ROOM. She lets out her fore room and lies backwards: saying of a woman suspected of prostitution.
ROOST LAY. Stealing poultry.
ROPES. Upon the high ropes; elated, in high spirits, cock-a-hoop.
ROSE. Under the rose: privately or secretly. The rose was, it is said, sacred to Harpocrates, the God of silence, and therefore frequently placed in the ceilings of rooms destined for the receiving of guests; implying, that whatever was transacted there, should not be made public.
ROSY GILLS. One with a sanguine or fresh-coloured countenance.
ROTAN. A coach, cart, or other wheeled carriage.
ROT GUT. Small beer; called beer-a-bumble—will burst one's guts before it will make one tumble.
ROVERS. Pirates, vagabonds.
ROUGH. To lie rough; to lie all night in one's clothes: called also roughing it. Likewise to sleep on the bare deck of a ship, when the person is commonly advised to chuse the softest plank.
ROUGH MUSIC. Saucepans, frying-paps, poker and tongs, marrow-bones and cleavers, bulls horns, &c. beaten upon and sounded in ludicrous processions.