raise the roof

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

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Verb

raise the roof (third-person singular simple present raises the roof, present participle raising the roof, simple past and past participle raised the roof)

1. (idiomatic, informal) To cause a commotion, as by boisterous celebrating or loud complaining; to make considerable noise.
   • 1918 December 24, “A Bold Assertion”, in Ashburton Guardian, New Zealand, section 2:

     What Jack loves above all is a song with a rousing chorus... in which Jack can do his bit towards "raising the roof".

   • 1956 November 7, “Ruth Millett”, in Victoria Advocate, Texas, section 5:

     This is . . . why she raises the roof if he pays too much attention to another woman at a party.

   • 1987, Public Enemy, “Raise the Roof”, in Yo! Bum Rush the Show:

     You gotta raise the roof because it's all on fire

   • 2008 October 15, Leslie Ferenc, “Voters opt for stability of Guarnieri”, in Toronto Star, Canada:

     Jubilant Liberal supporters raised the roof of a Mississauga restaurant after incumbent Albina Guarnieri was swept back into office for her seventh term.

Synonyms

• raise Cain, raise hell, raise the devil, raise hob

Translations

cause a commotion

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 喧鬧 (zh) (xuānnào), 喧囂 (zh) (xuānxiāo)

• Finnish: pitää meteliä
• Russian: please add this translation if you can

See also

• hit the roof