rout

1 a great number of persons or creatures massed together a great rout of rubberneckers had gathered around the scene of the accident Synonyms army, bike [chiefly Scottish], cram, crush, drove, flock, herd, horde, host, legion, mass, mob, multitude, press, rout, scrum, swarm, throngRelated Words masses, millions, rabble, rabblement, riffraff; gaggle; heap, mountain, pile; jam, logjam

2 people looked down upon as ignorant and of the lowest class at first the protests were dismissed as nothing more than the idle doings of the restless rout Synonyms proletariat, rabblement, ragtag and bobtail, riffraff, rout, scum, tag, rag, and bobtail (or tagrag and bobtail), trash, unwashedRelated Words dregs; commoners, commons, herd, hoi polloi, masses, millions, mob, multitude, people, plebeians, populace, public, rank and file; bourgeoisie, middle class, working classNear Antonyms elect, establishment; gentlefolk (also gentlefolks), nobility, peerageAntonyms A-list, aristocracy, elite, gentry, quality, society, upper class, upper crust

1 failure to win a contest the championship game was a humiliating rout for the team that had been favored to win Synonyms beating, drubbing, licking, loss, lump, overthrow, plastering, rout, shellacking, trimming, trouncing, whippingRelated Words collapse, debacle (also débâcle), failure, fiasco, fizzle, flop, nonsuccess, setback, upset; lurch, shutout, washout, whitewashNear Antonyms accomplishment, achievement; blowout, cakewalk, landslide, romp, runaway, sweep, walkaway, walkoverAntonyms success, triumph, victory, win

2 the act or an instance of getting free from danger or confinement in the mad rout from the school shooter, it was every person for himself Synonyms break, breakout, bunk [British], flight, getaway, lam, rout, slipRelated Words jailbreak; deliverance, liberation, redemption, release, rescue, salvation; close call, close shave, near missNear Antonyms captivity, confinement, immurement, imprisonment, incarceration, internment; custody, detention, hold, holding, retention; endangerment, hazard, imperilment, jeopardy, peril, risk, trouble

1 to defeat by a large margin as expected, the professional team had no trouble routing the amateurs Synonyms annihilate, blow away, bomb, bury, clobber, cream, drub, dust, flatten, paste, whip, shellac, skin, skunk, smoke [slang], smother, snow under, thrash, trim, tromp, trounce, wallop, wax [slang], whomp, whop (or whap), whupRelated Words sweep, upset; beat, best, conquer, dispatch, hurdle, lick, master, overbear, overcome, overmatch, prevail (over), subdue, surmount, take, throw, triumph (over), win (against), worst; crush, knock off, knock over, overpower, overthrow, overwhelm, subjugate, upend, vanquish; ace (out), better, eclipse, exceed, outdistance, outdo, outfight, outshine, outstrip, overtop, surpass, top, transcend; edge (out), nose out, pip [British]; cap, excel, flourish, score, succeed; break, destroy, do in, finish, sink, slaughter

2 to drive or force out the nation's ground and air forces quickly routed the would-be invaders Synonyms banish, boot (out), bounce, cast out, chase, dismiss, drum (out), expel, extrude, kick out, oust, out, eject, run off, throw out, turf (out) [chiefly British], turn outRelated Words deforce, deport, displace, dispossess, evict, exile, expatriate, ostracize, read out, shut out; ax (or axe), can, cashier, defenestrate, discharge, fire, muster out, pink-slip, release, remove, retire, sack, terminateNear Antonyms accept, admit, receive, take, take in; welcome; entertain, harbor, house, lodge, shelter