Word.ws English Dictionary

rest

/ɹɛst/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

Australia/ɹest/

rest noun: relief from work or activity by sleeping; sleep.

Noun (1)

rest (countable and uncountable, plural rests)

  1. (uncountable) Relief from work or activity by sleeping; sleep.
    • I need to get a good rest tonight; I was up late last night.
    • The sun sets, and the workers go to their rest.
    Synonyms:
    sleep, slumber
  2. (countable) Any relief from exertion; a state of quiet and relaxation.
    • We took a rest at the top of the hill to get our breath back.
    Synonyms:
    break, repose, time off
  3. (uncountable) Peace; freedom from worry, anxiety, annoyances; tranquility.
    • It was nice to have a rest from the phone ringing when I unplugged it for a while.
    • And the land had rest fourscore years.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Judges 3:30
  4. (uncountable) A state of inactivity; a state of little or no motion; a state of completion.
    • The boulder came to rest just behind the house after rolling down the mountain.
    • The ocean was finally at rest.
  5. (euphemistic, uncountable) A final position after death. Also, death itself: "Not alone, not alone would I go to my rest in the heart of the love..." -- George William Russell ("Love")
    • She was laid to rest in the village cemetery.
    Synonyms:
    peace
  6. (countable) A pause of a specified length in a piece of music.
    • Remember there's a rest at the end of the fourth bar.
  7. (countable) A written symbol indicating such a pause in a musical score such as in sheet music.
  8. (uncountable) Absence of motion.
    • The body's centre of gravity may affect its state of rest.
    Antonyms:
    motion
  9. (countable) A stick with a U-, V- or X-shaped head used to support the tip of a cue when the cue ball is otherwise out of reach.
    • Higgins can't quite reach the white with his cue, so he'll be using the rest.
  10. (countable) Any object designed to be used to support something else.
    • She put the phone receiver back in its rest.
    • He placed his hands on the arm rests of the chair.
    Synonyms:
    cradle, support
  11. A projection from the right side of the cuirass of armour, serving to support the lance.
    • their visors closed, their lances in the rest1700, [John] Dryden, “The Flower and the Leaf: Or, The Lady in the Arbour. A Vision.”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC
  12. A place where one may rest, either temporarily, as in an inn, or permanently, as, in an abode.
    • halfway houses and travellers' restsc. 1851, Catholicus (pen name of John Henry Newman, letter in The Times
    • in dust our final rest, and native home1667, John Milton, “Book IX”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished...
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  1. A short pause in reading poetry; a caesura.
  2. The striking of a balance at regular intervals in a running account. Often, specifically, the intervals after which compound interest is added to capital.
    • a new account was opened under the heading "Irondale Mine" and so continued witli semiannual rest1874, New York Court of Appeals, Records and Briefs
  3. (dated) A set or game at tennis.

Verb (1)

rest (third-person singular simple present rests, present participle resting, simple past and past participle rested)

  1. (intransitive) To cease from action, motion, work, or performance of any kind; stop; desist; be without motion.
    • My day's work is over; now I will rest.
    • I shall not rest until I have uncovered the truth.
    Synonyms:
    have a breather, pause, take a break, take time off, take time out
  2. (intransitive) To come to a pause or an end; end.
  3. (intransitive) To be free from that which harasses or disturbs; be quiet or still; be undisturbed.
    • There rest, if any rest can harbour there.1667, John Milton, “Book I”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished...
  4. (copulative, reflexive, transitive) To put into a state of rest.
    • We need to rest the horses before we ride any further.
    • And thereby at a pryory they rested them all nyght.1485, Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte d'Arthur, Book X
  5. (intransitive) To stay, remain, be situated, or belong to.
    • The blame seems to rest with your father.
    • Copyright in the typographical arrangement rests with the Crown.
    Synonyms:
    be, lie, remain, reside, stay, seat
  6. (intransitive) To rely or depend on.
    • The decision rests on getting a bank loan.
  7. (intransitive) To be based on; to rely on something for proof or explanation
    • On him I rested, after long debate, / And not without considering, fixed fate.1700, John Dryden, Sigismonda and Guiscardo
    • Economics is a messy discipline: too fluid to be a science, too rigorous to be an art. Perhaps it is fitting that economists’ most-used metric, gross domestic product (GDP), is a tangle too.[…]But as a foundation for analysis it is highly subjective: it rests on difficult decisions about what...2013 August 3, “Boundary problems”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8847
    Synonyms:
    repose, relax
  8. (intransitive, reflexive, transitive) To lean, lie, or lay.
    • A column rests on its pedestal.
    • I rested my head in my hands.
    Synonyms:
    lay, lean
  9. (US, intransitive, transitive) To complete one's active advocacy in a trial or other proceeding, and thus to wait for the outcome (however, one is still generally available to answer questions, etc.)
    • The defense rests, your Honor.
    • I rest my case.
  10. (intransitive) To sleep; slumber.
  11. (intransitive) To lie dormant.
  12. (intransitive) To sleep the final sleep; sleep in death; die; be dead.
    • I sing to him that rests below,
      ⁠And, since the grasses round me wave,
      ⁠I take the grasses of the grave,
      And make them pipes whereon to blow.1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XXI”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 35
  13. To be satisfied; to acquiesce.
    • to rest in Heaven's determination1712 (date written), [Joseph] Addison, Cato, a Tragedy. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], published 1713, →OCLC, Act II, scene i, page 19

