rout

1 of 5

noun (1)

ˈrau̇t 

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)

ˈrau̇t 

routed; routing; routs

transitive verb

1

a

: to defeat decisively or disastrously

the discomfiture of seeing their party routed at the polls

—A. N. Holcombe

b

: to put to precipitate flight

c

: to disorganize completely : demoralize

2

: to drive out : dispel

rout

3 of 5

noun (2)

ˈrau̇t 

1

: a crowd of people

specifically : rabble sense 1c

2

a

: disturbance

b

archaic : fuss

3

: a fashionable gathering

rout

4 of 5

verb (2)

ˈrau̇t 

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 talent

—Carrie 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 

ˈrüt

routed; routing; routs

intransitive verb

dialectal, chiefly British

: to low loudly : bellow

—used of cattle

Synonyms

Noun (2)

• defeat
• loss
• beating
• setback

Verb (3)

• overcome
• trounce
• whip
• bomb
• bury
• master
• beat
• annihilate
• clobber
• flatten
• upset
• thrash
• blow away
• drub
• trim
• throw
• smother
• paste
• overwhelm
• dust
• wallop
• whup
• top
• skin
• snow under
• cream
• sweep

Examples of rout in a Sentence

Noun (2)

the championship game was a humiliating rout for the team that had been favored to win

in the mad rout from the school shooter, it was every person for himself

Verb (2)

a great rout of rubberneckers had gathered around the scene of the accident

at first the protests were dismissed as nothing more than the idle doings of the restless rout

Verb (3)

as expected, the professional team had no trouble routing the amateurs

the nation's ground and air forces quickly routed the would-be invaders

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

In Libya in late 2016, the U.S. military conducted air strikes in support of Libya’s interim government to rout ISIS from its nascent safe haven in Sirte. —Lisa Monaco, Foreign Affairs, 16 Oct. 2017

The Battle of Jakku The fleet of the Rebellion, now calling itself the New Republic, routs the Empire in the largest battle since Endor. —Nick Romano, EW.com, 25 May 2025

Noun

The Italian side already made a fine start to the competition with a comprehensive victory over Al Ain, a 5-0 rout at Audi Field in Washington DC which was analysed in this previous column. —Adam Digby, Forbes.com, 23 June 2025

Hayes added another 14 points plus four boards and two assists in an 87-63 rout of the Connecticut Sun on Sunday. —Emily Adams, Hartford Courant, 23 June 2025

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

Phrases Containing rout

• put to rout
• the rout was on

Rhymes for rout

• bout
• clout
• doubt
• drought
• flout
• gout
• grout
• kraut
• lout
• out
• pout
• scout

Kids Definition

rout

1 of 3 verb

ˈrau̇t 

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