rule the roost

English

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “Chambers says rule the roast was the original form.”)

Pronunciation

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Verb

rule the roost (third-person singular simple present rules the roost, present participle ruling the roost, simple past and past participle ruled the roost)

1. (idiomatic) To be the controlling member(s) of a family, organization, or other group.
   • 1857, Anthony Trollope, Barchester Towers, ch. 3:

     His was biding his time, and patiently looking forward to the days when he himself would sit authoritative at some board, and talk and direct, and rule the roost, while lesser stars sat round and obeyed.

     Note: Some copies have "rule the roast" in this passage.

   • 1915, John Galsworthy, chapter 16, in The Freelands:

     Felix (nothing if not modern) had succumbed already to the feeling that youth ruled the roost.

   • 2004 February 16, Kate Betts, “9 Rei Kawakubo”, in Time:

     At that moment in fashion, French couturiers ruled the roost.

   • 2021 February 6, Graham Bean, “Scotland beat England at Twickenham for the first time in 38 years”, in The Scotsman‎:

     Finn Russell and Owen Farrell kicked two penalties apiece but it was the Scotland stand-off who ruled the roost - despite a ten-minute sin-binning for an attempted trip on England scrum-half Ben Youngs.

Synonyms

• wear the trousers

Translations

See also

• alpha
• call the shots

References

• “rule the roost”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.