rout

1 of 5

noun (1)

1
: a state of wild confusion or disorderly retreat
2
a
: a disastrous defeat : debacle
b
: a precipitate flight

rout

2 of 5

verb (1)

routed; routing; routs

transitive verb

1
a
: to defeat decisively or disastrously
the discomfiture of seeing their party routed at the pollsA. N. Holcombe
b
: to put to precipitate flight
c
: to disorganize completely : demoralize
2
: to drive out : dispel

rout

3 of 5

noun (2)

1
: a crowd of people
specifically : rabble sense 1c
2
b
archaic : fuss
3
: a fashionable gathering

rout

4 of 5

verb (2)

routed; routing; routs

intransitive verb

1
: to poke around with the snout : root
pigs routing in the earth
2
: to search haphazardly

transitive verb

1
: to come up with : uncover
scouts … routing out new talentCarrie Donovan
2
a
: to force out as if by digging
usually used with out
b
: to cause to emerge especially from bed
3
a
: to gouge out or make a furrow in (something, such as wood or metal)
b
archaic : to dig up with the snout

rout

5 of 5

verb (3)

ˈrōt How to pronounce rout (audio)
ˈrüt
routed; routing; routs

intransitive verb

dialectal, chiefly British
: to low loudly : bellow
used of cattle

Examples of rout in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Verb
Hector routs the besiegers and sets fire to their ships. Judith Thurman, The New Yorker, 11 Sep. 2023 The Atlanta Dream lost 17 in a row in their inaugural season of 2008. 2016 — Kevin Durant scores 30 points and helps the Americans rout Serbia 96-66 for their third straight gold medal. Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 21 Aug. 2023 After nerves on both sides subsided, the Eagles used a breakneck pace to rout the team from across town by a score of 88-44. Ben Bolch, Los Angeles Times, 14 Sep. 2023 From early morning, warplanes pounded the international airport in an effort to rout R.S.F. fighters dug in there. Cora Engelbrecht, New York Times, 19 Apr. 2023 Continue reading here Dodgers rout the Rockies, 14-3 Dodgers’ Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and J.D. Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 30 June 2023 Zion Williamson had 21 points and 12 rebounds in his return, and the visiting New Orleans Pelicans pulled away in the second half to rout the Los Angeles Clippers 112-91 on Sunday. San Francisco Chronicle, 30 Oct. 2022 Our communities should form alliances to help law enforcement officials to rout out the drug dealers, gangs, and other criminals who prey on our children and communities. Baltimore Sun, 18 May 2022 In a pre-recorded national address on Thursday (Jan. 6), Duterte told neighborhood officials to rout out and, if necessary, restrain or arrest unvaccinated people caught outside their homes. Aurora Almendral, Quartz, 7 Jan. 2022
Noun
Advertisement The Rams won in a rout, so the miscues did not prove costly. Gary Klein, Los Angeles Times, 27 Nov. 2023 With so many routs, Smith rarely plays three quarters in a game. Don Norcross, San Diego Union-Tribune, 9 Nov. 2023 Stafford passed for eight touchdowns with seven interceptions before he was injured during a rout by the Dallas Cowboys on Oct. 29. Gary Klein, Los Angeles Times, 16 Nov. 2023 So the Fed has a tough decision to make: The bond-market rout could cool the economy enough for the Fed to hold rates steady. Bryan Mena, CNN, 8 Oct. 2023 The autumn bond rout eased Wednesday, dragging Treasury yields lower and bringing calm to the stock market after an intense selloff kicked off the fourth quarter. WSJ, 4 Oct. 2023 The Dallas Cowboys will kick off their 2023 home opener against the Jets at 3:25 p.m. on Sunday. Micah Parsons and the Cowboys’ defense helped the crew jump out to a 1-0 start with a rout of the Giants, and now welcome in the other New York team to Arlington. Sportsday Staff, Dallas News, 15 Sep. 2023 Instead, the shares of a broad range of clean energy companies have been crushed lately, in a rout that encompasses just about every alternative energy sector, including solar, wind and geothermal power. Jeff Sommer, New York Times, 3 Nov. 2023 Dan Marino & Mark Clayton. 2000 — Pat Riley earns his 1,000th career coaching victory as Miami posts its most lopsided win in an opener with a 105-79 rout of Orlando. Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 1 Nov. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'rout.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

borrowed from Middle French route "defeat, disorderly retreat," noun derivative from feminine of rout, alternate past participle of rompre "to defeat, put to flight," literally, "to break, smash," going back to Old French, going back to Latin rumpere — more at route entry 1

Verb (1)

derivative of rout entry 1

Noun (2)

Middle English route "group, band of soldiers, crowd," borrowed from Anglo-French route, rute "band, herd, armed force," going back to Vulgar Latin *rupta "detachment," literally, "something broken off," going back to Latin, feminine of ruptus, past participle of rumpere "to break" — more at route entry 1

Verb (2)

presumed to be variant of wroot, root entry 3 (though alteration of vowel is unexplained)

Verb (3)

Middle English (northern) & early Scots rowten, rowte, borrowed from Old Norse rauta "to roar," going back to Germanic *rautōjan-, probably derivative of a noun *raut- "bellowing, roaring," from an ablaut derivative of *reutan- (whence Old English rēotan "to weep, wail," Old High German riozan "to weep, mourn," Old Swedish riuta "to roar"), going back to Indo-European *Hreu̯d- "produce a loud sound, weep," whence, with varying ablaut grades, Latin rudere, rūdere "to make a loud noise, bellow, bray," Lithuanian raudóti "to sob, weep," Old Church Slavic rydati, Sanskrit rodiṣi "(you) weep"

First Known Use

Noun (1)

1595, in the meaning defined at sense 2a

Verb (1)

circa 1600, in the meaning defined at sense 1c

Noun (2)

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb (2)

circa 1564, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1

Verb (3)

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of rout was in the 13th century

Dictionary Entries Near rout

Cite this Entry

“Rout.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rout. Accessed 9 Dec. 2023.

Kids Definition

rout

1 of 3 verb
1
: to poke around with the snout : root entry 3
2
: to dig or cut a groove in (as wood or metal)
3
a
: to drive by force
routed out of their homes
b
: to cause to come out especially from bed

rout

2 of 3 noun
1
: a state of wild confusion and disorderly retreat
2
: a disastrous defeat

rout

3 of 3 verb
routed; routing
1
: to put to flight
2
: to defeat completely

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