use-icon

HOW TO USE THE DICTIONARY

To look up an entry in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, use the search window above. For best results, after typing in the word, click on the “Search” button instead of using the “enter” key.

Some compound words (like bus rapid transit, dog whistle, or identity theft) don’t appear on the drop-down list when you type them in the search bar. For best results with compound words, place a quotation mark before the compound word in the search window.

guide to the dictionary

use-icon

THE USAGE PANEL

The Usage Panel is a group of nearly 200 prominent scholars, creative writers, journalists, diplomats, and others in occupations requiring mastery of language. Annual surveys have gauged the acceptability of particular usages and grammatical constructions.

The Panelists

open-icon

AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY APP

The new American Heritage Dictionary app is now available for iOS and Android.

scroll-icon

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY BLOG

The articles in our blog examine new words, revised definitions, interesting images from the fifth edition, discussions of usage, and more.

100-words-icon

See word lists from the best-selling 100 Words Series!

Find out more!

open-icon

INTERESTED IN DICTIONARIES?

Check out the Dictionary Society of North America at http://www.dictionarysociety.com

rest 1 (rĕst)
Share:
n.
1.
a. A period of inactivity, relaxation, or sleep:The hikers stopped for a rest.
b. Sleep or the refreshment resulting from inactivity or sleep:Get plenty of rest before the race.
c. The repose of death:eternal rest.
d. Mental or emotional calm:The news put my mind at rest.
2. The state of being motionless; the absence of motion:The car accelerates quickly from a state of rest.
3. The condition of being settled or resolved:a remark that put the matter to rest.
4. Music
a. An interval of silence corresponding to one of the possible time values within a measure.
b. The mark or symbol indicating such a pause and its length.
5. A short pause in a line of poetry; a caesura.
6. A device used as a support:a back rest.
7. Games See bridge1.
v.rest·ed, rest·ing, rests
v.intr.
1.
a. To cease motion, work, or activity, especially in order to become refreshed:The laborers rested in the shade.
b. To lie down and sleep:rested for an hour on the couch.
2.
a. To be in or come to a motionless state:The can rolled along, finally resting when it hit the curb.
b. To be located or be in a specified place:The manuscript rests in the museum.
c. To be fixed or directed on something:His gaze rested on the necklace.
d. To be unchanged or unresolved:After arguing for an hour, we let the matter rest.
3.
a. To be supported or based; lie, lean, or sit:The ladder rests firmly anst the tree.
b. To be imposed or vested, as a responsibility or burden:The final decision rests with the crperson.
c. To depend or rely:That argument rests on a false assumption.
4. Law To complete the n presentation of one's portion of a legal case:The defense rests.
v.tr.
1. To cause or allow to be inactive or relaxed so as to ren energy:The coach rested his best players. I rested my eyes before studying.
2. To place, lay, or lean, as for support or repose:rested the rake anst the fence.
3. To base or ground:I rested my conclusion on that fact.
4. To fix or direct (the gaze, for example).
5. Law To complete the n presentation of (one's portion of a case):The prosecutor was not ready to rest her case.
Idioms:
at rest
1.
a. Asleep.
b. Dead.
2. Motionless; inactive.
3. Free from anxiety or distress.
lay/putto rest
1. To bury (a dead body); inter.
2. To resolve or settle (an issue, for example):The judge's ruling put to rest the dispute between the neighbors.

[Middle English, fromOld English.]

restern.
(click for a larger image)
rest1
rest (center) equivalent to the duration of an eighth note

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 
rest 2 (rĕst)
Share:
n.
1. The part that is left over after something has been removed; remainder.
2. That or those remaining: The beginning was boring, but the rest was interesting. The rest are arriving later.
intr.v. rest·ed, rest·ing, rests
1. To be or continue to be; remain: Rest assured that we will finish on time.
2. To remain or be left over.

[Middle English, from Old French reste, from rester, to remain, from Latin restāre, to stay behind : re-, re- + stāre, to stand; see stā- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 
rest 3 (rĕst)
Share:
n.
A support for a lance on the side of the breastplate of medieval armor.

[Middle English reste, short for areste, a stopping, holding, from Old French, from arester, to stop; see ARREST.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.