rouse

[ rouz ]

/ raʊz /

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See synonyms for: rouse / roused / rousing on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object), roused, rous·ing.

to bring out of a state of sleep, unconsciousness, inactivity, fancied security, apathy, depression, etc.: He was roused to action by courageous words.

to stir or incite to strong indignation or anger.

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

Nautical. to pull by main strength; haul.

verb (used without object), roused, rous·ing.

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

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

noun

a rousing.

a signal for rousing; reveille.

OTHER WORDS FOR rouse

1 arouse, stir, excite, animate, stimulate, awaken, kindle, inflame, fire.

2 provoke, anger.

See synonyms for rouse on Thesaurus.com

OPPOSITES FOR rouse

1, 2 lull, calm, pacify.

See antonyms for rouse on Thesaurus.com

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Origin of rouse

1480–90 in sense “(of a hawk) to shake the feathers”; 1525–35 for def. 3; origin uncertain

synonym study for rouse

1, 2. See incite.

OTHER WORDS FROM rouse

rous·ed·ness

[rou-zid-nis], /ˈraʊ zɪd nɪs/, nounrouser, nounun·roused, adjective

Other definitions for rouse (2 of 2)

rouse²

[ rouz ]

/ raʊz /

noun

Archaic. a carouse.

Obsolete. a bumper of liquor.

Origin of rouse

1595–1605; perhaps variant of carouse (drink carouse being wrongly analyzed as drink a rouse)

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use rouse in a sentence

Most of the witnesses had heard or seen something, sort-of; several were elderly, many roused from sleep.
The Myth of the Central Park Five|Edward Conlon|October 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He was understandably and rightly roused to added outrage because a school is supposed to be a sanctuary.
Brooklyn Shooting Hits Close to Bill de Blasio’s Park Slope Home|Michael Daly|July 1, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Half of them, in fact, are still asleep at the appointed time, and to a man they resist being roused.
Stacks: Hitting the Note with the Allman Brothers Band|Grover Lewis|March 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The kneeling nuns, roused from their devout abstraction, made their reverence and went away.
Read ‘The King in Yellow,’ the ‘True Detective’ Reference That’s the Key to the Show|Robert W. Chambers|February 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST

He tried to calm me, but I was roused at last, and drawing my long knife barred his way.
Read ‘The King in Yellow,’ the ‘True Detective’ Reference That’s the Key to the Show|Robert W. Chambers|February 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST
At any rate his stirring advice and the dispatches he brought roused the military authorities at Meerut into activity.
The Red Year|Louis Tracy
Ripperda roused himself from his portentous trance, and arrayed his noble figure in the rugged habiliments of the muleteer.
The Pastor's Fire-side Vol. 3 of 4|Jane Porter
Lost as he was to most external things, Hugh roused himself to some surprise at the name of the hotel.
Rosemary in Search of a Father|C. N. Williamson
And here he might have stopped with safety; but his roused, suspicious, sensitive nature, would not suffer him.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXXXIX. January, 1844. Vol. LV.|Various
This, added to Woolf's sarcastic manner of speech, roused Trevithick's anger.
Life of Richard Trevithick, Volume II (of 2)|Francis Trevithick

British Dictionary definitions for rouse (1 of 2)

rouse¹

/ (raʊz) /

verb

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

(tr) to provoke, stir, or exciteto rouse someone's anger

rouse oneself to become active or energetic

hunting to start or cause to start from coverto rouse game birds

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

(raʊs) (intr foll by on) Australian to speak scoldingly or rebukingly (to)

noun

mainly US another term for reveille

Derived forms of rouse

rousedness (ˈraʊzɪdnɪs), noun

Word Origin for rouse

C15 (in sense 5): origin obscure

British Dictionary definitions for rouse (2 of 2)

rouse²

/ (raʊz) /

noun archaic

an alcoholic drink, esp a full measure

another word for carousal

Word Origin for rouse

C17: probably a variant of carouse (as in the phrase drink a rouse, erroneous for drink carouse); compare Danish drikke en rus to become drunk, German Rausch drunkenness

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

rouse

OTHER WORDS FOR rouse

OPPOSITES FOR rouse

Origin of rouse

synonym study for rouse

OTHER WORDS FROM rouse

Other definitions for rouse (2 of 2)

Origin of rouse

Words related to rouse

How to use rouse in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for rouse (1 of 2)

Derived forms of rouse

Word Origin for rouse

British Dictionary definitions for rouse (2 of 2)

Word Origin for rouse