Word Study
roly-poly
WORDNET DICTIONARY
Noun roly-poly has 2 senses
- roly-poly(n = noun.person) butterball, fat person, fatso, fatty - a rotund individual; Array is a kind of large person
- roly-poly(n = noun.food) roly-poly pudding - pudding made of suet pastry spread with jam or fruit and rolled up and baked or steamed; Array is a kind of pudding
Adjective roly-poly has 1 sense
- roly-poly(s = adj.all) dumpy, podgy, pudgy, tubby - short and plump; Array Derived form noun rolypoliness1
OXFORD DICTIONARY
roly-poly, n. & adj.
--n. (pl. -ies)
1 (also roly-poly pudding) a pudding made of a strip of suet pastry covered with jam etc., formed into a roll, and boiled or baked.
2 US a tumbler toy.
3 Austral. a bushy plant, esp. Salsola kali, that breaks off and is rolled by the wind.
--adj. (usu. of a child) podgy, plump.
--n. (pl. -ies)
1 (also roly-poly pudding) a pudding made of a strip of suet pastry covered with jam etc., formed into a roll, and boiled or baked.
2 US a tumbler toy.
3 Austral. a bushy plant, esp. Salsola kali, that breaks off and is rolled by the wind.
--adj. (usu. of a child) podgy, plump.
Etymology
prob. formed on ROLL
For further exploring for "roly-poly" in Webster Dictionary Online
