• enPR:rĕst,IPA^(key):/ɹɛst/

• Audio(US):

  (file)

• Audio(Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes:-ɛst
• Homophone:wrest

FromMiddle Englishrest,reste, fromOld Englishræst, fromProto-West Germanic*rastu, fromProto-Germanic*rastō, fromProto-Indo-European*ros-,*res-,*erH-(“rest”). Cognate withWest Frisianrêst(“rest”),Dutchrust(“rest”),GermanRast(“rest”),Swedishrast(“rest”),Norwegianrest(“rest”),Icelandicröst(“rest”),Old Irishárus(“dwelling”),GermanRuhe(“calm”),Albanianresht(“to stop, pause”),Welsharaf(“quiet, calm, gentle”),Lithuanianrovà(“calm”),Ancient Greekἐρωή(erōḗ,“rest, respite”),Avestan𐬀𐬌𐬭𐬌𐬨𐬈(aⁱrime,“calm, peaceful”),Sanskritरमते(rámate,“he stays still, calms down”),Gothic𐍂𐌹𐌼𐌹𐍃(rimis,“tranquility”). Related toroo.

rest (countable anduncountable,pluralrests)

1. (uncountable, of aperson oranimal)Relief fromwork oractivity by sleeping;sleep.

   Synonyms:sleep,slumber

   I need to get a goodrest tonight; I was up late last night.

   The sun sets, and the workers go to theirrest.

2. (countable) Any relief fromexertion; astate ofquiet andrelaxation.

   Synonyms:break,repose,time off

   We took arest at the top of the hill to get our breath back.

3. (uncountable)Peace;freedom fromworry,anxiety,annoyances;tranquility.

   Synonyms:peace,quiet,roo,silence,stillness,tranquility

   It was nice to have arest from the phone ringing when I unplugged it for a while.

   • 1611,The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London:[…]Robert Barker, […],→OCLC,Judges3:30:

     And the land hadrest fourscore years.

4. (uncountable, of anobject orconcept) A state ofinactivity; a state of little or nomotion; a state ofcompletion.

   The boulder came torest just behind the house after rolling down the mountain.

   The ocean was finally atrest.

   Now that we're all in agreement, we can put that issue torest.

5. (euphemistic,uncountable) Afinalposition afterdeath. Also, death itself: "Not alone, not alone would I go to my rest in the heart of the love..." -- George William Russell ("Love")

   Synonym:peace

   She was laid torest in the village cemetery.

7. (music,countable) Apause of a specified length in a piece of music.

   Hyponyms:breve rest,demisemiquaver rest,hemidemisemiquaver rest,minim rest,quaver rest,semibreve rest,semiquaver rest

   Remember there's arest at the end of the fourth bar.

8. (music,countable) Awrittensymbol indicating such a pause in a musicalscore such as insheet music.
10. (physics,uncountable)Absence ofmotion.

    Antonym:motion

    The body's centre of gravity may affect its state ofrest.

11. (snooker,countable) A stick with a U-, V- or X-shaped head used to support the tip of acue when thecue ball is otherwise out of reach.

    Hypernym:bridge

    Higgins can't quite reach the white with his cue, so he'll be using therest.

12. (countable) Any objectdesigned to be used to support something else.

    Synonyms:(of a telephone)cradle,support

    She put the phone receiver back in itsrest.

    He placed his hands on the armrests of the chair.

    Hyponyms:arm rest,elbow rest,foot rest,head rest,leg rest,neck rest,wrist rest

13. Aprojection from the right side of thecuirass ofarmour, serving to support thelance.
    • 1700,[John] Dryden, “The Flower and the Leaf: Or, The Lady in the Arbour. A Vision.”, inFables Ancient and Modern; […], London:[…]Jacob Tonson, […],→OCLC:

      their visors closed, their lances in therest

14. A place where one may rest, either temporarily, as in an inn, or permanently, as, in an abode.
    • c. 1851, Catholicus (pen name ofJohn Henry Newman,letter in The Times

      halfway houses and travellers'rests

    • 1667,John Milton, “Book IX”, inParadise Lost. […], London:[…] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […];[a]nd by Robert Boulter […];[a]nd Matthias Walker, […],→OCLC; republished asParadise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […],1873,→OCLC:

      in dust our finalrest, and native home

    • 1611,The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London:[…]Robert Barker, […],→OCLC,Deuteronomyxii:9:

      Ye are not as yet come to therest and to the inheritance which the Lord your God giveth you.

15. (poetry) A short pause in reading poetry; acaesura.
16. The striking of a balance at regular intervals in a running account. Often, specifically, the intervals after which compound interest is added to capital.
    • 1874, New York Court of Appeals,Records and Briefs:

      a new account was opened under the heading "Irondale Mine" and so continued witlisemiannual rest

17. (dated) Aset orgame attennis.

