Emily Dickinson Lexicon

ROUS'ER, n.

One that rouses or excites.

ROUS'ING, ppr.

1. Awaking from sleep; exciting; calling into action.
2. adj. Having power to awaken or excite.
3. Great; violent; as, a rousing fire. [Vulgar.]

ROUS'ING-LY, adv.

Violently; excitingly.

ROUST, n.

A torrent occasioned by a tide. Shetland.

ROUT, n.¹ [G. rotte, D. rot, Dan. rode, a set, gang, rabble; Dan. rotter, G. rotten, to combine together, to plot; D. rotten, to assemble, and to rot; W. rhawter, a crowd; Fr. ruta, a herd. Qu. from the root of crowd, or from breaking, bursting, noise.]

1. A rabble; a clamorous multitude; a tumultuous crowd; as, a rout of people assembled. The endless routs of wretched thralls. Spenser.
2. In law, a rout is where three persons or more meet to do an unlawful act upon a common quarrel, as forcibly to break down fences on a right claimed of common or of way, and make some advances toward it. Blackstone.
3. A select company; a party for gaming.

ROUT, n.² [Fr. deroute; It. rotta, a breaking, a defeat, a rout; rotto, broken, defeated; rottura, a rupture; Sp. rota, roto. This is a corruption of the L. ruptus, from rumpo, to break. Class Rb.]

The breaking or defeat of an army or band of troops, or the disorder and confusion of troops thus defeated and put to flight. Milton.

ROUT, n.³ [Fr. route; Sp. rauta; Arm. roud; W. rhawd, a rout or way; rhodiaw, to walk about; Eng. road. See Road. It belongs to the family of ride and L. gradior; properly a going or passing.]

The course or way which is traveled or passed, or to be passed; a passing; a course; a march. Wide through the furzy field their rout they take. Guy. Rout and road are not synonymous. We say, to mend or repair a road, but not to mend a rout. We use rout for a course of passing, and not without reference to the passing of some person or body of men; but rout is not the road itself.

ROUT, v.i.¹

To assemble in a clamorous and tumultuous crowd. [Not in use.] Bacon.

ROUT, v.i.² [Sax. hrutan.]

To snore. [Obs.] Chaucer.

ROUT, v.t.¹

To break the ranks of troops and put them to flight in disorder; to defeat and throw into confusion. The king's horse – routed and defeated the whole army. Clarendon.

ROUT, v.t.² [for root.]

To turn up the ground with the snout; to search. [Not in use.]

ROUT'ED, pp.

Put to flight in disorder.

ROU-TINE', n. [rooteen'; Fr. from L. rota, a wheel.]

1. A round of business, amusements or pleasure, daily or frequently pursued: particularly, a course of business or official duties regularly or frequently returning.
2. Any regular habit or practice not accommodated to circumstances.

ROUT'ING, ppr.

Putting to flight; defeating and throwing into confusion.

ROVE, v.i. [Dan. röver, to rob; Sw. röfva. This corresponds with the Sax. reafian and L. rapio, Fr. ravir. In Sw. ströfva, to rove or wander, appears to be formed on this root. In D. rooven, G. rauben, signify to rob.]

To wander; to ramble; to range; to go, move or pass without certain direction in any manner, by walking, riding, flying or otherwise. For who has power to walk, has power to rove. Arbuthnot.

ROVE, v.t.¹

To wander over; as, roving a field; roving the town. This is an elliptical form of expression, for roving over, through or about the town.

ROVE, v.t.² [Qu. reeve.]

To draw a thread, string or cord through an eye or aperture.

ROV'ER, n.

1. A wanderer; one who rambles about.
2. A fickle or inconstant person.
3. A robber or pirate; a freebooter. [So corsair is from L. cursus, curro, to run.] Bacon. At rovers, without any particular aim; at random; as, shooting at rovers. South. Addison. [I never heard this expression in the United States.]

ROV'ING, ppr.

Rambling; wandering; passing a cord through an eye.

RO'VING-LY, adv.

In a wandering manner.

RO'VING-NESS, n.

State of roving.

ROW, n.¹ [Sax. rawa; G. reihe; D. rei. The Welsh has rhes. It is a contracted word, and probably the elements are Rg; the same as of rank. The primary sense is probably to stretch, to reach. If the elements are Rd it coincides with rod; Sw. rad, a row.]

A series of persons or things arranged in a continued line; a line; a rank; a file; as, a row of trees; a row of gems or pearls; a row of houses or columns. Where the bright Seraphim in burning row. Milton.

ROW, n.²

A riotous noise.

ROW, v.i.

To labor with the oar; as, to row well; to row with oars muffled.

ROW, v.t. [Sax. rowan, reowan; Sw. ro; Dan. roer; D. roeijen; the latter signifies to row and to gauge; G. ruder, an oar; rudern, to row; Sax. rother, an oar; Gr. ερεττω, ερεσσω, to row; ερετμος, an oar. If the noun is the primary word, ruder and rother, an oar, may be from the root of rod, L. radius, or from the root of rado, to rub, grate, sweep. If the verb is the primary word, the sense is to sweep, to urge, drive, impel. Class Rd. See Rudder.]

1. To impel, as a boat or vessel along the surface of water by oars; as, to row a boat.
2. To transport by rowing; as, to row the captain ashore in his barge.