[rout] n [ME route, fr. MF, troop, defeat, fr. (assumed) VL rupta, fr. L, fem. of ruptus, pp. of rumpere to break--more at reave] (13c) 1: a crowd of people: throng; specif: rabble 2b
2. a: disturbance b archaic: fuss
3: a fashionable gathering
[2]rout vi [ME rowten, fr. ON rauta; akin to OE reotan to weep, L rudere to roar] (14c) dial chiefly Brit: to low loudly: bellow--used of cattle [3]rout vb [alter. of [3]root] vi (ca. 1564) 1: to poke around with the snout: root "pigs ~ing in the earth"
2: to search haphazardly ~ vt 1 a archaic: to dig up with the snout b: to gouge out or make a furrow in (as wood or metal)
2. a: to force out as if by digging--usu. used with out b: to cause to emerge esp. from bed
3: to come up with: uncover [4]rout n [MF route troop, defeat] (1598) 1: a state of wild confusion or disorderly retreat
2. a: a disastrous defeat: debacle b: a precipitate flight [5]rout vt (1600) 1 a: to disorganize completely: demoralize b: to put to precipitate flight c: to defeat decisively or disastrously "the discomfiture of seeing their party ~ed at the polls --A. N. Holcombe"
2: to drive out: dispel