rouse

¹ American  

[rouz] / raʊz /

verb (used with object)

roused, rousing

1. to bring out of a state of sleep, unconsciousness, inactivity, fancied security, apathy, depression, etc..

   He was roused to action by courageous words.

   Synonyms:

   inflame, kindle, awaken, stimulate, animate, excite, stir, arouse

   Antonyms:

   pacify, calm, lull

2. to stir or incite to strong indignation or anger.

   Synonyms:

   anger, provoke

3. to cause (game) to start from a covert or lair.

4. Nautical Now Rare. to pull by main strength; haul.

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verb (used without object)

roused, rousing

1. to come out of a state of sleep, unconsciousness, inactivity, apathy, depression, etc.

2. to start up from a covert or lair, as game.

noun

1. a rousing.

2. a signal for rousing; reveille.

rouse ² American  

[rouz] / raʊz /

noun

1. Archaic. a carouse.

2. Obsolete. a bumper of liquor.

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rouse ¹ British  

/ ˈraʊzɪdnɪs, raʊz /

verb

1. to bring (oneself or another person) out of sleep, unconsciousness, etc, or (of a person) to come to consciousness in this way

2. (tr) to provoke, stir, or excite

   to rouse someone's anger

3. to become active or energetic

4. hunting to start or cause to start from cover

   to rouse game birds

5. (intr) falconry (of hawks) to ruffle the feathers and cause them to stand briefly on end (a sign of contentment)

6. to speak scoldingly or rebukingly (to)

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noun

1. another term for reveille

rouse ² British  

/ raʊz /

noun

1. an alcoholic drink, esp a full measure

2. another word for carousal

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Related Words

See incite.

Other Word Forms

• rousedness noun
• rouser noun
• unroused adjective

Etymology

Origin of rouse¹

First recorded in 1425–75 in sense “(of a hawk) to shake the feathers”; 1525–35 rouse ¹ for def. 3; origin uncertain

Origin of rouse²

First recorded in 1590–1600; perhaps variant of carouse ( drink carouse being wrongly analyzed as drink a rouse )

Explanation

When someone calls out "rise and shine," they are trying to rouse you, to make you wake up. It's thought that the word rouse was originally a 15th-century term used by hawkers for the way the birds shook out their feathers when agitated. That gives a nice mental picture to the word, and it does fit: rouse means to become awake, excited, or just plain keyed up, like those birds ruffling their feathers. Consider that when first roused in the morning, many people have to shake themselves to get ready to face the day.

Example Sentences

When it comes to exciting wide men, however, it's hard to look past those elite dribblers who rouse crowds and make full-backs fret.

From BBC • Mar. 31, 2026

These alarm clocks have novel ways to rouse deep sleepers.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 7, 2026

It did rouse huge cheers in the room.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 22, 2026

There is an overwhelming sense that Scotland's fate on Tuesday does not depend on what the handy Danes do, but what Clarke's team can conjure up and rouse from within themselves.

From BBC • Nov. 18, 2025

“Finding them all ineffectual, I attempted to rouse the system by wrapping the whole body...in blankets dipped in warm vinegar.”

From "An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793" by Jim Murphy

Related Words

• agitate
• arouse
• awaken
• disturb
• fire up
• galvanize
• heighten
• incite
• inflame
• kindle
• provoke
• rile
• startle
• stir
• trigger
• wake up
• whip up
• work up