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# rafter

noun (a rafter, rafters)

«rafter» in the English dictionary: everyday and in Jewish tradition — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. One of the long sloping beams of wood that hold up a roof. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rafter/#m1)
2. (phrase) «packed to the rafters» = completely full of people or things. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rafter/#m2)

### In the lessons

Building and design lessons about roofs. Stories: owls, bats and swallows nest in the rafters of barns; hams hang from the rafters of an old kitchen, as in Badger's house in The Wind in the Willows. «The hall was packed to the rafters» means very full. «The cheers shook the rafters.»

### Examples

- Swallows built a nest in the rafters of the barn. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rafter/#x1)
- Hams and bunches of herbs hung from the rafters. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rafter/#x2)
- The hall was packed to the rafters for the concert. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rafter/#x3)
- We could see the old wooden rafters in the attic. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rafter/#x4)
- An owl sat on a rafter, watching. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rafter/#x5)
- The builders fixed new rafters on the roof. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rafter/#x6)
- I looked down between the bare rafters and through the open loft into the comfortless space below. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rafter/#x7)

### Note

Usually plural: rafters. A roof «beam» lies flat or slopes; rafters slope from the ridge to the walls.

## In Jewish tradition

Interpretation: The verse is read as a warning that laziness lets things fall apart, like a house with a leaking roof. In the primary lessons: Building and design lessons about roofs. Stories: owls, bats and swallows nest in the rafters of barns; hams hang from the rafters of an old kitchen, as in Badger's house in The Wind in the Willows. «The hall was packed to the rafters» means very full. «The cheers shook the rafters.»

### Examples

- By slothfulness the rafters sink in; and through idleness of the hands the house leaketh. (Writings ECC.10.18, JPS 1917) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/R/rafter/#x1)

### Note

Usually plural: rafters. A roof «beam» lies flat or slopes; rafters slope from the ridge to the walls.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «rafter» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rafter/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«rafter» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/rafter.html) on Mova free.
- [Trees and pragmatics of «rafter» in the Judaism dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/R/rafter/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«rafter» in the Judaism dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/judaism/w/rafter.html) on Mova free.