Roars through small housing area (4)
I believe the answer is:
bays
'roars' is the definition.
(bay can mean to bark or roar)
'through small housing area' is the wordplay.
'through' becomes 'by' ().
'small' becomes 's' (abbreviation - e.g. clothes size).
'housing' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'area' becomes 'a' (maths abbreviation).
'by'+'s'='bys'
'bys' going around 'a' is 'BAYS'.
(Other definitions for bays that I've seen before include "Indentations of a shoreline" , "Laurel trees" , "Inlets; barks" .)