Language: en
Meaning: (idiomatic)Of ahomelessperson, tosleepoutdoors, particularly as opposed to sleeping in ashelteror similar.Synonyms:(dated)lie rough,(dated)live roughHypernym:rough it1826, [Walter Scott], chapter IV, inWoodstock; Or, The Cavalier.[…], volume II, Edinburgh:[…][James Ballantyne and Co.] forArchibald Constable and Co.; London:Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green,→OCLC,page93:I will warrant they prove such roaring boys as I knew when I served under Lumford and Goring, [...] —sleeping roughon the trenches, and dying stubbornly in their boats. Ah! those merry days are gone.1902,H[ilaire] Belloc, “Praise of This Book”, inThe Path to Rome, New York, N.Y.:Longmans, Green and Co.; London:George Allen,page viii,→OCLC:[...] I was quite taken out of myself and vowed a vow there to go to Rome on Pilgrimage and see all Europe which the Christian Faith has saved; and I said, "I will start from the place where I served in arms for my sins; I will walk all the way and take advantage of no wheeled thing; I willsleep roughand cover thirty miles a day, and I will hear Mass every morning; and I will be present at High Mass in St. Peter's on the Feast of St Peter and St Paul."1926,Rose Macaulay,A Casual Commentary, New York, N.Y.:Boni & Liveright,→OCLC, page101:To be found sleeping in a public place is like being found without visible means of support—an indictable offence. Further, it is an indication of sin. "Hesleeps rough"—therefore he is, doubtless, a thief, a drunkard, and a liar. There seems no reason why similar evidence should not be brought in a contrary sense to prove a man's worth.1975, John Stewart, “Social Services”, inOf No Fixed Abode: Vagrancy and the Welfare State, Manchester:Manchester University Press,→ISBN,page87:There is no evidence that anyonesleeps roughor drinks methanol in Oldham. [...] A voluntary organisation, the Bayswater Housing Association, has recently opened a couple of terraced houses for "the homeless".1982,Ken Follett, chapter 12, inThe Man from St. Petersburg, New York, N.Y.:Penguin Books, published2017,→ISBN,page237:He was nervy and restless, sick of waiting and sick of hiding. He hadslept roughagain the last two nights, once in Hyde Park and once under the arches at Charing Cross.1998February 3,Jonathan Sayeed, “Rough Sleepers”, inHouse of Commons Hansard(House of Commons of the United Kingdom)[1], volume305, London:Parliament of the United Kingdom, archived fromthe originalon4 October 2020:I am glad to hear what the Government are doing to reduce the number of peoplesleeping rough. It is a disgrace that anyonesleeps rough. An average of 3 per cent. of local housing owned by Labour local authorities is unoccupied, and in Islington it is 6 per cent. Why cannot it be used by people who aresleeping rough?2005,Lucian, “Demonax”, in[Charles]Desmond[Nuttall]Costa, transl.,Selected Dialogues, Oxford, Oxfordshire:Oxford University Press,→ISBN,page152:I have written about Sostratus elsewhere, describing his bulk and enormous strength; how he lived in the open air on Parnassus,slept rough, ate what the mountain provided, and performed deeds which matched his name—killing robbers, and making roads through unbroken country and bridges over impassable places.2008,Sanchita Islam, “The Pink House”, in Sarah Broughton, editor,Gungi Blues, Brentwood, Essex: Chipmunkapublishing,page47:Children ran and played by the roadside while othersslept roughon the dirt. Hard skin on feet, blackened toes, tattered shorts, skin and bones.2018October 28, “The Observer view on the budget and the decade of austerity”, inThe Observer[2], London:Guardian News & Media,→ISSN,→OCLC, archived fromthe originalon19 October 2019:But there is perhaps no more visible manifestation of austerity than the disgraceful levels of homelessness we see in Britain today. Tents and mattresses lining the streets of towns and cities across the country, home to people forced tosleep rough, have become an increasingly common sight.2023December 22, Robyn Vinter, “‘That’s how we’ve got to live’: the black market in England’s shoplifting capital”, inThe Guardian[3],→ISSN:Theysleep roughnearby under duvets and sleeping bags, lying next to each other to keep warm.
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