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What's the meaning of "pace the room"? On Cambridge Dictionary pace means "the speed at which someone or something moves, or with which something happens or changes", but what relation this can get with rooms? Some kind of slang?

Here the context:

Have I woken you up?
It's five-thirty in the morning.
Well, I thought with the jet-lag you'd be pacing the room.

It's an excerpt from the "Patrick Melrose" TV show.

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    Hint: look for definitions of pace as a verb.
    – StoneyB on hiatus
    Jun 1, 2018 at 22:48
  • As a verb is like "set the speed of" -- I can't get it.
    – Oliveira
    Jun 1, 2018 at 22:52

1 Answer 1

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You just have to find the definition that fits.

Cambridge Dictionary

Pace (verb) Definition 2
To walk with regular steps in one direction and then back again, usually because you are worried or nervous:
He paced the room nervously.
He paced up and down, waiting for the doctor to call.

Oxford Dictionary

Pace (verb) Definition 1
Walk at a steady speed, especially without a particular destination and as an expression of anxiety or annoyance.
‘we paced up and down in exasperation’
‘she had been pacing the room’

So "pace the room" means to emotionally walk back and forth in the room.

In the context you gave, jetlag (restlessness) is expected to cause the person to be awake walking around the room early in the morning.

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    @WandersonO - Yup, that’s true. The answer was right on the page you linked to. You might want to try Wordnik next time; it shows more definitions displayed much closer together.
    – J.R. ♦
    Jun 2, 2018 at 9:30

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