rut
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A furrow, groove, or track worn in the ground.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
ruhtIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈɹʌt
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A furrow, groove, or track worn in the ground, as from the passage of many wheels along a road.
A groove or furrow (especially one in soft earth caused by wheels)
figurative
A fixed routine, procedure, line of conduct, thought or feeling.
A settled and monotonous routine that is hard to escape
figurative
A dull routine.
zoology
Sexual desire in any of many mammals, often specific to mating season.
verb
intransitive
To be in the annual rut or mating season.
Hollow out in the form of a furrow or groove
transitive
To make a furrow.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Primarily written
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Applies to nonhuman mammals: a state or period of heightened sexual arousal and activity
Used this way, rut is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use rut
- “Dull job, no interests, no dates. He's really in a rut.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.