route

1 of 2

noun

1
a
: a traveled way : highway
the main route north
b
: a means of access : channel
the route to social mobilityT. F. O'Dea
2
: a line of travel : course
3
a
: an established or selected course of travel or action
b
: an assigned territory to be systematically covered
a newspaper route

route

2 of 2

verb

routed; routing

transitive verb

1
: to send by a selected route : direct
was routed along the scenic shore road
2
: to divert in a specified direction

Examples of route in a Sentence

Noun We didn't know what route to take. an escape route in case of fire a major bird migratory route You could take a different route and still arrive at the same conclusion. Take Route 2 into town. We live on a rural route. Verb Traffic was routed around the accident. When the doctor is out, his calls are routed to his answering service.
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
But the familiar tendency to take the quick route afflicted Reddit’s global push. Paresh Dave, WIRED, 14 Mar. 2024 These new routes are all bookable on Delta’s website and mark a total of 17 weekly flights between the U.S. and Venice this summer. Stella Shon, Travel + Leisure, 13 Mar. 2024 This fortuitous route means that upwards of 31 million people will have the opportunity to witness the remarkable event firsthand, but that has the experts worried. George Dvorsky / Gizmodo, Quartz, 13 Mar. 2024 However, engineers were concerned enough about the warning lights that the airline prevented the plane from carrying passengers on long-haul routes over water in case of emergency, according to The New York Times. David Goldman, CNN, 12 Mar. 2024 My friend took the adventurous route and got the Caterpillar roll, which featured an eel. Essence, 11 Mar. 2024 It is spread through the respiratory route and can live in the air for up to an hour where an infectious person coughed or sneezed, officials said. Cnn.com, The Mercury News, 11 Mar. 2024 The brunt of the storm will not be felt in the area’s biggest cities but is making travel treacherous on major routes. Sara Tonks, CNN, 2 Mar. 2024 Typically, that sort of injury depends on the route the Raptors decide to take, the severity of the injury, and whether Barnes’s hand requires surgery or not. Esfandiar Baraheni, Forbes, 2 Mar. 2024
Verb
The company has reported that the Mobileye camera cable may have been routed improperly. USA TODAY, 11 Mar. 2024 In addition to routing claims to insurance companies, Change also scrubs the claim information to make sure the codes and other details are correct. Kim Bellware, Washington Post, 3 Mar. 2024 Clark scored 33 points to become the all-time leading scorer in women’s major college basketball, reaching 3,650 points, as the Hawkeyes routed the Gophers 108-60. Dean Spiros, Twin Cities, 28 Feb. 2024 Total output comes out to a hair-raising 986 horses and 590 ft lbs of twist, which is routed to all four wheels—the SF90 Stradale is the brand’s first all-wheel-drive sports car—via an eight-speed dual-clutch transmission. Bryan Hood, Robb Report, 22 Feb. 2024 Having donated $265,000 to his own campaign, Meadows vanquished the field of eight Republican candidates and then routed his Democratic opponent in the November 2012 general election. Robert Draper, New York Times, 8 Feb. 2024 Nearby, Grady Memorial Hospital is so packed that ambulance traffic is sometimes routed to facilities miles away. Bracey Harris, NBC News, 7 Feb. 2024 Cruise ships relocating between the Caribbean and Alaska transit through the Panama Canal, while ships traveling to/from Northern Europe may route via Iceland and Greenland. David Nikel, Forbes, 29 Feb. 2024 As mentioned before, the No. 8 Monte Vista boys routed national power Jesuit-Carmichael 3-0 to advance to the second round. Nathan Canilao, The Mercury News, 28 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'route.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English rute, route, borrowed from Anglo-French rute, going back to Vulgar Latin *rupta (short for *rupta via, literally, "broken way, forced passage," after Latin viam rumpere "to force a passage"), from feminine of ruptus, past participle of rumpere "to break, burst," going back to Indo-European *ru-n-p-, nasal present formation from the base *reu̯p- "break, tear" — more at reave

Verb

derivative of route entry 1

First Known Use

Noun

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

1832, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of route was in the 13th century

Dictionary Entries Near route

Cite this Entry

“Route.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/route. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

route

1 of 2 noun
1
: road sense 2a, highway
U.S. Route 66
2
: a course of action toward a goal
the best route to peace
3
a
: an established, selected, or assigned course of travel
explorers looking for a new route to the Indies
air routes to Europe
b
: a territory to be gone over regularly
a newspaper route

route

2 of 2 verb
routed; routing
: to send or transport by a certain route
route heavy traffic around the city

Medical Definition

route

noun
: a method of transmitting a disease or of administering a remedy
the airborne route of … infectionM. L. Furcolow

More from Merriam-Webster on route

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