rest.
Relief from work or activity by sleeping; sleep.
Meaning & usage
Relief from work or activity by sleeping; sleep.
I need to get a good rest tonight; I was up late last night.
The sun sets, and the workers go to their rest.
Any relief from exertion; a state of quiet and relaxation.
We took a rest at the top of the hill to get our breath back.
Peace; freedom from worry, anxiety, annoyances; tranquility.
It was nice to have a rest from the phone ringing when I unplugged it for a while.
A state of inactivity; a state of little or no motion; a state of completion.
The boulder came to rest just behind the house after rolling down the mountain.
The ocean was finally at rest.
A final position after death. Also, death itself: "Not alone, not alone would I go to my rest in the heart of the love..." -- George William Russell ("Love")
She was laid to rest in the village cemetery.
A pause of a specified length in a piece of music.
Remember there's a rest at the end of the fourth bar.
A written symbol indicating such a pause in a musical score such as in sheet music.
Absence of motion.
The body's centre of gravity may affect its state of rest.
A stick with a U-, V- or X-shaped head used to support the tip of a cue when the cue ball is otherwise out of reach.
Higgins can't quite reach the white with his cue, so he'll be using the rest.
Any object designed to be used to support something else.
She put the phone receiver back in its rest.
He placed his hands on the arm rests of the chair.
A projection from the right side of the cuirass of armour, serving to support the lance.
A place where one may rest, either temporarily, as in an inn, or permanently, as, in an abode.
A short pause in reading poetry; a caesura.
The striking of a balance at regular intervals in a running account. Often, specifically, the intervals after which compound interest is added to capital.
A set or game at tennis.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Germanic *rastō Proto-West Germanic *rastu Old English ræst Middle English reste English rest From Middle English rest, reste, from Old English ræst, from Proto-West Germanic *rastu, from Proto-Germanic *rastō, of uncertain origin; possibly derived from Proto-Indo-European *h₁reh₁- (“to rest”) or *Hre(h₁)s- (“to flow, rush”). Cognate with West Frisian rêst (“rest”), Dutch rust (“rest”), German Rast (“rest”), Swedish rast (“rest”), Norwegian rest (“rest”), Icelandic röst (“rest”), Old Irish árus (“dwelling”), German Ruhe (“calm”), Albanian resht (“to stop, pause”), Welsh araf (“quiet, calm, gentle”), Lithuanian rovà (“calm”), Ancient Greek ἐρωή (erōḗ, “rest, respite”), Avestan 𐬀𐬌𐬭𐬌𐬨𐬈 (aⁱrime, “calm, peaceful”), Sanskrit रमते (rámate, “he stays still, calms down”), Gothic 𐍂𐌹𐌼𐌹𐍃 (rimis, “tranquility”). Related to roo.
To cease from action, motion, work, or performance of any kind; stop; desist; be without motion.
My day's work is over; now I will rest.
I shall not rest until I have uncovered the truth.
To come to a pause or an end; end.
To be free from that which harasses or disturbs; be quiet or still; be undisturbed.
To put into a state of rest.
We need to rest the horses before we ride any further.
To stay, remain, be situated, or belong to.
The blame seems to rest with your father.
Copyright in the typographical arrangement rests with the Crown.
To rely or depend on.
The decision rests on getting a bank loan.
To be based on; to rely on something for proof or explanation
To lean, lie, or lay.
A column rests on its pedestal.
I rested my head in my hands.
To complete one's active advocacy in a trial or other proceeding, and thus to wait for the outcome (however, one is still generally available to answer questions, etc.)
The defense rests, your Honor.
I rest my case.
To sleep; slumber.
To lie dormant.
To sleep the final sleep; sleep in death; die; be dead.
To be satisfied; to acquiesce.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English resten, from Old English restan, from Proto-West Germanic *rastijan (“to rest”), from Proto-Indo-European *ros-, *res-, *erH- (“rest”). Cognate with Dutch rusten (“to rest”), Middle Low German resten (“to rest”), German rasten (“to rest”), Danish raste (“to rest”), Swedish rasta (“to rest”).
That which remains.
She ate some of the food, but was not hungry enough to eat it all, so she put the rest in the refrigerator to finish later.
Those not included in a proposition or description; the remainder; others.
A surplus held as a reserved fund by a bank to equalize its dividends, etc.; in the Bank of England, the balance of assets above liabilities.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English reste, from Old French reste, from Old French rester (“to remain”), from Latin restō (“to stay back, stay behind”), from re- + stō (“to stand”). Replaced native Middle English lave (“rest, remainder”) (from Old English lāf (“remnant, remainder”)).
To continue to be, remain, be left in a certain way.
You can rest 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.
To keep a certain way.
God rest you merry, gentlemen.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English resten, from Old French rester, from Latin restō.
To arrest.
Where this word comes from
Aphetic form of arrest.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.