roof over someone's head
1
2.9
- idiom
:
techo
- They need a roof over their heads.
Examples
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This is affordable housing for Angelenos desperate for a roof over their heads.
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One can almost imagine a continent self-sufficient in food production, with a safe water supply, and a roof over everyone's head.
Academic text (1995) -
I know how it feels, not to have a roof over your head.
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There is a roof over our heads.
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You like a roof over your head, don't you?
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As long as I got a roof over my head, food on the table, and a sharp shell to shave with, I'm a happy guy.
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Everybody deserves a roof over their head.
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This is affordable housing for Angelenos desperate for a roof over their head.
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I know how it feels, not to have a roof over your head.
Synonyms
658
1.0
Buildings where people live, like houses or flats
33
3.2
A place to live, like a house or flat that keeps you dry and safe
Antonyms
How Secure
Surface Forms
Morphology
roof + over + someone's + head
The phrase combines the concrete image of a 'roof' being 'over' someone's 'head', which directly evokes protection/shelter and thus a place to live. This spatial, imageable composition is cross-linguistically common (e.g. Spanish 'techo sobre la cabeza'), so a B1 learner who knows the parts can readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
The phrase roof over someone's head comes from the simple image of a roof over a person's head, keeping out rain and cold. So it means 'a place to live' or 'shelter'.