What does "rest" mean?
Relief from work or activity by sleeping; sleep.
Rest
/ɹɛst/ name, noun, verb, slang
name, noun, verb, slang ·Top 500 ·Elementary level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Relief from work or activity by sleeping; sleep.
- Grammar: rest is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: balance, lie, relaxation, remainder.
- Useful contrasts: aerobic activity, constant motion, flat ground workout.
- Usage evidence: I don't want to spend the rest of my life regretting it.
How to use "rest"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "rest" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "rest" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "rest" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "rest" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "rest" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "balance" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "rest", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Relief from work or activity by sleeping; sleep. uncountable
"I need to get a good rest tonight; I was up late last night."
- 2 That which remains. uncountable
"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."
- 3 Acronym of representational state transfer. abbreviation, acronym, alt-of, uncountable
"Coding a REST API has never felt right to me. I believe that REST APIs should be designed and configured, but not coded."
- 4 freedom from activity (work or strain or responsibility) wordnet
- 5 Any relief from exertion; a state of quiet and relaxation. countable
"We took a rest at the top of the hill to get our breath back."
Show 21 more definitions
- 6 Those not included in a proposition or description; the remainder; others. uncountable
"Plato and the rest of the philosophers"
- 7 a support on which things can be put wordnet
- 8 Peace; freedom from worry, anxiety, annoyances; tranquility. uncountable
"It was nice to have a rest from the phone ringing when I unplugged it for a while."
- 9 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. UK, uncountable
- 10 a musical notation indicating a silence of a specified duration wordnet
- 11 A state of inactivity; a state of little or no motion; a state of completion. uncountable
"The boulder came to rest just behind the house after rolling down the mountain."
- 12 something left after other parts have been taken away wordnet
- 13 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") euphemistic, uncountable
"She was laid to rest in the village cemetery."
- 14 euphemisms for death (based on an analogy between lying in a bed and in a tomb) wordnet
- 15 A pause of a specified length in a piece of music. countable
"Remember there's a rest at the end of the fourth bar."
- 16 a state of inaction wordnet
- 17 A written symbol indicating such a pause in a musical score such as in sheet music. countable
- 18 a pause for relaxation wordnet
- 19 Absence of motion. uncountable
"The body's centre of gravity may affect its state of rest."
- 20 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. countable
"Higgins can't quite reach the white with his cue, so he'll be using the rest."
- 21 Any object designed to be used to support something else. countable
"She put the phone receiver back in its rest."
- 22 A projection from the right side of the cuirass of armour, serving to support the lance. countable, uncountable
"their visors closed, their lances in the rest"
- 23 A place where one may rest, either temporarily, as in an inn, or permanently, as, in an abode. countable, uncountable
"c. 1851, Catholicus (pen name of John Henry Newman, letter in The Times halfway houses and travellers' rests"
- 24 A short pause in reading poetry; a caesura. countable, uncountable
- 25 The striking of a balance at regular intervals in a running account. Often, specifically, the intervals after which compound interest is added to capital. countable, uncountable
"a new account was opened under the heading "Irondale Mine" and so continued witli semiannual rest"
- 26 A set or game at tennis. countable, dated, uncountable
Verb
- 1 To cease from action, motion, work, or performance of any kind; stop; desist; be without motion. intransitive
"My day's work is over; now I will rest."
- 2 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."
- 3 To arrest. colloquial, obsolete, transitive
- 4 be at rest wordnet
- 5 To come to a pause or an end; end. intransitive
Show 21 more definitions
- 6 To keep a certain way. obsolete, transitive
"God rest you merry, gentlemen."
- 7 stay the same; remain in a certain state wordnet
- 8 To be free from that which harasses or disturbs; be quiet or still; be undisturbed. intransitive
"There rest, if any rest can harbour there."
- 9 take a short break from one's activities in order to relax wordnet
- 10 To put into a state of rest. copulative, reflexive, transitive
"We need to rest the horses before we ride any further."
- 11 give a rest to wordnet
- 12 To stay, remain, be situated, or belong to. intransitive
"The blame seems to rest with your father."
- 13 rest on or as if on a pillow wordnet
- 14 To rely or depend on. intransitive
"The decision rests on getting a bank loan."
- 15 sit, as on a branch wordnet
- 16 To lean, lie, or lay. intransitive, reflexive, transitive
"A column rests on its pedestal."
- 17 not move; be in a resting position wordnet
- 18 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.) US, intransitive, transitive
"The defense rests, your Honor."
- 19 put something in a resting position, as for support or steadying wordnet
- 20 To sleep; slumber. intransitive
- 21 be inactive, refrain from acting wordnet
- 22 To lie dormant. intransitive
- 23 be inherent or innate in wordnet
- 24 To sleep the final sleep; sleep in death; die; be dead. intransitive
"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."
- 25 have a place in relation to something else wordnet
- 26 To be satisfied; to acquiesce.
"to rest in Heaven's determination"
Proper Noun
- 1 Acronym of Revised Extended Standard Theory. abbreviation, acronym, alt-of
Antonyms
Example
"I don't want to spend the rest of my life regretting it."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "rest"?
Common synonyms include: balance, lie, relaxation, remainder, repose, residue.
How do you use "rest" in a sentence?
I don't want to spend the rest of my life regretting it.
How do you pronounce "rest"?
Pronounced /ɹɛst/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English rest, reste, from Old English ræst, from Proto-West Germanic *rastu, from Proto-Germanic *rastō, from Proto-Indo-European *ros-, *res-, *erH- (“rest”). 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.
Etymology 2
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”).
Etymology 3
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”)).
Etymology 4
From Middle English resten, from Old French rester, from Latin restō.
Etymology 5
Aphetic form of arrest.