Meaning & use
raise the roof
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Meaning
phraseidiominformal
To cheer, celebrate, or make a lot of noise in an enthusiastic way.
Grammar: Used as an intransitive verb phrase; often in the phrase 'raise the roof' after verbs like 'make someone' or 'get someone to'.
Patterns
- raise the roof at something
- raise the roof with something
- make someone raise the roof
The crowd raised the roof when the band played their final song.
We're going to raise the roof at the party tonight!
The fans raised the roof after their team won the championship.
Common combinations
- raise the roof at a concert
- The singer encouraged the audience to raise the roof at the concert.
- raise the roof with applause
- The audience raised the roof with applause after the performance.
- raise the roof for someone
- Let's raise the roof for the birthday girl!
Synonyms and how they differ
Commonly confused: raise the roof or hit the roof?
raise the roof vs hit the roof
Hit the roof means to become very angry, while raise the roof means to celebrate loudly.
Practice
The audience ______ when the comedian told his best joke.
Choose one answer.
Raised the roof fits because the audience cheered loudly. Hit the roof means to get angry, raised the ceiling is not an idiom, and lifted the roof is not used.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “raise the roof”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.