roly-poly

roly-poly
/roh"lee poh"lee, -poh'lee/, adj., n., pl. roly-polies.
adj.
1. short and plumply round, as a person or a young animal.
n.
2. a roly-poly person or thing.
3. Chiefly Brit. a sheet of biscuit dough spread with jam, fruit, or the like, rolled up and steamed or baked.
[1595-1605; earlier rowle powle, rowly-powly worthless fellow, game involving rolling balls, rhyming compound based on ROLL (v.); for second element cf. POLL1]
Syn. 1. fat, rotund, pudgy.
Ant. 1. scrawny.

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  • Roly poly — may refer to: * Armadillidiidae, a crustacean known colloquially as the roly poly * Jam Roly Poly, a traditional British pudding * Roly Poly, a chain of sandwich shops in the United States * The Tale of Samuel Whiskers or, The Roly Poly Pudding,… …   Wikipedia

  • roly-poly — [rō′lē pō′lē] adj. [redupl. of ROLL] short and plump; pudgy n. pl. roly polies 1. a roly poly thing or person, esp. a child 2. Chiefly Brit. a pudding made of suet pastry spread with jam, rolled up, and boiled, steamed, etc. 3. Austral. a… …   English World dictionary

  • roly-poly — ► NOUN (also roly poly pudding) Brit. ▪ a pudding made of a sheet of suet pastry covered with jam or fruit, formed into a roll, and steamed or baked. ► ADJECTIVE informal ▪ round and plump. ORIGIN fanciful formation from ROLL(Cf. ↑roll) …   English terms dictionary

  • Roly-poly — Ro ly po ly, n. & a. Rolly poly. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • roly-poly — (adj.) short and stout, 1820, probably a varied reduplication of ROLL (Cf. roll) (v.). As a noun, it was used as the name of various ball games from 1713, and it was used as early as 1610s in the sense of rascal …   Etymology dictionary

  • roly-poly — [adj] pudgy buxom, chubby*, dumpy, fat, hefty, obese, overweight, plump, plumpish, rotund, round, stout, thick bodied, tubby*; concepts 491,773 …   New thesaurus

  • Roly Poly — Infobox Company company name = Roly Poly company type = Private foundation = Atlanta, Georgia (1996) location = Atlanta, Georgia key people = Linda Wolf, President Julie Reid, Vice President| industry = Restaurants products = Sandwiches Salads… …   Wikipedia

  • roly-poly — I UK [ˌrəʊlɪ ˈpəʊlɪ] / US [ˌroʊlɪ ˈpoʊlɪ] adjective informal someone who is roly poly is short and fat II UK [ˌrəʊlɪ ˈpəʊlɪ] / US [ˌrʊlɪ ˈpoʊlɪ] noun [uncountable] British roly poly or roly poly pudding a sweet food made by spreading jam or fruit …   English dictionary

  • roly-poly — ro|ly po|ly1 [ˌrəuli ˈpəuli US ˌrouli ˈpou ] adj informal [Date: 1800 1900; Origin: ROLL1] a roly poly person is round and fat roly poly 2 roly poly2 plural roly polies n [U and C] a British sweet food made of ↑jam that is rolled up inside… …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • roly-poly — I. adjective Etymology: reduplication of roly, from 2roll Date: 1820 being short and pudgy ; rotund II. noun (plural lies) Date: 1836 1. a roly poly person or thing …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • roly-poly — /ˌroʊli ˈpoʊli / (say .rohlee pohlee) adjective 1. plump and podgy, as a person, a young animal, etc. –noun (plural roly polies) 2. a roly poly person or thing: *she is praying for Jack, the beautiful boy, and Stephen, the laughing roly poly, her …  

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