I. ˈrau̇z verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English rousen, rowsen
intransitive verb
1. obsolete
a. : to erect and shake the feathers — used especially of a hawk
b. : to stand on end
my fell of hair would … rouse , and stir as life were in't — Shakespeare
2.
a. : to become aroused from or as if from sleep : awaken , stir
laughed and dozed, then roused and read again — Vachel Lindsay
before she could rouse from this insult — Grace Kinnicut
— often used with up
from under … ragged blankets figures roused up from the dirt floor — F.V.W.Mason
b. : to gather strength : mount , intensify
our indignation rouses — Adam Smith
3. slang Australia : to speak angrily : rant , rave
transitive verb
1. archaic : to cause to break from cover
roused a hart — Charles Kingsley
2. obsolete
a. : to cause to erect and shake (the feathers) : ruffle
b. : to lift up : raise
being mounted, and both roused in their seats — Shakespeare
3.
a. : to call forth : set in motion : raise , stimulate
names in the railway time-table … first rouse romantic images in the mind of the boy — Edmund Wilson
these questions … sometimes roused charges and countercharges — Alan Valentine
b. : to kindle to intensity : excite , inflame
such wars rouse limited passions — Herbert Agar
the nobility that is in us is roused to respond — H.A.Overstreet
c. : to arouse from sleep or torpor : awaken , stir
use … histrionics to rouse her audience — Andrea Parke
the government was roused to unparalleled activity — B.E.Supple
the boat rouses wild ducks to flight — American Guide Series: Michigan
made an effort … to rouse herself from sorrow — Margaret A. Barnes
— often used with up
roused up his brothers, who were in bed — William Black
d.
(1) : to alert for action — used with out
roused out his anchor watch — K.M.Dodson
(2) : to haul strongly (as on a rope or hawser)
Synonyms: see stir
II. noun
( -s )
: an act or instance of rousing ; especially : an excited stir
a rouse of voices — Carl Sandburg
III. noun
( -s )
Etymology: alteration (resulting from incorrect division of drink carouse ) of carouse (I)
1. obsolete : drink , toast
2. archaic : carousal
IV. transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: by shortening from earlier arrouse to sprinkle, bedew, from Middle English arousen, from Middle French aroser, from (assumed) Vulgar Latin adrosare, from Latin ad- + ros dew — more at rosemary
: to cure (as herring) by salting
V. ˈrüz
variant of roose