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rout

   Also found in: Legal, Acronyms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.02 sec.
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 company, as of knights or wolves, that are in movement. See Synonyms at flock1.
5. A fashionable gathering.
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.

[Variant of root2.]

rout 1
Noun
1. an overwhelming defeat
2. a disorderly retreat
3. a noisy rabble
Verb
to defeat and put to flight [Anglo-Norman rute]

rout 2
Verb
1. to find by searching
2. to drive out: the dissidents had been routed out
3. to dig (something) up [variant of root2]

Rout, Route a troop, throng, company; a clamourous multitude; a rabble; a tumultuous crowd—Johnson, 1755.
Examples: rout or route of Black beasts, 1576; of clerks, 1430; of rural folk, 1616; of gentlemen; of knights, 1486; of lords, 1386; of nightingales, 1366; of ragged rhymers, 1579; of roiters, 1750; of ruffians and robbers, 1568; of worldly and gallant servants, 1491; of sheep, 1821; of snails, 1440; of soldiers; of strangers, 1737; of the wicked, 1561; of wolves, 1275; of words and actions, 1624.
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Noun1.routrout - a disorderly crowd of people
crowd - a large number of things or people considered together; "a crowd of insects assembled around the flowers"
lynch mob - a mob that kills a person for some presumed offense without legal authority
2.rout - an overwhelming defeat
defeat, licking - an unsuccessful ending to a struggle or contest; "it was a narrow defeat"; "the army's only defeat"; "they suffered a convincing licking"
Verb1.rout - cause to flee; "rout out the fighters from their caves"
defeat, get the better of, overcome - win a victory over; "You must overcome all difficulties"; "defeat your enemies"; "He overcame his shyness"; "He overcame his infirmity"; "Her anger got the better of her and she blew up"
2.rout - dig with the snout; "the pig was rooting for truffles"
cut into, delve, dig, turn over - turn up, loosen, or remove earth; "Dig we must"; "turn over the soil for aeration"
3.rout - make a groove in
core out, hollow out, hollow - remove the interior of; "hollow out a tree trunk"
4.rout - defeat disastrously
beat, beat out, vanquish, trounce, crush, shell - come out better in a competition, race, or conflict; "Agassi beat Becker in the tennis championship"; "We beat the competition"; "Harvard defeated Yale in the last football game"

rout
verb 1. defeat, beat, overthrow, thrash, stuff (slang) worst, destroy, chase, tank (slang) crush, scatter, conquer, lick (informal) dispel, drive off, overpower, clobber (slang) wipe the floor with (informal) cut to pieces, put to flight, drub, put to rout, throw back in confusion
noun 2. defeat, beating, hiding (informal) ruin, overthrow, thrashing, licking (informal) pasting (slang) shambles, debacle, drubbing, overwhelming defeat, headlong flight, disorderly retreat see see, route
Translations
Spanish rout [raut] n (MIL) → derrota (= flight); desbandada
vtderrotar

French rout [raut] n (Mil) → déroute f
vtmettre en déroute

German rout [raut] (Mil) ntotale Niederlage f
vt (defeat) → vernichtend schlagen

Italian rout [raut] n (MIL) → rotta
vtmettere in rotta

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? Mentioned in ? References in classic literature
 
Solomon Rout (frequently alluded to as Long Sol, Old Sol, or Father Rout), from finding himself almost invariably the tallest man on board every ship he joined, had acquired the habit of a stooping, leisurely condescension.
Scarcely had the battle begun, when a great rout overwhelmed the Mice, who scampered off as fast as they could to their holes.
The wanton airs, from the tree-top, Laughingly through the lattice drop -- The bodiless airs, a wizard rout, Flit through thy chamber in and out, And wave the curtain canopy So fitfully -- so fearfully -- Above the closed and fringed lid
 
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