to rule the roast
Preserved but no longer current.
To have the chief direction ; to be paramount. The phrase was common in the 15th century, and it is possible that roast was originally roost, the reference being to a cock, who decides which hen is to roost nearest to him; but it is unlikely; in Thomas Hey wood's His- tory of Women (about 1630) we read of "her that ruled the roast in the kitchen.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “to rule the roast” mean?
To have the chief direction ; to be paramount. The phrase was common in the 15th century, and it is possible that roast was originally roost, the reference being to a cock, who decides which hen is to roost nearest to him; but it is unlikely; in Thomas Hey wood's His- tory of Women (about 1630) we read of "her that ruled the roast in the kitchen.
Is “to rule the roast” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.