Roar means to make a deep, loud, powerful sound. Lions roar to announce their presence across the savanna. A crowd might roar with excitement when their team scores the winning goal. Thunder roars during a violent storm, and ocean waves roar as they crash against rocky cliffs.

The word captures volume combined with raw power and intensity. A whisper is quiet, a shout is loud, but a roar shakes the air around you. When an angry teacher raises her voice, she might yell, but when a stadium full of fans celebrates a victory, they roar together in a sound that feels almost physical.

You'll also hear roar used to describe powerful machines. A motorcycle engine roars to life, and a jet plane roars down the runway. The word can describe laughter too: when something is hilarious, people sometimes roar with laughter, their amusement so strong it bursts out of them.

As a noun, a roar is the sound itself: the roar of a lion, the roar of the crowd, or the roar of the ocean.

Notice that roar often suggests something wild, uncontrolled, or overwhelming. It's the sound of nature at its most powerful, crowds at their most passionate, or emotions too strong to contain.