TOP

Definition of rest noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

rest

noun
 
 
/rest/
 
/rest/
Idioms
jump to other results

    remaining part/people/things

  1.  
    the rest
    [singular] the part of something that remains
    • Take what you want and throw the rest away.
    • the rest of something The country enjoys friendly relations with the rest of the world.
    • How would you like to spend the rest of the day?
    • for the rest of something I'm not doing this job for the rest of my life.
  2.  
    the rest
    [plural] the people or things that remain; the others
    • The first question was difficult, but the rest were pretty easy.
    • the rest of something Don't blame Alex. He's human, like the rest of us.
    3.

    period of relaxing

  3.  
     [countable, uncountable] a period of relaxing, sleeping or doing nothing after a period of activity
    • I had a good night's rest.
    • We stopped for a well-earned rest.
    • rest from something to have/take a rest from all your hard work
    • Try to get some rest—you have a busy day tomorrow.
    • There are no matches tomorrow, which is a rest day, but the tournament resumes on Monday.
    see also bed rest, chapel of rest
    Synonyms restrestbreak ▪ respite ▪ time out ▪ breathing spaceThese are all words for a short period of time spent relaxing.rest a period of relaxing, sleeping or doing nothing after a period of activity:
    • We stopped for a well-earned rest.
    break a short period of time when you stop what you are doing and rest or eat:
    • Let’s take a break.
    In British English break is a period of time between lessons at school. The North American English word is recess.    respite a short break from something difficult or unpleasant:
    • The drug brought a brief respite from the pain.
    time out (especially North American English, informal) time for resting or relaxing away from your usual work or studies:
    • Take time out to relax by the pool.
    breathing space a short rest in the middle of a period of mental or physical effort:
    • This delay gives the party a breathing space in which to sort out its policies.
    Patterns
    • (a) rest/​break/​respite/​time out from something
    • to have/​take (a) rest/​break/​time out
    • to give somebody (a) rest/​break/​respite/​breathing space
    Extra Examples
    • Get some rest while you can.
    • Her heart would find no rest until she knew the truth.
    • I apologize for disturbing your rest.
    • I had a good long rest before the party.
    • I need my beauty rest.
    • I was hospitalized many times and put on bed rest for six months.
    • The body requires a healthy diet and adequate rest.
    • The doctor advised him to take a complete rest from football.
    • You need a rest from all your hard work.
    Topics Healthcarea2
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective
    • complete
    • good
    • long
    • …
    verb + rest
    • find
    • get
    • have
    • …
    rest + noun
    • break
    • day
    • interval
    • …
    preposition
    • at rest
    • rest from
    phrases
    • a day of rest
    See full entry
    4.

    support

  4. [countable] (often in compounds) an object that is used to support or hold something
    • an armrest (= for example on a seat or chair)
    5.

    in music

  5. [countable, uncountable] a period of silence between notes; a sign that shows a rest between notesTopics Musicc2
    6. Word Originnoun senses 3 to 5 Old English ræst, rest (noun), ræstan, restan (verb), of Germanic origin, from a root meaning ‘league’ or ‘mile’ (referring to a distance after which one rests). noun senses 1 to 2 late Middle English: from Old French reste (noun), rester (verb), from Latin restare ‘remain’, from re- ‘back’ + stare ‘to stand’.
Idioms
and (all) the rest (of it)
  1. (informal) used at the end of a list to mean everything else that you might expect to be on the list
    • He wants a big house and an expensive car and all the rest of it.
and the rest
  1. (informal) used to say that the actual amount or number of something is much higher than somebody has stated
    • ‘It cost 250 pounds…’ ‘And the rest, and the rest!’
at rest
  1. (specialist) not moving
    • At rest the insect looks like a dead leaf.
  2. dead and therefore free from trouble or worry. People say ‘at rest’ to avoid saying ‘dead’.
    • She now lies at rest in the churchyard.
    Topics Life stagesc2
come to rest
  1. to stop moving
    • The car crashed through the barrier and came to rest in a field.
    • His eyes came to rest on Clara's face.
    • The ball rolled down the hill and came to rest against a tree.
for the rest
  1. (British English, formal) apart from that; considering other matters
    • The book has some interesting passages about the author's childhood. For the rest, it is extremely dull.
give it a rest
  1. (informal) used to tell somebody to stop talking about something because they are annoying you
    • Give it a rest! You’ve been complaining all day.
give something a rest
  1. (informal) to stop doing something for a while
lay somebody to rest
  1. to bury somebody. People say ‘to lay somebody to rest’ to avoid saying ‘to bury’ somebody.
    • George was laid to rest beside his parents.
lay/put something to rest
  1. to stop something by showing it is not true
    • The announcement finally laid all the speculation about their future to rest.
(there’s) no peace/rest for the wicked
  1. (usually humorous) used when somebody is complaining that they have a lot of work to do
put/set somebody’s mind at ease/rest
  1. to do or say something to make somebody stop worrying about something synonym reassure
the rest is history
  1. used when you are telling a story to say that you do not need to tell the end of it, because everyone knows it already
See rest in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee rest in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English
Check pronunciation: rest

Nearby words

given
adjective
 
 
From the Word list
OPAL spoken words
Oxford Learner's Dictionaries Word of the Day