Noun (2)

rest (uncountable)

  1. That which remains.
    • She ate some of the food, but was not hungry enough to eat it all, so she put the rest in the refrigerator to finish later.
    Synonyms:
    lave, remainder
  2. Those not included in a proposition or description; the remainder; others.
    • Plato and the rest of the philosophers1676, Bishop Stillingfleet, A Defence of the Discourse Concerning the Idolatry Practised in the Church of Rome
    • Arm'd like the rest, the Trojan prince appears.1697, Virgil, “(please specify the book number)”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC
  3. (UK) A surplus held as a reserved fund by a bank to equalize its dividends, etc.; in the Bank of England, the balance of assets above liabilities.

Verb (2)

rest (third-person singular simple present rests, present participle resting, simple past and past participle rested)

  1. (no object) To continue to be, remain, be left in a certain way.
    • You can rest assured that a sick child will say when it's again ready to eat, so it won't starve and doesn't need to be cajoled into eating.
    • Rest you merry.
  2. (obsolete, transitive) To keep a certain way.
    • God rest you merry, gentlemen.

Verb (3)

rest (third-person singular simple present rests, present participle resting, simple past and past participle rested)

  1. (colloquial, obsolete, transitive) To arrest.

Noun (3) capitalized: REST

REST (uncountable)

  1. (abbreviation, acronym) Acronym of representational state transfer.
    • Coding a REST API has never felt right to me. I believe that REST APIs should be designed and configured, but not coded.2011, Mark Masse, REST API Design Rulebook: Designing Consistent RESTful Web Service Interfaces, O'Reilly, →ISBN, page 86

Proper noun (1) capitalized: REST

REST

  1. (abbreviation, acronym) Acronym of Revised Extended Standard Theory.

Proper noun (2) capitalized: reST

reST

  1. Syllabic abbreviation of reStructuredText, a plain-text markup language.

rest meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

rest in Hindi

relief afforded by sleeping; sleep
आराम ārām, उपशमन upaśman, विश्रांति viśrānti
relief from exertion; state of quiet and recreation
आराम ārām
peace, freedom from trouble, tranquility
आराम ārām
physics: absence of motion
निश्चल niścal

rest in Tamil

relief afforded by sleeping; sleep
ஓய்வு ōyvu
repose afforded by death
நிம்மதி nimmati
peace, freedom from trouble, tranquility
நிறைவு niṟaivu
physics: absence of motion
அசைவற்ற acaivaṟṟa

rest in Marathi

relief afforded by sleeping; sleep
विश्रांती viśrāntī, आराम ārām
intransitive: take repose
विश्रांति करने viśrānti karne

