Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

rock and roll

/ˈɹɑk ən(d)ˈɹoʊl/

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.57 in modern English

Syllables: rock- and roll
IPA: /ˈɹɑk ən(d)ˈɹoʊl/

18

Scrabble Score

11

Letters

2

Syllables

8

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A genre of popular music that evolved in the 1950s from a combination of rhythm and blues and country music, characterized by electric guitars, strong rhythms, and youth-oriented lyrics.

Uncountable

noun

A style of vigorous dancing associated with this genre of music.

Uncountable

noun

An intangible feeling, philosophy, belief or allegiance relating to rock music, characterized by unbridled enthusiasm, hedonism, and cynical regard for authoritarian bodies.

Uncountable

noun

Dole, payment by the state to the unemployed.

Slang; Uncountable

noun

The full automatic fire capability selection on a selective fire weapon.

American usage; Slang; Uncountable

noun

The ability to run the picture and audio back and forth in synchronization, allowing the correction of mistakes during dubbing.

Uncountable

verb

Dated; Slang

verb

To play rock and roll music.

Example Sentences

"rock and roll lifestyle"
"I'm back on rock and roll"
"The dubbing theatre is a viewing theatre equipped for running the picture with a great many tracks interlocked to run synchronously. Once laced up, they can be run forwards or backwards remaining in synch; when it was first introduced this system was given the name 'rock and roll'."
"It is very rare that an entire commentary is recorded in one take. If you need to stop for some reason — the performance isn't quite right, there's a rustle of papers, etc — you can always go back on the recording and pick it up from the point at which it went wrong. This is known as rock and roll."
"An alternative method is the use of ADR (automated dialogue replacement), which consists basically of a high speed rock and roll dubbing system and a programmable locating device."
"Does everyone know what car they're going in? Then let's rock and roll!"

Etymology

From rock (move back and forth) + and + roll; originally a verb phrase common among African Americans, meaning "to have sexual intercourse"; it was a euphemism that appeared in song titles since at least 1914 (Trixie Smith's "My Man Rocks Me With One Steady Roll"). As a name for a specific style of popular music from the early 1950s, popularized by disc jockey Alan Freed in reference to the euphemistic use in song titles.

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈɹɑk ən(d)ˈɹoʊl/
British English: /ˈɹɒk ən(d)ˈɹəʊl/

Usage

Subject

Wiktionary places this term in Music.

Inflected Forms

rock-and-roll (alternative) rock'n'roll (alternative) rock 'n' roll (alternative) rock n roll (alternative) rock 'n roll (alternative) rock-n-roll (alternative) rock-'n'-roll (alternative) rock & roll (alternative) rocks and rolls (present, singular) rock and rolls (present, singular) rocking and rolling (participle, present) rock and rolling (participle, present)

Phrases

death 'n' roll rock and roller sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll un-rock and roll ready to rock and roll

Synonyms

bang do it approach cohabit common company copulate couple engage in sex exchange flesh have intimate relations have marital relations

Questions

How do you pronounce rock and roll?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈɹɑk ən(d)ˈɹoʊl/.
What does rock and roll mean?: A genre of popular music that evolved in the 1950s from a combination of rhythm and blues and country music, characterized by electric guitars, strong rhythms, and youth-oriented lyrics.
Where does rock and roll come from?: From rock (move back and forth) + and + roll; originally a verb phrase common among African Americans, meaning "to have sexual intercourse"; it was a euphemism that appeared in song titles since at least 1914 (Trixie Smith's "My Man Rocks Me With One Steady Roll"). As a name for a specific style of popular music from the early 1950s, popularized by disc jockey Alan Freed in reference to the euphemistic use in song titles.

How to pronounce rock and roll

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “rock and roll”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈɹɑk ən(d)ˈɹoʊl/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “rock and roll”.
Repeat and practice — Say “rock and roll” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.