route

noun

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\ ˈrüt

, ˈrau̇t

Definition of route

(Entry 1 of 2)

1a : a traveled way : highway the main route north

b : a means of access : channel the route to social mobility— T. F. O'Dea

2 : a line of travel : course

3a : an established or selected course of travel or action

b : an assigned territory to be systematically covered a newspaper route

route

verb

routed; routing

Definition of route (Entry 2 of 2)

transitive verb

1 : to send by a selected route : direct was routed along the scenic shore road

2 : to divert in a specified direction

Synonyms & Antonyms More Example Sentences Phrases Containing route Learn More About route

Examples of route in a Sentence

Noun We didn't know what route to take. an escape route in case of fire a major bird migratory route You could take a different route and still arrive at the same conclusion. Take Route 2 into town. We live on a rural route. Verb Traffic was routed around the accident. When the doctor is out, his calls are routed to his answering service. See More

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun Lithuanian Railways is ready to organize a new railway route for exporting Ukrainian grain. — Drew Hinshaw, WSJ, 6 May 2022 By granting concessions to both sides, officials hope that a route through the crisis might be found. — Tom Mctague, The Atlantic, 6 May 2022 New Mexico Economic Development Secretary Alicia Keyes says the state has already requested a U.S. presidential permit for a rail bypass route through Santa Teresa. — Morgan Lee, ajc, 5 May 2022 En route to the scene, she’d been filled in on the case. — Longreads, 5 May 2022 Ironbound is most likely headed back to Nova Scotia, a route its taken every year since it has been tracked with the spot tag. — Dan Radel, USA TODAY, 4 May 2022 District mechanics are driving school buses to fill in vacancies, and some students are arriving to school late because their bus driver has to cover for a second route. — Connor Sanders, The Salt Lake Tribune, 4 May 2022 Lead generation is the first step in a direct route to sales. — Steve Ohanians, Forbes, 4 May 2022 The bridge was heavily damaged in previous Russian strikes, and its destruction would cut a supply route for weapons and other cargo from neighboring Romania. — Compiled Democrat-gazette Staff From Wire Reports, Arkansas Online, 3 May 2022 Recent Examples on the Web: Verb And some non-Russian retailers may route their goods through China to bypass Europe. — New York Times, 9 Mar. 2022 Likewise, burglar alarms won't route to emergency responders if triggered. — Tali Arbel, USA TODAY, 16 Feb. 2022 In payment for order flow, brokers route their customers’ orders to electronic trading firms known as market makers. — Alexander Osipovich, WSJ, 1 Feb. 2022 By talking with the bot, the contact center software could also route the caller to the appropriate agent. — Jeffrey Ton, Forbes, 27 Dec. 2021 Many of the casinos either don’t check where people are visiting from, or can be accessed by anyone who uses a VPN to route their internet connection through a different country. — NBC News, 14 Apr. 2022 That deal fell through, however, when Poland requested that the U.S. make arrangements with Ukraine to route the MiG jets through a U.S. military base in Germany, rather than routing them directly to Ukraine from Poland. — Abby Vesoulis, Time, 16 Mar. 2022 The deal will also allow DeShazo to respond much more rapidly to service requests and more effectively route parts requests. — William Thornton | Wthornton@al.com, al, 7 Mar. 2022 Johnson can play Cover-2o and jam wide receivers and re-route them and also set the edge in the run game. — Brad Biggs, chicagotribune.com, 13 Apr. 2022 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'route.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

History and Etymology for route

Noun

Middle English rute, route, borrowed from Anglo-French rute, going back to Vulgar Latin *rupta (short for *rupta via, literally, "broken way, forced passage," after Latin viam rumpere "to force a passage"), from feminine of ruptus, past participle of rumpere "to break, burst," going back to Indo-European *ru-n-p-, nasal present formation from the base *reu̯p- "break, tear" — more at reave

Verb

derivative of route entry 1

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