roast

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
roast/rəʊst/

▶verb

• 1 (with reference to food, especially meat) cook or be cooked by prolonged exposure to heat in an oven or over a fire.

  ■ process (a foodstuff, metal ore, etc.) by subjecting it to intense heat.

• 2 make or become very warm.

• 3 informal criticize or reprimand severely.

▶adjective (of food) having been roasted. ▶noun

• 1 a joint of meat that has been roasted or that is intended for roasting.

• 2 the process of roasting something, especially coffee.

  ■ a particular type of roasted coffee.

• 3 an outdoor party at which meat is roasted.

– derivatives
roaster noun.

– origin ME: from OFr. rostir, of W. Gmc origin.