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View synonyms for rut

rut

1

[ ruht ]

noun

  1. a furrow or track in the ground, especially one made by the passage of a vehicle or vehicles.
  2. any furrow, groove, etc.
  3. a fixed or established mode of procedure or course of life, usually dull or unpromising:

    to fall into a rut.



verb (used with object)

, rut·ted, rut·ting.
  1. to make a rut or ruts in; furrow.

rut

2

[ ruht ]

noun

  1. the periodically recurring sexual excitement of the deer, goat, sheep, etc.

verb (used without object)

, rut·ted, rut·ting.
  1. to be in the condition of rut.

rut

1

/ rʌt /

noun

  1. a recurrent period of sexual excitement and reproductive activity in certain male ruminants, such as the deer, that corresponds to the period of oestrus in females
  2. another name for oestrus
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


verb

  1. intr (of male ruminants) to be in a period of sexual excitement and activity
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

rut

2

/ rʌt /

noun

  1. a groove or furrow in a soft road, caused by wheels
  2. any deep mark, hole, or groove
  3. a narrow or predictable way of life, set of attitudes, etc; dreary or undeviating routine (esp in the phrase in a rut )
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

  1. tr to make a rut or ruts in
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Word History and Origins

Origin of rut1

First recorded in 1570–80; perhaps variant of route

Origin of rut2

1375–1425; late Middle English rutte < Middle French rut, ruit < Late Latin rugītus a roaring, equivalent to Latin rugī ( re ) to roar + -tus suffix of v. action
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Word History and Origins

Origin of rut1

C15: from Old French rut noise, roar, from Latin rugītus , from rugīre to roar

Origin of rut2

C16: probably from French route road
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Idioms and Phrases

see in a rut .
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Example Sentences

Some bison die during the violence of the rut in August; there is intense competition by bears for these rare summer carcasses.

Your chef is stuck in a creative rut, churning out lackluster food in a lackluster—albeit popular—restaurant.

Have you ever fallen into a similar creative rut where you needed to be reinvigorated?

It's no secret that the industry is stuck in a bit of a rut.

I saw every crook in the fence, every rut in the road, every bush and tree long before we came to it.

They had been in a rut long enough, and they laughed at the Colonel's formula, which nearly every child knew by heart.

Lamb said to himself, "That dope goes around in a rut and I'll get in one too just following him and then I will get sore."

He soon has his whip in hand again and now he is hauling his team of six, the six big carthorses of his dreams, out of that rut.

The simplest thing is for me to throw up the job and let the Short Line drop back into the old rut.

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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