See Also:

rut(2) (iou)



rut noun2 & verb2. L16.
[Prob. from Old French rote, rute ROUTE.]
A. noun.
A (deep) furrow or track made in the ground by the passage of a wheeled vehicle or other traffic. L16.
M. M. Kaye Granite..worn into ruts..by the passing of generations of men. B. Pym The mud in the lanes dried into hard ruts.
b. A track or passage in the ground, as dug out by an animal or created by running water. E17.
N. Gordimer The road has ruts..from the rains.
transf. A deep line or depression in the skin, flesh, or bone. Now rare. E17.
fig. An unchanging habit, procedure, or method, esp. a tedious or dreary one; a narrow undeviating course of thought, action, or life. M19.
Woman Hector..was in a rut At one o'clock every day..Hector reached for his hat. V. G. Kiernan The rut of private egotism.
b. verb trans. Infl. -tt-. Mark (the ground etc.) with ruts; furrow. Chiefly as rutted ppl adjective. L16.