ROUT

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does rout mean? 

• ROUT (noun)
  The noun ROUT has 2 senses:

1. a disorderly crowd of people

2. an overwhelming defeat

  Familiarity information: ROUT used as a noun is rare.

• ROUT (verb)
  The verb ROUT has 4 senses:

1. cause to flee

2. dig with the snout

3. make a groove in

4. defeat disastrously

  Familiarity information: ROUT used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ROUT (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A disorderly crowd of people

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Synonyms:

mob; rabble; rout

Hypernyms ("rout" is a kind of...):

crowd (a large number of things or people considered together)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "rout"):

lynch mob (a mob that kills a person for some presumed offense without legal authority)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An overwhelming defeat

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Hypernyms ("rout" is a kind of...):

defeat; licking (an unsuccessful ending to a struggle or contest)

Derivation:

rout (defeat disastrously)

• ROUT (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they rout    ... he / she / it routs   
Past simple: routed   
Past participle: routed   
-ing form: routing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Cause to flee

Classified under:

Verbs of fighting, athletic activities

Synonyms:

expel; rout; rout out

Context example:

rout out the fighters from their caves

Hypernyms (to "rout" is one way to...):

defeat; get the better of; overcome (win a victory over)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Sense 2

Meaning:

Dig with the snout

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

root; rootle; rout

Context example:

the pig was rooting for truffles

Hypernyms (to "rout" is one way to...):

cut into; delve; dig; turn over (turn up, loosen, or remove earth)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Sense 3

Meaning:

Make a groove in

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

gouge; rout

Hypernyms (to "rout" is one way to...):

core out; hollow; hollow out (remove the interior of)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 4

Meaning:

Defeat disastrously

Classified under:

Verbs of fighting, athletic activities

Synonyms:

rout; spread-eagle; spreadeagle

Hypernyms (to "rout" is one way to...):

beat; beat out; crush; shell; trounce; vanquish (come out better in a competition, race, or conflict)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Sentence example:

The fighter managed to rout his opponent

Derivation:

rout (an overwhelming defeat)

 Context examples 

The next morning, at quarter-past six, Martin was routed out for a quarter-to-seven breakfast.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

From the sounds on deck I knew that the sailors had been routed out and were preparing to lower the boats.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Growth was now routed by fear, and he ki-yi'd like any frightened puppy.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

With my own eyes I saw him in the rout sweep the head from a knight of Picardy with one blow of his sword.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

"I've been routed up early all winter and had to spend my days working for other people, so now I'm going to rest and revel to my heart's content."

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Foraging about, I found a bottle with some brandy left, for Hands; and for myself I routed out some biscuit, some pickled fruits, a great bunch of raisins, and a piece of cheese.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Buck made his hole in the snow and slept the sleep of the exhausted just, but all too early was routed out in the cold darkness and harnessed with his mates to the sled.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

A great chocolate-coloured pall lowered over heaven, but the wind was continually charging and routing these embattled vapours; so that as the cab crawled from street to street, Mr. Utterson beheld a marvelous number of degrees and hues of twilight; for here it would be dark like the back-end of evening; and there would be a glow of a rich, lurid brown, like the light of some strange conflagration; and here, for a moment, the fog would be quite broken up, and a haggard shaft of daylight would glance in between the swirling wreaths.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

"You was sleepin' jes' too comfortable for anything," Henry told him, as he routed him out for breakfast.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Nor was he less glad to see Sir Nigel, when the Englishman's errand was explained to him, for these archers had been a sore thorn in his side and had routed two expeditions which he had sent against them.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)