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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

rocker en · NOUN

Pronunciation

  • /ˈɹɔk.ə(ɹ)/ (Australia)
  • /ˈɹɑ.kɚ/ (US)
  • (Southern-England) audio
  • /ˈɹɒk.ə(ɹ)/ (UK)

Etymology

From Middle English rokker, rockere, rokkere, equivalent to rock + -er.

Meanings

  1. A curved piece of wood attached to the bottom of a rocking chair or cradle that enables it to rock back and forth.
    • The cradle-rockers had done hard duty for so many years, under the weight of so many children, on that flagstone floor, that they were worn nearly flat, in consequence of which a huge jerk accompanied each swing of the cot, flinging the baby from side to side like a weaver's shuttle, as Mrs Durbeyfield, excited by her song, trod the rocker with all the spring that was left in her after a long day's seething in the suds. 1891, Thomas Hardy, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, volume 1, London: James R. Osgood, McIlvaine and Co., page 30:
    • "By Jove, old boy," said Cripps, assisting the curate up, "should have warned you about that chair - the infernal rockers are sawn off short, you know." 1913, Norman Lindsay, A Curate in Bohemia, Sydney: N.S.W. Bookstall Co., published 1932, page 14:
  2. A rocking chair.
    • A few days before he turned 80 He was sittin' out back in a rocker 2021, “Buy Dirt”, in Buy Dirt, performed by Jordan Davis:
  3. The lengthwise curvature of a surfboard. (More rocker is a more curved board.)
    • All modern surfboards share a similar rocker design — Bruce Jones https://web.archive.org/web/20051212041317/http://www.brucejones.com/longboar.htm
  4. The breve below as in ḫ.
    • Like the editors of other Elamite texts, I omit the diacritic rocker from h in Elamite and from H in logograms in Elamite texts. I retain the rocker in ḫ and Ḫ in Sumerian and Akkadian. 1984, Matthew Wolfgang Stolper, Texts from Tall-i Malyan Elamite Administrative Texts (1972–1974) (Occasional Publications of the Babylonian Fund; 6), University of Pennsylvania Press, →ISBN, page XVII:
    • Although the exact sound value of s remains uncertain, and there is only one such sibiliant in Hittite, it is traditionally transliterated with a so-called haček: š. This should not be taken, however, as evidence that it was a palatal sound (as sh in show). The same is true for the traditional “rocker” under the laryngeal ḫ: there is no other h-sign, and the diacritic is not strictly necessary. 2011, Theo van den Hout, The Elements of Hittite, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 13:
    • Semitistic transliteration systems […] a number of features are common to most of them: […] ḫ (“h” with a “rocker,” conventionally called “hooked h”) for the voiceless velar/uvular fricative, IPA [x]/[χ], […] 2019, John Huehnergard, “Proto-Semitic”, in John Huehnergard, Na'ama Pat-El, editors, The Semitic Languages, 2nd edition, Routledge, →ISBN, page 15:
  5. Someone passionate about rock music.
  6. A musician who plays rock music.
  7. (informal) A rock music song.
    • "Girls & Boys" is […] also a tart, sneering rocker, full of ingenious musical gestures […] September 2010, Pitchfork Media, The Top 200 Tracks of the 1990s https://web.archive.org/web/20110218044518/http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/7852-the-top-200-tracks-of-the-1990s-50-21/3
  8. One who rocks something.
    • It was I Sir (ſaid the Rocker) who had the honour (ſome thirty years ſince) to attend on your Highneſs in your Infancie, […] 1660, Thomas Fuller, “Trusting maketh one Trusty”, in Mixt Contemplations in Better Times, London: […] R[oger] D[aniel] for Iohn Williams, […], →OCLC, page [75]:
  9. (UK) A member of a British subculture of the 1960s, opposed to the mods, who dressed in black leather and were interested in 1950s music.
  10. Any implement or machine working with a rocking motion, such as a trough mounted on rockers for separating gold dust from gravel, etc., by agitation in water.
  11. A tool with small teeth that roughens a metal plate to produce tonality in mezzotints.
  12. A rocking horse.
  13. A rocker board.
  14. A skate with a curved blade, somewhat resembling in shape the rocker of a cradle.
  15. A kind of electrical switch with a spring-loaded actuator.
  16. A rock shaft.
  17. A curved line accompanying the chevrons that denote rank, qualifying the rank with a grade.
    • Cadet Sergeant First Class: 3 Chevrons and 2 rockers. Cadet Master Sergeant: 3 Chevrons and 3 rockers. Cadet First Sergeant: 3 Chevrons, 3 rockers with a diamond inset. 2000, Mark Collantes, The Academy, page 66:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
rockers Number=Plur lexicographic

Deriveds

platform rocker · rocker arm · rockers reggae · gyrorocker · rocker panel · alt-rocker · tri-rocker · stoner rocker · glam rocker · rockerish · spring rocker · cock rocker · deathrocker · antirocker · root-rocker · folk-rocker · anti-rocker · surf rocker · rocker switch · hard rocker · acoustic rocker · rockered · punk rocker · off one's rocker

Translations (45)

ru баланси́р (curved piece of wood) · mk рокер (musician who plays rock music) · tr rockçı (musician who plays rock music) · pl fotel bujany (Hence, a rocking chair) · es rockera (musician who plays rock music) · el ροκάς (Someone passionate about rock music) · de Schaukelbrett (curved piece of wood) · es rockero (Someone passionate about rock music) · es roquero (musician who plays rock music) · pt roqueira (Someone passionate about rock music) · fi rokkari (Someone passionate about rock music) · de Rockerin (Someone passionate about rock music) · fi keinutuoli (Hence, a rocking chair) · bg люлеещ стол (Hence, a rocking chair) · es rockero (musician who plays rock music) · fi rokkari (musician who plays rock music) · de Kufe (curved piece of wood) · de Rockmusikerin (musician who plays rock music) · de Rockmusiker (musician who plays rock music) · pt roqueiro (Someone passionate about rock music) · bg рокер (musician who plays rock music) · es roquero (Someone passionate about rock music) · ru кре́сло-кача́лка (Hence, a rocking chair) · de Rocker (musician who plays rock music) · it sedia a dondolo (Hence, a rocking chair) · es rockera (Someone passionate about rock music) · fi keinutuolin jalka (curved piece of wood) · es roquera (musician who plays rock music) · fr rockeur (musician who plays rock music) · de Rockerin (musician who plays rock music) · pt roqueiro (musician who plays rock music) · de Schaukelstuhl (Hence, a rocking chair) · de Rocker (Someone passionate about rock music) · ru кача́лка (Hence, a rocking chair) · pl krzesło bujane (Hence, a rocking chair) · es roquera (Someone passionate about rock music) · de Wiege (curved piece of wood) · fr rockeuse (musician who plays rock music) · ru ро́кер (Someone passionate about rock music) · hy ճոճաթոռ (Hence, a rocking chair) · de Wippe (curved piece of wood) · bg люлка (curved piece of wood) · ru коромы́сло (curved piece of wood) · pl biegun (curved piece of wood) · pt roqueira (musician who plays rock music)