• activity

FromMiddle Englishresten, fromOld Englishrestan, fromProto-West Germanic*rastijan(“to rest”), fromProto-Indo-European*ros-,*res-,*erH-(“rest”). Cognate withDutchrusten(“to rest”),Middle Low Germanresten(“to rest”),Germanrasten(“to rest”),Danishraste(“to rest”),Swedishrasta(“to rest”).

rest (third-person singular simple presentrests,present participleresting,simple past and past participlerested)

1. (intransitive) Tocease from action, motion, work, or performance of any kind;stop;desist; be without motion.

   My day's work is over; now I willrest.

   I shall notrest until I have uncovered the truth.

   • 1611,The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London:[…]Robert Barker, […],→OCLC,Exodus23:12:

     Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shaltrest.

2. (intransitive) To come to apause or an end;end.
3. (intransitive) To be free from that which harasses or disturbs; be quiet or still; be undisturbed.
   • 1667,John Milton, “Book I”, inParadise Lost. […], London:[…] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […];[a]nd by Robert Boulter […];[a]nd Matthias Walker, […],→OCLC; republished asParadise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […],1873,→OCLC:

     Thererest, if any rest can harbour there.

4. (transitive,reflexive,copulative) To put into a state of rest.

   We need torest the horses before we ride any further.

   • 1485, SirThomas Malory,Le Morte d'Arthur, Book X:

     And thereby at a pryory theyrested them all nyght.

   • 2011 September 29, Jon Smith, “Tottenham 3-1 Shamrock Rovers”, inBBC Sport:

     With the north London derby to come at the weekend, Spurs boss Harry Redknapp opted torest many of his key players, although he brought back Aaron Lennon after a month out through injury.

5. (intransitive) Tostay,remain, be situated, or belong to.

   The blame seems torest with your father.

   Copyright in the typographical arrangementrests with the Crown.

6. (intransitive) Torely ordepend on.

   The decisionrests on getting a bank loan.

   • 1700,John Dryden,Sigismonda and Guiscardo:

     On him Irested, after long debate, / And not without considering, fixed fate.

   • 2013 August 3, “Boundary problems”, inThe Economist, volume408, number8847:

     Economics is a messy discipline: too fluid to be a science, too rigorous to be an art. Perhaps it is fitting that economists’ most-used metric, gross domestic product (GDP), is a tangle too.[…]But as a foundation for analysis it is highly subjective: itrests on difficult decisions about what counts as a territory, what counts as output and how to value it. Indeed, economists are still tweaking it.

7. (transitive,intransitive,reflexive) Tolean,lie, orlay.

   A columnrests on its pedestal.

   Irested my head in my hands.

   Sherested against my shoulder.

   Irested against the wall for a minute.

8. (intransitive,transitive,law,US) To complete one's activeadvocacy in atrial or otherproceeding, and thus to wait for theoutcome (however, one is still generally available to answer questions, etc.)

   The defenserests, your Honor.

   Irest my case.

9. (intransitive) Tosleep;slumber.
10. (intransitive) To liedormant.
11. (intransitive) To sleep the final sleep; sleep indeath;die; be dead.
    • 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson],In Memoriam, London:Edward Moxon, […],→OCLC, Canto XXI,page35:

      I sing to him thatrests below,
      ⁠And, since the grasses round me wave,
      ⁠I take the grasses of the grave,
      And make them pipes whereon to blow.

12. To be satisfied; to acquiesce.
    • 1712 (date written),[Joseph] Addison,Cato, a Tragedy. […], London:[…]J[acob] Tonson, […], published1713,→OCLC, Act I, scene ii,page 1:

      torest in Heaven's determination

• (lie down and take repose, especially by sleeping):relax
• (give rest to):relieve
• (stop working):have abreather,pause,take a break,taketime off,taketime out
• (be situated):be,lie,remain,reside,stay
• (transitive: lean, lay):lay,lean,place,put
• (intransitive: lie, lean):lean,lie

• (lie down and take repose):nap,sleep

FromMiddle Englishreste, fromOld Frenchreste, fromOld Frenchrester(“to remain”), fromLatinrestō(“to stay back, stay behind”), fromre- +stō(“to stand”). Replaced nativeMiddle Englishlave(“rest, remainder”) (fromOld Englishlāf(“remnant, remainder”)).

• enPR:rĕst,IPA^(key):/ɹɛst/

• Audio(US):

  (file)

• Rhymes:-ɛst

rest (uncountable)

2. (uncountable) That whichremains.

   Synonyms:lave,remainder

   She ate some of the food, but was not hungry enough to eat it all, so she put therest in the refrigerator to finish later.

3. Those not included in a proposition or description; the remainder; others.
   • 1676,Bishop Stillingfleet,A Defence of the Discourse Concerning the Idolatry Practised in the Church of Rome:

     Plato and therest of the philosophers

   • 1697,Virgil, “(please specify the book number)”, inJohn Dryden, transl.,The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London:[…]Jacob Tonson, […],→OCLC:

     Arm'd like therest, the Trojan prince appears.

