 through 2010, the diminutive singer was known for his piercing vocals and being among the first rockers to flash the famed devil horns hand gesture.

Forty years and two months ago, Duff McKagan first arrived in Los Angeles as a fresh-faced punk rocker with ambitions of taking over the world.

Obama was preceded by actor Samuel L Jackson, director Spike Lee, and producer and actor Tyler Perry, as well as Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock and rocker Bruce Springsteen.

From BBC

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Related Words

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More About Rocker

What does rocker mean?

A rocker is a type of cradle for babies that’s used to gently rock them from side to side to calm them down or get them to fall asleep. It should not be confused with a bouncer, which is a kind of seat that allows older babies to stand up and bounce up and down.

Rocker can also be used as another name for a rocking chair, or one of the two curved pieces on which it sits that allow it to rock back and forth. Such pieces are also found on other kinds of furniture, such as cradles. They can also be called runners.

Rocker can refer to a rock musician, a fan of rock music, or a rock song that especially rocks (meaning it’s an intense example of the hard-driving beat and other qualities associated with rock music, all turned up to 11). These senses of the word can sound a bit outdated.

Rocker is also used in the phrase off one’s rocker, which means about the same thing as out of one’s minddelusional or completely irrational.

Example: It’s a miracle how well this rocker works at getting my baby to calm down—thanks, Lemmy!

Where does rocker come from?

The first records of the word rocker come from around the 1400s in reference to someone who rocks a cradle. Today, a lot of baby rockers are electronic and do the rocking automatically.

By the late 1700s, rocker was being used to refer to one of the curved pieces of wood on a cradle, chair, or rocking horse. Rocker came to be used in reference to a rocking chair in the 1800s.

The first records of rocker pertaining to rock music and rock stars come from the 1940s. These senses of the word come from the original name of the genre: rock-’n’-roll. In the late 1950s and the 1960s, the word started to be used to refer to fans of rock music, especially in categories of subculture members divided by fashion and musical taste, including rockers, mods, and punks. Today, a rock musician is much more likely to be called a rock star than a rocker. One exception is the use of the term rocker in the term punk rocker, which can refer to a punk rock musician or fan, as in Sheena is a punk rocker.

Did you know ... ?

What are some synonyms for rocker?

What are some words that share a root or word element with rocker

 

What are some words that often get used in discussing rocker?

How is rocker used in real life?

In the context of music, the term rocker is a bit out of fashion, though it’s still sometimes used in the phrase punk rocker.

 

 

Try using rocker!

Is rocker used correctly in the following sentence?

I just refinished my grandmother’s antique rocker.

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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