rout

/raʊt/

/raʊt/

Other forms: routs

When you think about the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat, associate a rout with the agonizing defeat. A rout is the kind of humiliating loss that makes you wish you would have been injured in the first quarter so you could have avoided the outcome.

One way to remember the meaning of the word rout is to consider its similarity to the word riot, both suggesting a disastrous mess. Rout can be used as either a noun or a verb: "The losing team suffered during a rout while the winning team routed them!" This word can also be used to refer to an unruly mob of people, like a disorderly rout of sports fans involved in a stampede onto the field.

Definitions of rout

1. noun

   an overwhelming defeat
   type of:

   defeat, licking

   an unsuccessful ending to a struggle or contest
2. verb

   defeat disastrously
   synonyms: spread-eagle, spreadeagle

   type of:

   beat, beat out, crush, shell, trounce, vanquish

   come out better in a competition, race, or conflict
3. verb

   cause to flee
   “rout out the fighters from their caves”

   synonyms: expel, rout out

   type of:

   defeat, get the better of, overcome

   win a victory over
4. noun

   a disorderly crowd of people
   synonyms: mob, rabble

   types:

   lynch mob

   a mob that kills a person for some presumed offense without legal authority

   type of:

   crowd

   a large number of things or people considered together
5. verb

   dig with the snout
   synonyms: root, rootle

   type of:

   cut into, delve, dig, turn over

   turn up, loosen, or remove earth
6. verb

   make a groove in
   synonyms: gouge

   type of:

   core out, hollow, hollow out

   remove the interior of