roly-poly
Short definition from Wiktionary
Noun
- A toy that rights itself when pushed over.
- A short, plump person (especially a child).
- A forward roll or sideways roll.
- Synonym of tumbleweed (“any plant which habitually breaks away from its roots once dry, forming a light, rolling mass which is driven by the wind from place to place”); specifically, the prickly Russian thistle (Kali tragus or Salsola tragus).
- A baked or steamed pudding made from suet pastry which is spread with fruit or jam (or occasionally other fillings) and then rolled up.
- In full roly-poly bug: a small terrestrial invertebrate which tends to roll into a ball when disturbed, such as a woodlouse (suborder Oniscidea, especially a pill bug (family Armadillidiidae) or a sowbug (family Porcellionidae)) or a pill millipede (superorder Oniscomorpha).
- A mischievous or worthless person; a scoundrel, a rascal.
- An activity or game involving rolling.
- An activity or game involving rolling: A game involving people (usually children) rolling down a slope.
- An activity or game involving rolling: A game in which balls are rolled along the floor to knock down pins, or bowled into holes, or thrown into hats placed on the ground.
- An activity or game involving rolling: Synonym of roulette (“a game of chance in which a small ball is made to move round rapidly on a circle divided off into numbered red and black spaces, the one on which it stops indicating the result of a variety of wagers permitted by the game”).
Adjective
- Moving with a rolling and swaying motion.
- Short and plump; squat.
Adverb
- By rolling, so as to roll.
- Without hesitating; directly; hence, in a thoughtless manner; indiscriminately.
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