- 1 [singular] the rest (of something) the remaining part of something I'm not doing this job for the rest of my life. How would you like to spend the rest of the day? Take what you want and throw the rest away.
- 2 [plural] the rest (of something) the remaining people or things; the others Don't blame Alex. He's human, like the rest of us. The first question was difficult, but the rest were pretty easy. period of relaxing
- 3 [countable, uncountable] a period of relaxing, sleeping or doing nothing after a period of activity I had a good night's rest. We stopped for a well-earned rest. rest (from something) to have/take a rest from all your hard work Try to get some rest—you have a busy day tomorrow. There are no matches tomorrow, which is a rest day, but the tournament resumes on Monday. Synonymsrestbreak respite time out breathing spaceThese are all words for a short period of time spent relaxing.rest a period of relaxing, sleeping or doing nothing after a period of activity:We stopped for a well-earned rest.break a short period of time when you stop what you are doing and rest or eat:Let’s take a break. In British English break is a period of time between lessons at school. The North American English word is recess.respite a short break from something difficult or unpleasant:The drug brought a brief respite from the pain.time out (informal, especially North American English) time for resting or relaxing away from your usual work or studies:Take time out to relax by the pool.breathing space a short rest in the middle of a period of mental or physical effort:This delay gives the party a breathing space in which to sort out its policies.Patterns (a) rest/break/respite/time out from something to have/take (a) rest/break/time out to give somebody (a) rest/break/respite/breathing space Oxford Collocations Dictionary adjectivecomplete, good, long, … verb + restfind, get, have, … rest + nounbreak, day, interval, … prepositionat rest, rest from phrasesa day of rest See full entry See related entries: Recovering from illness support
- 4[countable] (often in compounds) an object that is used to support or hold something an armrest (= for example on a seat or chair) in music
- 5 [countable, uncountable] a period of silence between notes; a sign that shows a rest between notes See related entries: Reading music Word Originnoun senses 3 to 5 Old English ræst, rest (noun), ræstan, restan (verb), of Germanic origin, from a root meaning ‘league’ or ‘mile’ (referring to a distance after which one rests). noun senses 1 to 2 late Middle English: from Old French reste (noun), rester (verb), from Latin restare ‘remain’, from re- ‘back’ + stare ‘to stand’.Extra examples Get some rest while you can. Her heart would find no rest until she knew the truth. I apologize for disturbing your rest. I had a good long rest before the party. I need my beauty rest. I was hospitalized many times and put on bed rest for six months. She’s on complete bed rest, antibiotics and plenty of fluids. The ball rolled down the hill and came to rest against a tree. The body requires a healthy diet and adequate rest. The doctor advised him to take a complete rest from football. There are no matches tomorrow, which is a rest day, but the tournament resumes on Monday. Try to get some rest—you have a busy day tomorrow. You need a rest from all your hard work.Idioms
- 1(specialist) not moving At rest the insect looks like a dead leaf.
- 2dead and therefore free from trouble or anxiety. People say ‘at rest’ to avoid saying ‘dead’. She now lies at rest in the churchyard. See related entries: Death
noun jump to other results
BrE BrE//rest//; NAmE NAmE//rest//
Recovering from illness, Reading music
(informal) used at the end of a list to mean everything else that you might expect to be on the list He wants a big house and an expensive car and all the rest of it.
(informal) used to say that the actual amount or number of something is much higher than somebody has stated ‘It cost 250 pounds…’ ‘And the rest, and the rest!’
to stop moving The car crashed through the barrier and came to rest in a field. His eyes came to rest on Clara's face.
(British English, formal) apart from that; as far as other matters are concerned The book has some interesting passages about the author's childhood. For the rest, it is extremely dull.
(informal) used to tell somebody to stop talking about something because they are annoying you Give it a rest! You’ve been complaining all day.
(informal) to stop doing something for a while
to bury somebody. People say ‘to lay somebody to rest’ to avoid saying ‘to bury’ somebody. George was laid to rest beside his parents.
to stop something by showing it is not true The announcement finally laid all the speculation about their future to rest.
(usually humorous) used when somebody is complaining that they have a lot of work to do
to do or say something to make somebody stop worrying about something synonym reassure
used when you are telling a story to say that you do not need to tell the end of it, because everyone knows it already
Check pronunciation: rest
