rut

Noun · Verb
US[ruht]/rʌt/1 syllable
Synonyms: grooveestrusoestrusheatfurrow

Open English WordNet

Noun (3)

  1. a groove or furrow (especially one in soft earth caused by wheels)Type of groove, channel
  2. a settled and monotonous routine that is hard to escape“they fell into a conversational rut”Synonyms: grooveType of routine, modus operandi
  3. applies to nonhuman mammals: a state or period of heightened sexual arousal and activitySynonyms: estrusoestrusheatType of physical condition, physiological state

Verb (2)rutted, rutting

  1. be in a state of sexual excitement; of male mammalsMore general feel, experience
  2. hollow out in the form of a furrow or groove“furrow soil”Synonyms: furrowgrooveMore general dig, delve

Related words rutty adjective, groove verb, channel noun, groove noun

Word of the day · Oct 23About this word
ironynoun

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Webster's Dictionary (1913)

Rut noun

Origin: F. rut, OF. ruit, L. rugitus a roaring, fr. rugire to roar; — so called from the noise made by deer in rutting time.

1. Physiology Sexual desire or oestrus of deer, cattle, and various other mammals; heat; also, the period during which the oestrus exists.

2. Roaring, as of waves breaking upon the shore; rote. See Rote.

Rut intransitive verb [past tense & past participle Rutted; present participle & verbal noun Rutting.]

To have a strong sexual impulse at the reproductive period; — said of deer, cattle, etc.

Rut transitive verb

To cover in copulation. John Dryden

Rut noun

Origin: variant of route.

A track worn by a wheel or by habitual passage of anything; a groove in which anything runs. Also used figuratively.

Rut transitive verb

To make a rut or ruts in; — chiefly used as a past participle or a participial adj.; as, a rutted road.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54

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