rafter
Syllables: raft·er/ˈɹɑːftəː/US/ˈɹæftɚ/
rafter noun: one of a series of sloped beams that extend from the ridge or hip to the downslope perimeter or eave, designed to support the roof deck and its associated loads.
Noun (1)
rafter (plural rafters)
- One of a series of sloped beams that extend from the ridge or hip to the downslope perimeter or eave, designed to support the roof deck and its associated loads.
- […] the pigeons fluttered up to the rafters1943 November – 1944 February (date written; published 1945 August 17), George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], Animal Farm […], London: Secker & Warburg, published May 1962, →OCLC
- A flock of turkeys.
- A turkey will always seek the company of another turkey, and ultimately that of the rafter.2013, Don Schrider, Storey's Guide to Raising Turkeys, Storey Publishing, LLC, page 4
- the sons went off to share the trip to market - swarms of swine and rafters of turkeys - whilst the elders stayed behind to keep the house warm.2021, Marcia Wilson, The Exorcism of the Haunted Stick, Andrews UK
Verb
rafter (third-person singular simple present rafters, present participle raftering, simple past and past participle raftered)
Noun (2)
rafter (plural rafters)
- A raftsman.
Proper noun capitalized: Rafter
Rafter (plural Rafters)
- A surname.
rafter meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Telugu
rafter in Tamil
- one of a series of sloped beams
- கைமரம் kaimaram, கை kai
rafter in Urdu
- کڑی, لٹھا
rafter in Bengali
- ছাদের কড়িকাঠ
rafter in Telugu
- one of a series of sloped beams
- వాసము vāsamu
More languagesFewer languages
- rafter in Malayalam
- കഴുക്കോൽ, കൈമരം, നീണ്ട തടി
- rafter in Kannada
- ಪಟ್ಟೆ, ಎಳೆ
- rafter in Sanskrit
- गोपानसी gopānasī
- rafter in Tagalog
- balakilan
- rafter in Malay
- kasau
- rafter in Persian
- فرسپ farasp
- rafter in Thai
- จันทัน jan-tan
Examples of rafter in a sentence
- We got all the roofing removed, but the chimney was damaged and we discovered that some rafters had to be replaced. One step forward, two steps back. Or maybe three.
- Last night was a 'rafter snapper', as my grandparents would say.
- "'S what the old-timers call a real 'rafter snapper'", Frank said.
Forms of rafter
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | rafters |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | rafters |
| present participle | raftering |
| past participle | raftered |
| past | raftered |
| Proper noun | |
| plural | Rafters |
Origin of rafter
From Old English ræfter, of Germanic origin, related to the origin of raft.
From raft + -er.
Words formed from rafter
Phrases with rafter
Words that rhyme with rafter
Questions about rafter
- What does rafter mean?
- Rafter means one of a series of sloped beams that extend from the ridge or hip to the downslope perimeter or eave, designed to support the roof deck and its associated loads.
- What is rafter in Tamil?
- Rafter in Tamil is கைமரம் (kaimaram), கை (kai). See Rafter meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is rafter?
- Rafter can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce rafter?
- Rafter is pronounced /ˈɹɑːftəː/ (UK).
- What is the plural of rafter?
- The plural of rafter is rafters.
Words near rafter in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: rafter (page history and authors); Rafter (page history and authors); rafter (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); rafter (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); rafter (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); rafter (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); गोपानसी (Sanskrit) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-rafter.wav.
Cite this entry: “rafter.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/rafter. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.