n. The external upper covering of a house or other building.n. Anything which in form or position corresponds to or resembles the covering of a house, as the arch or top of a furnace or oven, the top of a carriage or coach or car, an arch or the interior of a vault, the ceiling of a room, etc.; hence, a canopy or the like.n. A house.n. The upper part of the mouth; the hard palate.n. Figuratively, the loftiest part.n. In geology, the overlying stratum.n. In mining, the top of any subterranean excavation: little used except in coal-mining.n. A roof but slightly inclined for the discharge of water. Roofs of this form are common in city buildings, especially in the United States, and are usually covered with sheet-metal.To cover with a roof, in any sense of that word.To inclose in a house; shelter.To arch or form like a roof.An obsolete preterit of rive.