rest in Urdu

relief afforded by sleeping; sleep
آرام ārām
relief from exertion; state of quiet and recreation
آرام ārām
intransitive: take repose
آرام کرنا ārām karnā
More languagesFewer languages
rest in Bengali
আরাম aram, আরাম করা aram kora
rest in Telugu
ఉపశమనము upaśamanamu, నూతనోత్సహము nūtanōtsahamu, విడుదలగుట viḍudalaguṭa, నిశ్చలము niścalamu
rest in Malayalam
വിശ്രമം viśramaṁ, വിശ്രമിക്കുക viśramikkuka
rest in Gujarati
આરામ ārām, વિસામો visāmo
rest in Odia
ବିଶ୍ରାମ
rest in Assamese
জিৰণি zironi, আৰাম aram, জিৰোৱা zirüa
rest in Nepali
आराम गर्नु ārām garnu, विश्राम गर्नु viśrām garnu
rest in Tagalog
pahinga, magpahinga
rest in Arabic
رَاحَة rāḥa, اِسْتِرَاحَة istirāḥa, اِسْتَرَاحَ istarāḥa, بَاقِيَّة bāqiyya
rest in Malay
rehat, merehatkan
rest in Indonesian
istirahat, beristirahat
rest in Persian
استراحت esterâhat, آرامش ârâmeš, استراحت کردن esterâhat kardan, آسودن âsudan
rest in Thai
การพักผ่อน gaan pák pòn, พักผ่อน pák-pɔ̀n
rest in Vietnamese
sự nghĩ ngơi, nghỉ ngơi, ngơi, rồi
rest in Myanmar
နား na:, အနားယူ a.na:yu

Examples of rest in a sentence

  • Now that we're all in agreement, we can put that issue to rest.
  • She rested against my shoulder.
  • I rested against the wall for a minute.
  • Ye are not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance which the Lord your God giveth you.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Deuteronomy xii:9:
  • Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Exodus 23:12:
  • After the sugar beets are strained, pour in a large amount of honey and let it rest for thirty minutes.1876 July 8, Christopher E. Benck, Recipes for traditional English foods:

All 40 example sentences with rest

Synonyms of rest

22 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of rest

Forms of rest

Noun
pluralrests
Verb
third-person singular presentrests
present participleresting
past participlerested
pastrested

Past tense of rest: rested

Plural of rest: rests

Origin of rest

From Middle English rest, reste, from Old English ræst, from Proto-West Germanic *rastu, from Proto-Germanic *rastō, of uncertain origin; possibly derived from Proto-Indo-European *h₁reh₁- (“to rest”) or *Hre(h₁)s- (“to flow, rush”). Cognate with West Frisian rêst (“rest”), Dutch rust (“rest”), German Rast (“rest”), Swedish rast (“rest”), Norwegian rest (“rest”), Icelandic röst (“rest”), Old Irish árus (“dwelling”), German Ruhe (“calm”), Albanian resht (“to stop, pause”), Welsh araf (“quiet, calm, gentle”), Lithuanian rovà (“calm”), Ancient Greek ἐρωή (erōḗ, “rest, respite”), Avestan 𐬀𐬌𐬭𐬌𐬨𐬈 (aⁱrime, “calm, peaceful”), Sanskrit रमते (rámate, “he stays still, calms down”), Gothic 𐍂𐌹𐌼𐌹𐍃 (rimis, “tranquility”). Related to roo.

From Middle English resten, from Old English restan, from Proto-West Germanic *rastijan (“to rest”), from Proto-Indo-European *ros-, *res-, *erH- (“rest”). Cognate with Dutch rusten (“to rest”), Middle Low German resten (“to rest”), German rasten (“to rest”), Danish raste (“to rest”), Swedish rasta (“to rest”).

From Middle English reste, from Old French reste, from Old French rester (“to remain”), from Latin restō (“to stay back, stay behind”), from re- + stō (“to stand”). Replaced native Middle English lave (“rest, remainder”) (from Old English lāf (“remnant, remainder”)).

Words formed from rest

Phrases with rest

64 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with rest

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about rest

What does rest mean?
Rest means relief from work or activity by sleeping; sleep.
What is rest in Hindi?
Rest in Hindi is आराम (ārām), उपशमन (upaśman), विश्रांति (viśrānti). See Rest meaning in Hindi.
How do you use rest in a sentence?
Now that we're all in agreement, we can put that issue to rest.
What part of speech is rest?
Rest can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce rest?
Rest is pronounced /ɹɛst/ (UK).
What is the plural of rest?
The plural of rest is rests.

Words near rest in the dictionary

  1. ressie
  2. ressies
  3. ressing
  4. Ressler
  5. Resslers
  6. rest
  7. rest and residue
  8. rest and service area
  9. rest and vest
  10. rest area
  11. rest areas

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: rest (page history and authors); REST (page history and authors); reST (page history and authors); rest (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). 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: en-us-rest.ogg, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-rest.wav.

Cite this entry: “rest.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/rest. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.