Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Roach

Roach, n. (Zoöl.) A cockroach.

Roach, n. [OE. rroche; cf. AS. reohha, D. rog, roch, G. roche, LG. ruche, Dan. rokke ray, Sw. rocka, and E. ray a fish.] 1. (Zoöl.) (a) A European fresh-water fish of the Carp family (Leuciscus rutilus). It is silver-white, with a greenish back. (b) An American chub (Semotilus bullaris); the fallfish. (c) The redfin, or shiner.

2. (Naut.) A convex curve or arch cut in the edge of a sail to prevent chafing, or to secure a better fit.

As sound as a roach [roach perhaps being a corruption of a F. roche a rock], perfectly sound.

Roach, v. t. 1. To cause to arch.

2. To cut off, as a horse's mane, so that the part left shall stand upright.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty.