route

noun \ ˈrüt , ˈrau̇t \

|Updated on: 16 Aug 2018

Examples: route in a Sentence

Definition of route

1 a : 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

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

b : an assigned territory to be systematically covered

a newspaper route

See route defined for English-language learners

See route defined for kids

Examples of route in a Sentence

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.

Recent Examples of route from the Web

By early evening, the paramilitary forces and police had blocked off exit routes from the church, leaving dozens of people trapped, along with three people wounded by gunfire.

— washington post, BostonGlobe.com, "Two killed as pro-government militia traps protesters in Nicaraguan church," 14 July 2018
Detour signs will re-route traffic to the Southwest Seventh Avenue drawbridge.

— wayne k. roustan, Sun-Sentinel.com, "Andrews Avenue drawbridge overhaul to last until 2020," 13 July 2018
The airline plans to focus on under-performing routes when making its cuts.

— kelly yamanouchi, ajc, "Delta to trim growth plans for flights this fall," 13 July 2018
To track down food and ensure the survival of the colony, worker bees must draw on their knowledge of smells, patterns and efficient routes to and from the hive—a process that requires the insects to remember an encyclopedic amount of information.

— meilan solly, Smithsonian, "‘Safe’ Levels of Pesticide Still Hamper Bees’ Memory and Ability to Learn," 12 July 2018
The district employs more than 300 people to operate more than 280 bus routes, according to its transportation department.

— rafael guerrero, Elgin Courier-News, "Elgin-area school districts still looking for bus drivers but don't expect start-of-school problems," 12 July 2018
Keep an eye on third-round pick Michael Gallup, who could become one of Prescott's favorites given his wide catch radius and penchant for creating separation with precise route running.

— michael middlehurst-schwartz, USA TODAY, "Cowboys training camp questions: Who steps up at receiver for Dak Prescott?," 12 July 2018
The shutdown will affect trolley routes 10, 11, 13, 34 and 36, all of which will be diverted to the 40th and Market Street station.

— katherine nails, Philly.com, "SEPTA's Center City trolley tunnel to close for 9-day maintenance 'blitz'," 12 July 2018
That means Charlotte is particularly vulnerable to any shifts in routes from American Airlines that reduce the number of connections. Airport executives point to the growing share of local travelers, however.

— ely portillo, charlotteobserver, "Charlotte’s airport manages ‘tricky balance’ between low-cost hub and fancy new gates," 12 July 2018

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.

Origin and Etymology of route

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

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 13th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1a

See Words from the same year

route Synonyms

Synonyms

arterial, artery, avenue, boulevard, drag, drive, expressway, freeway, high road, highway, pass, pike, road, roadway, row, street, thoroughfare, thruway, trace, turnpike, way;

Related Words

causeway;

autoroute, interstate, superhighway;

beltway, bypass, parkway;

corniche, switchback;

through street;

Main Street;

backstreet, branch, bystreet, byway, crossroad, secondary road, shunpike, side road, side street;

alley, alleyway;

circle, lane, place;

cul-de-sac, dead end;

corridor;

track, trail;

route

verb

Definition of route

routed; routing

transitive verb

1 : to send by a selected route : direct

was routed along the scenic shore road

2 : to divert in a specified direction

See route defined for English-language learners

Examples of route in a Sentence

Traffic was routed around the accident.
When the doctor is out, his calls are routed to his answering service.

Recent Examples of route from the Web

Many international companies route their supply chains through China, and American companies may end up feeling the effects of a trade war more keenly than their Chinese competitors.

— New York Times, "Trump’s Trade War With China Is Officially Underway," 5 July 2018
World Cup streams, broadcast by Fox and other outlets, travel across the Internet on Akamai’s content delivery network, which looks for efficient ways to route data from the cameras and microphones in Russia to users’ computers and mobile devices.

— andy rosen, BostonGlobe.com, "Streaming a World Cup game? You can thank these engineers in Cambridge," 29 June 2018
But calls have been growing to make tech firms pay a bigger share, with the European Union planning a new levy on companies such as Google and Facebook that route their EU profits through low-tax countries.

— Bloomberg.com, "Should Facebook Pay More in Taxes? IMF Wades Into Thorny Debate," 12 Apr. 2018
The camera work required Arnold and Feustel to route power and ethernet cables from panels on the Destiny lab module to the front of the station where two camera-boom assemblies will be installed.

— william harwood, CBS News, "Space station astronauts take spacewalk to install cameras," 14 June 2018
Retailers’ main concern with combining the buttons is that merchants won’t be able to route their debit-card transactions to lower-cost networks.

— annamaria andriotis, WSJ, "Visa, Mastercard Push for One-Click Ordering. Retailers Say ‘Not So Fast’," 24 May 2018
For years, people who live under oppressive regimes have benefited from a technique called domain fronting to route their traffic around censors.

— brian barrett, WIRED, "Security News This Week: Drone Swarms Are Messing With Hostage Situations Now," 5 May 2018
In the Panic situation, Comcast told Ars that there was congestion because of a significant increase in traffic in the path that Cogent chose to route traffic into Comcast's network.

— jon brodkin, Ars Technica, "When slow downloads hit an app developer, only Comcast customers suffered," 9 Mar. 2018
The ramp led from the eastbound toll road to route 772 in Loudoun County, police said.

— martin weil, Washington Post, "New Redskins receiver claims Va. trooper asked if he was gang member," 25 Apr. 2018

Origin and Etymology of route

derivative of ¹route

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1832

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

route Synonyms

ROUTE Defined for English Language Learners

route

noun

Definition of route for English Language Learners

: a way to get from one place to another place
: a way that someone or something regularly travels along
: a way of achieving or doing something

route

verb

Definition of route for English Language Learners

: to send (someone or something) along a particular route

ROUTE Defined for Kids

route

noun \ ˈrüt , ˈrau̇t \

Definition of route for Students

: a regular, chosen, or assigned course of travel

route

verb

Definition of route for Students

routed; routing

: to send or transport by a selected course

Headscratcher for route

Routed and detour are spelled with the same letters and have related meanings. When drivers follow a detour because a street is closed, they are routed through different streets that take them to their destination.