rut

¹ American  

[ruht] / rʌt /

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.

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verb (used with object)

rutted, rutting

1. to make a rut or ruts in; furrow.

rut ² American  

[ruht] / rʌt /

noun

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

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verb (used without object)

rutted, rutting

1. to be in the condition of rut.

rut ¹ British  

/ 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 )

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verb

1. (tr) to make a rut or ruts in

rut ² British  

/ 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

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verb

1. (intr) (of male ruminants) to be in a period of sexual excitement and activity

rut Idioms  

1. see in a rut.

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Etymology

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

Example Sentences

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies remained stuck in a rut Thursday but crypto-exposed stocks were set for gains.

From Barron's

He’s the kind of guy weighed down by an internal inertia, asleep while standing up, stuck in a rut.

From Los Angeles Times

It made Penelope drowsy, and when the driver shouted and pulled the troika swiftly and hard to the rutted edge of the road, it startled her into a yelp.

From Literature

Nearly an hour later, she turned onto a rutted dirt road and cranked up the Shania Twain tune “Honey, I’m home.”

From The Wall Street Journal

The sobriety of “Robin Hood” does not render it less than entertaining, just slow to engage its wooden wheels in the muddy ruts of a well-known medieval tale.

From The Wall Street Journal