route

noun \ ˈrüt , ˈrau̇t \

|Updated on: 22 Jun 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

She and her 9-year-old daughter are seeking asylum in the United States after immigrating here two years ago for the exact same reasons and on the exact same route as her sister and her niece.

— ginger thompson, Houston Chronicle, "Listen to children who’ve just been separated from their parents at the border," 18 June 2018
Turkey is a central stop on the most important refugee route frequented by Syrians, Afghans, Iraqis and others, many of whom then board boats to try to make it to Europe by sea.

— mujib mashal, New York Times, "Their Road to Turkey Was Long and Grueling, but the Short Flight Home Was Crueler," 16 June 2018
Even as ridership grew on the service, boarding times on some routes fell between 28% and 40%, according to a recent report by the National Association of City Transportation Officials.

— paul berger, WSJ, "Five Reasons New Yorkers Can Look Forward to the End of the MetroCard," 16 June 2018
Passengers traveling first class on the Acela can now choose their seats on certain routes for free.

— nancy trejos, USA TODAY, "Amtrak revamps its food and beverage menu," 15 June 2018
Inspired by national hero Davor Suker, Croatia got out of their group, before beating Romania and Germany on route to the semi-finals.

— SI.com, "World Cup Preview: Croatia vs Nigeria - Managers, Team News, Prediction & More," 15 June 2018
The 17-year-old Essex youth has noticed cleaner, bigger and more reliable buses on those routes.

— colin campbell, baltimoresun.com, "After one year of BaltimoreLink, ridership has bounced back, but reliability remains below goals," 15 June 2018
John Ross got a lot of work with Andy Dalton on Thursday, and the second-year wideout flashed in 11-on-11 work by spinning corner KeiVarae Russell around on an out and then beating Russell on a corner route for a score.

— scott winfield, Cincinnati.com, "ICYMI: World Cup coming to Cincinnati? Reds win series vs KC Royals, Bengals wrap minicamp," 15 June 2018
Foles went to Mack Hollins on a comeback route, and cornerback Ronald Darby made an early read and got his arm around the receiver to break up the pass.

— jeff mclane, Philly.com, "Eagles practice observations: Carson Wentz's arm strength; Philly Special redux; quarterback golf," 14 June 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

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
Pyongyang's pledge could open the way for airlines to route flights through North Korean airspace.

— laura smith-spark, CNN, "North Korea details plans to dismantle nuclear test site this month," 12 May 2018
All four of the California cities are busy airports for Southwest, meaning the airline will be able to route connecting passengers to Hawaii.

— ben mutzabaugh, USA TODAY, "Southwest will fly to Hawaii from four California cities," 3 May 2018
Technology is now an inescapable part of running, particularly distance running, from GPS watches to route trackers to sleep monitors to 4% shoes.

— shira springer, BostonGlobe.com, "Flood of technology has Boston Marathon runners deluged with data," 12 Apr. 2018
Essentially, the guns just route the outgoing air through each barrel in sequence, and a system of springs and o-rings ensures that all the air comes out the first barrel that is loaded.

— eric limer, Popular Mechanics, "How Multi-Barrel Nerf Guns "Know" Where the Dart Is Loaded," 16 Sep. 2015
Your Home device will still listen for your commands, but will route all audio through the connected Bluetooth speaker.

— chris welch, The Verge, "Google Home can now play music through your other Bluetooth speakers," 28 Mar. 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.