rest Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun something left after other parts have been taken away
    residue; residuum; residual; balance; remainder.
    • there was no remainder
    • he threw away the rest
    • he took what he wanted and I got the balance
  2. noun freedom from activity (work or strain or responsibility)
    ease; repose; relaxation.
    • took his repose by the swimming pool
  3. noun a pause for relaxation
    rest period; respite; relief.
    • people actually accomplish more when they take time for short rests
  4. noun a state of inaction
    • a body will continue in a state of rest until acted upon
  5. noun euphemisms for death (based on an analogy between lying in a bed and in a tomb)
    sleep; eternal sleep; quietus; eternal rest.
    • she was laid to rest beside her husband
    • they had to put their family pet to sleep
  6. noun a support on which things can be put
    • the gun was steadied on a special rest
  7. noun a musical notation indicating a silence of a specified duration
  8. verb not move; be in a resting position
  9. verb take a short break from one's activities in order to relax
    breathe; take a breather; catch one's breath.
  10. verb give a rest to
    • He rested his bad leg
    • Rest the dogs for a moment
  11. verb have a place in relation to something else
    lie.
    • The fate of Bosnia lies in the hands of the West
    • The responsibility rests with the Allies
  12. verb be at rest
  13. verb stay the same; remain in a certain state
    remain; stay.
    • The dress remained wet after repeated attempts to dry it
    • rest assured
    • stay alone
    • He remained unmoved by her tears
    • The bad weather continued for another week
  14. verb be inherent or innate in;
    reside; repose.
  15. verb put something in a resting position, as for support or steadying
    • Rest your head on my shoulder
  16. verb sit, as on a branch
    perch; roost.
    • The birds perched high in the tree
  17. verb rest on or as if on a pillow
    pillow.
    • pillow your head
  18. verb be inactive, refrain from acting
    • The committee is resting over the summer

WordNet

Rest transitive verb
Etymology
For arrest.
Definitions
  1. To arrest. Obs.
Rest noun
Etymology
AS. rest, rst, rest; akin to D. rust, G. rast. OHG. rasta, Dan. & Sw. rast rest, repose, Icel. rst the distance between two resting places, a mole, Goth. rasta a mile, also to Goth. razn house, Icel. rann, and perhaps to G. ruhe rest, repose, AS. rw, Gr. Cf. Ransack.
Definitions
  1. A state of quiet or repose; a cessation from motion or labor; tranquillity; as, rest from mental exertion; rest of body or mind. Chaucer.
    Sleep give thee all his rest! Shak.
  2. Hence, freedom from everything which wearies or disturbs; peace; security.
    And the land had rest fourscore years. Judges iii. 30.
  3. Sleep; slumber; hence, poetically, death.
    How sleep the brave who sink to rest, By all their country's wishes blest. Collins.
  4. That on which anything rests or leans for support; as, a rest in a lathe, for supporting the cutting tool or steadying the work.
    He made narrowed rests round about, that the beams should not be fastened in the walls of the house. 1 Kings vi. 6.
  5. (Anc. Armor) A projection from the right side of the cuirass, serving to support the lance.
    Their visors closed, their lances in the rest. Dryden.
  6. A place where one may rest, either temporarily, as in an inn, or permanently, as, in an abode. "Halfway houses and travelers' rests." J. H. Newman.
    In dust our final rest, and native home. Milton.
    Ye are not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance which the Lord your God giveth you. Deut. xii. 9.
  7. (Pros.) A short pause in reading verse; a c&ae;sura.
  8. The striking of a balance at regular intervals in a running account. "An account is said to be taken with annual or semiannual rests." Abbott.
  9. A set or game at tennis. Obs.
  10. (Mus.) Silence in music or in one of its parts; the name of the character that stands for such silence. They are named as notes are, whole, half, quarter,etc. Syn. -- Cessation; pause; intermission; stop; stay; repose; slumber; quiet; ease; quietness; stillness; tranquillity; peacefulness; pease. -- Rest, Repose. Rest is a ceasing from labor or exertion; repose is a mode of resting which gives relief and refreshment after toil and labor. The words are commonly interchangeable.
Rest intransitive verb
Etymology
AS. restan. See Rest, n.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Rested; present participle & verbal noun Resting
Definitions
  1. To cease from action or motion, especially from action which has caused weariness; to desist from labor or exertion.
    God . . . rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. Gen. ii. 2.
    Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest. Ex. xxiii. 12.
  2. To be free from whanever wearies or disturbs; to be quiet or still.
    There rest, if any rest can harbor there. Milton.
  3. To lie; to repose; to recline; to lan; as, to rest on a couch.
  4. To stand firm; to be fixed; to be supported; as, a column rests on its pedestal.
  5. To sleep; to slumber; hence, poetically, to be dead.
    Fancy . . . then retries Into her private cell when Nature rests. Milton.
  6. To lean in confidence; to trust; to rely; to repose without anxiety; as, to rest on a man's promise.
    On him I rested, after long debate, And not without considering, fixed fate. Dryden.
  7. To be satisfied; to acquiesce.
    To rest in Heaven's determination. Addison.
Rest transitive verb
Definitions
  1. To lay or place at rest; to quiet.
    Your piety has paid All needful rites, to rest my wandering shade. Dryden.
  2. To place, as on a support; to cause to lean.
    Her weary head upon your bosom rest. Waller.
Rest noun
Etymology
F. reste, fr. rester to remain, L. restare to stay back, remain; pref. re- re- + stare to stand, stay. See Stand, and cf. Arrest, Restive.
Definitions
  1. (With the definite article.) That which is left, or which remains after the separation of a part, either in fact or in contemplation; remainder; residue.
    Religion gives part of its reward in hand, the present comfort of having done our duty, and, for the rest, it offers us the best security that Heaven can give. Tillotson.
  2. Those not included in a proposition or description; the remainder; others. "Plato and the rest of the philosophers." Bp. Stillingfleet.
    Armed like the rest, the Trojan prince appears. DRyden.
  3. (Com.) A surplus held as a reserved fund by a bank to equalize its dividends, etc.; in the Bank of England, the balance of assets above liabilities. Eng. Syn. -- Remainder; overplus; surplus; remnant; residue; reserve; others.
Rest intransitive verb
Etymology
F. rester. See Rest remainder.
Definitions
  1. To be left; to remain; to continue to be.
    The affairs of men rest still uncertain. Shak.

Webster 1913