roe

plural roes

1. uncountableusuallyEggs of fish.

   Today, some seafood experts say, the cheaper (though mushier) roe feeds 60 percent of the market.

   2003 July 20, Jeffrey Gettleman, “Humble Paddlefish Fulfills Southerners' Caviar Dreams”, in The New York Times

   1 more example

   It was quite flavourless, except that, where its innards had been imperfectly removed, silver traces of roe gave it an unpleasant bitterness.

   1988, Alan Hollinghurst, The Swimming-Pool Library, paperback edition, London: Penguin Books, →ISBN, page 40

2. uncountableusuallySperm of certain fish.

   Synonyms: milt

3. uncountableusuallyOvaries of certain crustaceans.

plural roes

1. abbreviationellipsisEllipsis of roe deer.

   And let his foes like flockes of feareful Roes, Purſude by hunters, flie his angry lookes, That I may ſee him iſſue Conquerour.

   c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act III, scene iii

   2 more examples

   The lofty mountains roſe faint to the ſight and loſt their foreheads in the diſtant ſkies: the little hills, cloathed in darker green and ſkirted with embroidered vales, diſcovered the ſecret haunts of kids and bounding roes.

   1769, Firishta, translated by Alexander Dow, Tales translated from the Persian of Inatulla of Delhi, volume I, Dublin: P. and W. Wilson et al., page iv

   "[...] and we may, God willing, meet with a roe. The roe, Captain Waverley, may be hunted at all times alike; for never being in what is called pride of grease, he is also never out of season, though it be a truth that his venison is not equal to that of either the red or fallow deer. But he will serve to show how my dogs run [...]"

   1814, Walter Scott, chapter 12, in Waverley

2. A mottled appearance of light and shade in wood, especially in mahogany.

plural ROEs · alternative RoE · alternative R.O.E. · alternative R. O. E. · alternative R.o.E. · alternative R. o. E.

1. abbreviationinitialismaccountingInitialism of return on equity, a measure of how well a company used reinvested earnings to generate additional earnings.
2. abbreviationinitialismgovernmentInitialism of rule(s) of engagement, a/the rule(s) governing when to fire or return fire.
3. abbreviationAbbreviation of record of employment.

plural Roes

1. countableuncountableA surname transferred from the nickname.
2. countableuncountableA town in Monroe County, Arkansas, United States.

1. USabbreviationellipsisinformalgovernmentEllipsis of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 US Supreme Court case which legalized abortion and reaffirmed the existence of a right to privacy under due process following the 14th Amendment.

   Ultimately, Ms. Bottone said she just wanted to know whether she could keep driving in the H.O.V. lane for the remainder of her pregnancy, as she said she had in her previous pregnancies, long before the overturning of Roe.

   2022 July 12, Luke Vander Ploeg, “Can You Drive Alone in the H.O.V. Lane if You’re Pregnant? A Post-Roe Quandary.”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

1. A river in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland.

plural Roes

1. FFXIV fandom slangAn individual of the orclike Roegadyn race.

   My fiance is a Roe that looks pretty close to Ganondorf.

   2016 April 5, sammiimariie, Reddit

   2 more examples

   I've seen a few Hroths and a decent amount of Roes in my time on Jenova.

   2021 April 30, Altair718, Reddit

   While Roes are not to everyones taste the people who like Roes tend to REALLY like Roes

   2023 January 14, Katapotomus, Reddit

plural RoEs

1. alternativeAlternative form of ROE.