   • 1897 December (indicated as1898),Winston Churchill, chapter XI, inThe Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.:The Macmillan Company; London:Macmillan & Co., Ltd.,→OCLC:

     Therest of us were engaged in various occupations: Mr. Trevor relating experiences of steamboat days on the Ohio to Mrs. Cooke; Miss Trevor buried in a serial in the Century; and Farrar and I taking an inventory of the fishing-tackle, when we were startled by a loud and profane ejaculation.

   • 2008,BioWare,Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts,→ISBN,→OCLC, PC, scene: Citadel:

     Shepard: Therest of the galaxy isn't just going to bow down just because we tell them to. We'll need the fleets to bring them in line.

   • 2019 February 3, “UN Study: China, US, Japan Lead World AI Development”, inVoice of America‎^[1], archived fromthe original on7 February 2019:

     It also showed that 26 of the top 30 AI patent requests came from businesses. Universities or public research organizations made up therest.

     Audio(US):

     (file)

4. (UK,finance) Asurplus held as areservedfund by abank toequalize itsdividends, etc.; in theBank of England, thebalance ofassets aboveliabilities.

• (that which remains): See alsoThesaurus:remainder

FromMiddle Englishresten, fromOld Frenchrester, fromLatinrestō.

rest (third-person singular simple presentrests,present participleresting,simple past and past participlerested)

1. (no object, with complement) Tocontinue tobe,remain, beleft in a certain way.

   You canrest assured that a sick child will say when it's again ready to eat, so it won't starve and doesn't need to be cajoled into eating.

   Rest you merry.

   ("Be glad, be joyful"; later: "Good luck to you.")

2. (transitive,obsolete) Tokeep a certain way.

   Godrest you merry, gentlemen.

   ("May God grant you happiness and peace, gentlemen"; literally: "May God keep you happy and in peace, gentlemen.")

Aphetic form ofarrest.

rest (third-person singular simple presentrests,present participleresting,simple past and past participlerested)

1. (obsolete,transitive,colloquial) Toarrest.

• -ster,ERTs,rets,erst,tres,RETs,TERs,SERT,estr-,-estr-

Derived fromGermanRest.

• IPA^(key):[ˈrɛst]
• Hyphenation:rest

rest m inan

1. (mostly in plural)backlog,unfinishedbusiness
2. arrear(s)

• “rest”, inPříruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech),1935–1957
• “rest”, inSlovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech),1960–1971, 1989

• setr

Borrowed fromFrenchreste, probably viaGermanRest.

• IPA^(key):[ˈʁasd̥],[ˈʁɑsd̥]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Homophone:rast

rest c (singular definiteresten,plural indefiniterester)

1. remnant,remainder,rest
2. (in the plural)scraps offood
3. (mathematics)residue,remainder

• forresten
• madrest
• restgæld
• restlager
• restklasse

• “rest” inDen Danske Ordbog

FromMiddle Dutchreste, fromMiddle Frenchreste.

• IPA^(key):/rɛst/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation:rest
• Rhymes:-ɛst

rest f (pluralresten,diminutiverestje n)

1. rest(that which remains)

   Synonyms:overblijfsel,overschot

• Afrikaans:res
• Negerhollands:rest

• erts,ster

From a Northern Italian dialect, compareEmilianrest,Piedmonteserest,Romagnolrést,Italianresto(“rest”), fromrestare, fromLatinrestō(“I stay behind, remain”).

• IPA^(key):[ˈrɛʃt]
• Hyphenation:rest
• Rhymes:-ɛʃt

rest (comparativerestebb,superlativelegrestebb)

1. lazy

   Synonyms:henye,lusta,renyhe,tunya

• restell
• restség

(Expressions):

• a rest kétszer fárad

• rest inGéza Bárczi,László Országh,et al., editors,A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára [The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (ÉrtSz.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962.Fifth ed., 1992:→ISBN.

rest m (pluralresc)

1. rest,residue

Borrowed fromFrenchreste.

rest m (definite singularresten,indefinite pluralrester,definite pluralrestene)

1. remainder,rest

   resten av ―the rest of

   rester ―remains, remnants

• forresten
• matrest

• “rest” inThe Bokmål Dictionary.

Borrowed fromFrenchreste.

rest m (definite singularresten,indefinite pluralrestar,definite pluralrestane)

1. remainder,rest

   resten av ―the rest of

   restar ―remains, remnants

• forresten
• matrest

• “rest” inThe Nynorsk Dictionary.

• IPA^(key):/rest/

rest f

1. Alternative form ofræst

Strongō-stem:

Borrowed fromFrenchreste.

• IPA^(key):/rest/

rest n (pluralresturi)

1. rest(remainder)