Roll

Roll is a word with multiple meanings across language, science, and everyday life. As a noun, it can denote a physical object that is cylindrical or compact, a roll of material such as film, paper, or tape, or a roster or list of names. As a verb, it describes the action of rotating or moving forward by turning over an axis, or causing something to move in a similar rolling motion.

One common sense is a bread roll, a small, soft loaf often eaten for meals or used in sandwiches. Rolls vary in shape and size, from round dinner rolls to elongated sub rolls, and appear in many culinary traditions.

In material handling and manufacturing, a roll refers to a cylindrical form used to store or transport goods, such as a roll of film, a roll of wallpaper, or a roll of adhesive tape. A related concept is rolling as a metalworking process, where metal stock is passed between rolls to reduce thickness or change cross-section in rolling mills.

In photography and cinema, a roll traditionally meant a roll of undeveloped film carrying a number of frames; though digital photography has largely replaced film, the term persists in historical and archival contexts.

Other common uses include die rolling in games, where the outcome depends on chance; a drum roll as a rapid succession of drumbeats signaling anticipation; muster roll or roll call as rosters listing people present or assigned to duties; and the idiom “on a roll,” describing a period of successive successes.

Rolls thus span objects, processes, and phrases, reflecting the broad sense of turning, layering, and listing embedded in the term.