rout 1
(rout)n.1. a. A disorderly retreat or flight following defeat.
b. An overwhelming defeat.
2. a. A disorderly crowd of people; a mob.
b. People of the lowest class; rabble.
3. A public disturbance; a riot.
4. A fashionable gathering.
5. Archaic A group of people, especially knights, or of animals, especially wolves.
tr.v. rout·ed,
rout·ing,
routs 1. To put to disorderly flight or retreat: "the flock of starlings which Jasper had routed with his gun" (Virginia Woolf).
2. To defeat overwhelmingly. See Synonyms at
defeat.
[Middle English
route, from Old French,
troop, defeat, from Vulgar Latin
*rupta, from feminine of Latin
ruptus, past participle of
rumpere,
to break; see
reup- in
Indo-European roots.]
rout 2
(rout)v. rout·ed, rout·ing, routs
v.intr.1. To dig with the snout; root.
2. To poke around; rummage.
v.tr.1. To expose to view as if by digging; uncover.
2. To hollow, scoop, or gouge out.
3. To drive or force out as if by digging; eject: rout out an informant.
4. Archaic To dig up with the snout.
rout 3
(rout, ro͞ot)intr.v. rout·ed,
rout·ing,
routs Chiefly British To bellow. Used of cattle.
[Middle English routen, to roar, from Old Norse rauta.]
route
(ro͞ot, rout)n.1. Abbr. Rt. or
Rte.a. A road, course, or way for travel from one place to another: the route from Maine to Boston takes you through New Hampshire; ocean routes that avoided the breeding grounds of whales.
b. A highway: traveled on Route 12 through Michigan.
2. A fixed course or territory assigned to a salesperson or delivery person.
3. A means of reaching a goal: The route to success required hard work.
4. Football A pass pattern.
tr.v. rout·ed,
rout·ing,
routes 1. To send or forward by a specific route. See Synonyms at
send1.
2. To schedule the order of (a sequence of procedures).
[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin rupta (via), broken (road), feminine past participle of rumpere, to break; see rout1.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.