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
Vonn took the super-combined and downhill titles the previous two days. 2014 — The Clippers rout the Lakers 142-94. Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 6 Mar. 2024 Cam Thomas scores 33 points, Nets dominate 2nd half to rout Lakers 130-112 Forecasters say to expect off and on rain through the weekend Burglary suspect allegedly posing as alarm company employee arrested Aliza Chasan Aliza Chasan is a digital producer at 60 Minutes and CBSNews.com. Aliza Chasan, CBS News, 22 Jan. 2024 English Premier League teams are progressing at such a rate that even a club like Newcastle, that had not played against Europe’s elite for around two decades, was able to rout France’s best side. Zak Garner-Purkis, Forbes, 30 Nov. 2023 This week, the landlocked country of three million people signed a deal to purchase from France modern air defenses, moving to fill a key capability gap that allowed Azerbaijan to rout Armenian forces in 2020. Yaroslav Trofimov, WSJ, 25 Oct. 2023 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
Noun
George Mikan and the Lakers win 65-63. 1970 — Austin Carr scores an NCAA tournament record 61 points as Notre Dame routs Ohio University 112-82. Iliana Limón Romero, Los Angeles Times, 7 Mar. 2024 In Iowa women’s basketball’s rout of Minnesota last night, Caitlin Clark was unstoppable. Trisha Garcia-Easto, Sacramento Bee, 29 Feb. 2024 The rout kicked in for good in the third quarter, when the Monarchs built their biggest lead, 44-21. Don Norcross, San Diego Union-Tribune, 29 Feb. 2024 Green hit five 3-pointers in O’Dowd’s game-changing third quarter, one that saw the Dragons turn a tenuous four-point halftime lead into a 62-38 rout to start the fourth period. Joseph Dycus, The Mercury News, 28 Feb. 2024 Byron is surveying rout and pillage, and the terrible ease with which the laws of civil society, such as respect for the elderly, are flung aside. Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 26 Feb. 2024 The 49ers have not held the Lombardi Trophy since 1995 when Steve Young's Super Bowl record six touchdowns led the team to a 49-26 rout over the San Diego Chargers. USA TODAY, 11 Feb. 2024 The nation’s deepening property-market slump, a $7 trillion stock rout and a tepid policy response are all weighing on broader sentiment. Alice Huang, Fortune, 9 Feb. 2024 Related article Teen phenom Olivia Moultrie scores a brace for US women in 5-0 rout of Dominican Republic Despite its setback, the US still progresses to the quarterfinals of the tournament, after finishing second in Group A behind La Tri. Ben Church, CNN, 27 Feb. 2024

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 19 Mar. 2024.

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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