rut

[ruht]

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noun

a furrow or track in the ground, especially one made by the passage of a vehicle or vehicles.

any furrow, groove, etc.

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.

to make a rut or ruts in; furrow.

Origin of rut

First recorded in 1570–80; perhaps variant of route

rut

[ruht]

noun

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

verb (used without object), rut·ted, rut·ting.

to be in the condition of rut.

Origin of rut

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for rut

gouge, track, hollow, trench, pothole, score, trough, furrow, rabbet, wont, rote, humdrum, habit, pattern, practice, system, custom, course, pace, circuit

Examples from the Web for rut

Contemporary Examples of rut

Some bison die during the violence of the rut in August; there is intense competition by bears for these rare summer carcasses.
What It Takes to Kill a Grizzly Bear
Doug Peacock
November 23, 2014
It's no secret that the industry is stuck in a bit of a rut.
Hollywood Declares 2014 the Year of the Bible
Andrew Romano
January 9, 2014

Historical Examples of rut

The business man gets into a rut, and often does not look beyond it.
Self-Help
Samuel Smiles
Rut they were all accompanied with an ineffable dignity, and an angelic purity.
Imogen
William Godwin
Once he thought Corinne hit a rut that could have been avoided.
Weak on Square Roots
Russell Burton
You see, I came on the coach as far as Bayport and then we lost a wheel in a rut.
Keziah Coffin
Joseph C. Lincoln
Yet at least it served to raise our daily lives out of the rut of commonplace.
The Book-Hunter at Home
P. B. M. Allan

British Dictionary definitions for rut

rut

noun

a groove or furrow in a soft road, caused by wheels

any deep mark, hole, or groove

a narrow or predictable way of life, set of attitudes, etc; dreary or undeviating routine (esp in the phrase in a rut)

verb ruts, rutting or rutted

(tr) to make a rut or ruts in

Word Origin for rut

C16: probably from French route road

rut

noun

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

another name for oestrus

verb ruts, rutting or rutted

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

Word Origin for rut

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

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

Word Origin and History for rut

n.1

"narrow track worn or cut in the ground," 1570s, probably from Middle English route (see route (n.)); though OED finds this "improbable." Metaphoric meaning "narrow, monotonous routine; habitual mode of behavior" first attested 1839.

n.2

"annually recurring sexual excitement in animals; animal mating season" (originally of deer), early 15c., from Old French rut, ruit, from Late Latin rutigum (nominative rugitus) "a bellowing," from past participle of Latin rugire "to bellow," from PIE imitative root *reu-. The verb is recorded from early 15c. Related: Rutting.

Idioms and Phrases with rut

rut

see in a rut.