rolling

[ roh-ling ]

noun

1. the action, motion, or sound of anything that rolls.

adjective

1. moving by revolving or turning over and over.
2. rising and falling in gentle slopes, as land:

   rolling hills.

3. moving in undulating billows, as clouds or waves:

   Jessica felt a peace steal over her as she watched the rolling waves.

4. rocking or swaying from side to side:

   The rolling movement of the train car lulled most of the passengers to sleep.

5. turning or folding over, as a collar.
6. producing a deep, continuous sound:

   rolling thunder.

7. steadily moving onward in a series of stages:

   a rolling program of renovations.

rolling

/ ˈrəʊlɪŋ /

adjective

1. having gentle rising and falling slopes; undulating

   rolling country

2. progressing or spreading by stages or by occurrences in different places in succession, with continued or increasing effectiveness

   three weeks of rolling strikes disrupted schools

3. subject to regular review and updating

   a rolling plan for overseas development

4. deeply resounding; reverberating

   rolling thunder

5. slang.
   extremely rich
6. that may be turned up or down

   a rolling hat brim

adverb

1. slang.
   swaying or staggering (in the phrase rolling drunk )

Other Words From

• roll·ing·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of rolling¹

First recorded in 1400–50; Late Middle English; roll, -ing ¹, -ing ²

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. rolling (in the aisles), (of an audience or audience member) convulsed with laughter: Also in the aisles.

   Arden had her audience in tears with one song, then rolling in the aisles with her humor.

2. rolling in (something), luxuriating or abounding in (something, especially money):

   As a nonprofit, the Tandy Academy of Music is not exactly rolling in cash.

Example Sentences

For irregular items, sets of shoes and toys, or odds and ends, this rolling underbed cart from Whitmor is a good alternative to traditional under bed enclosures.

From Popular-Science

Last month, the state’s main grid operator ordered a series of rolling blackouts, California’s first unplanned outages in nearly two decades, as millions of air conditioners strained to keep up with blistering heat waves.

From MIT Technology Review

The rolling blackouts offered just a small hint of what’s likely to come in California and far beyond.

From MIT Technology Review

Canoo has said this is intended to leverage the future potential of autonomous driving, and some of Canoo’s concept art shows the vehicle converted into something akin to a rolling lounge—with no driver.

From Fortune

They could hear the noise of her pulling the rolling office chair up to the desk, and trying to climb up on the chair.

From Freakonomics

“Gently rolling hills” roll not-so-gently under my tires, but the English countryside scenery is soporific.

From The Daily Beast

Mullins quotes Stewart from an interview with Rolling Stone.

From The Daily Beast

In the same house where Rolling Stone's Jackie says she was.

From The Daily Beast

But after Rolling Stone's rape story debacle, how much momentum does the call to ban fraternities have left?

From The Daily Beast

Imagine driving through the Scottish countryside, rolling through a vast landscape of green hills and cloudy skies.

From The Daily Beast

Sol laughed out of his whiskers, with a big, loose-rolling sound, and sat on the porch without waiting to be asked.

From Project Gutenberg

The first steam rolling mill, with the exception of the one at Soho, was put up at Bradley ironworks.

From Project Gutenberg

The face of the country through this part of Ireland is moderately rolling, though some fair hills appear in the distance.

From Project Gutenberg

From the 5th to the 10th of July, we had continued stormy and cold weather, with a heavy sea, and great rolling of the ship.

From Project Gutenberg

Like me, he entered railway life in 1867; but, p. 69unlike me, has not been a rolling stone.

From Project Gutenberg