steamroller

steamroller

See also: steam roller

English

Alternative forms

• steam roller

Etymology

steam +‎ roller

Noun

steamroller (plural steamrollers)

1. (historical) A steam-powered heavy road roller.
2. (by extension, informal) Any heavy road roller.
3. (figuratively) Any seemingly irresistible force.
   • 1970, James Taylor (lyrics and music), “Steamroller Blues”:

     Well, I'm a steamroller, babe / I'm bound to roll all over you

4. (slang) A pipe, used for smoking cannabis, open at both ends and having a bowl near one end; it rolls the smoke (steam).
   • 2005, Jane Smiley; John Kulka; Natalie Danford, editors, Best New American Voices 2006, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, →ISBN, page 242:

     It's more about him testing his wares. He rolls joints. He doesn't own a bong, hookah, smoking pipe, chillum, vaporizer, scale, dugout system, grinder, or steamroller.

Translations

steam-powered road roller

Arabic: هَرَّاس‎ m (harrās) Catalan: corró (ca) m Czech: parní válec Esperanto: vaporcilindro Finnish: höyryjyrä French: compacteur (fr) m German: Dampfwalze (de) f Hungarian: gőzhenger (hu), úthenger (hu) Italian: rullo compressore m Japanese: 蒸気ローラー (jouki-rōrā) Spanish: apisonadora f Swedish: ångvält c Tagalog: pison

road roller — see road roller

figurative: irresistible force

Finnish: höyryjyrä Hungarian: gőzhenger (hu)

Verb

steamroller (third-person singular simple present steamrollers, present participle steamrollering, simple past and past participle steamrollered)

1. To level a road using a steamroller.

   Synonym: steamroll

2. To proceed ruthlessly against all opposition as if with an overwhelming force.

   Synonyms: overpower, steamroll

Translations

to level with a steamroller

Finnish: jyrätä (fi)

to proceed ruthlessly

Finnish: jyrätä (fi)

See also

• steam power
• steam engine
• steam tractor
• steam locomotive
• steam shovel

Further reading

• steamroller on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• Martorelles