rut
/rʌt/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
Noun:
- A state of heightened sexual excitement in certain male mammals, especially deer, during the breeding season: This biological term describes a periodic condition.
- A deep, narrow track made by the repeated passage of wheels: A physical groove worn into a surface, typically a road or path.
- A fixed, dull, and habitual way of living or working; a monotonous routine: A metaphorical extension of the physical track, implying a pattern that is difficult to change.
Verb:
- To make a rut or ruts in (a surface): To create grooves or furrows.
- To be in a state of sexual excitement, as with certain male mammals: The verb form of the biological state.
Examples of Usage
Noun (Biological):
- The deer are in rut during the autumn months.
- The powerful scent marks the period of rut.
Noun (Physical Track):
- The car got stuck in a deep rut on the muddy road.
- The wagon wheels carved deep ruts into the trail.
Noun (Metaphorical Routine):
- I feel like I'm stuck in a rut, doing the same job every day.
- Their marriage had settled into a comfortable but predictable rut.
Verb (To make grooves):
- The heavy trucks have rutted the dirt road badly.
- The field was rutted by the passage of farm machinery.
Verb (Biological state):
- The stags begin to rut as the days grow shorter.
Advanced Usage
"To be in a rut": To be stuck in a monotonous situation or pattern of behavior that is hard to escape.
- After ten years at the same company, he felt he was in a professional rut.
"To break out of a rut": To change one's life or habits to escape monotony.
- She took a cooking class to break out of her daily rut.
Variants and Related Words
Rutted (adj): Covered with or marked by ruts.
- The rutted path was difficult to walk on.
Rutty (adj): Alternative form meaning full of ruts.
- The rutty lane led to the old farmhouse.
Synonyms
- Noun (Routine): Groove, routine, grind, treadmill, habit.
- Noun (Track): Furrow, groove, track, indentation, wheelmark.
- Verb (Make grooves): Furrow, groove, score, channel.
Related Phrases
- "Stuck in a groove": Similar to "stuck in a rut," emphasizing a repetitive pattern. (Note: This is a related idiom, not a phrasal verb with "rut").
- "Well-worn path": Can be used similarly to the metaphorical "rut." (Note: This is a related expression).
Noun
- applies to nonhuman mammals: a state or period of heightened sexual arousal and activity
- a settled and monotonous routine that is hard to escape
- they fell into a conversational rut
- a groove or furrow (especially one in soft earth caused by wheels)
Verb
- hollow out in the form of a furrow or groove
- furrow soil
- be in a state of sexual excitement; of male mammals