rut
/rʌt/
noun
- A deep track made by a wheel in soft ground.
- After the rain, the dirt path was full of deep ruts.
- The car got stuck in a muddy rut on the farm road.
- The wagon wheels left ruts that stayed visible for weeks.
- A boring, unvarying routine that is hard to escape.
- He broke out of his creative rut by taking a painting class.
- I feel like I'm in a rut doing the same thing every day.
- She decided to change jobs to get out of her career rut.
- A period of sexual excitement in male deer and other mammals, usually occurring at a specific time of year.
- Hunters know that deer are most active during the autumn rut.
- The forest is noisy with the calls of elk in the rut.
- During the rut, male deer become aggressive and fight for mates.
verb
- To be in a period of sexual excitement (said of male deer and some other mammals).
- The stags begin to rut in early autumn.
- We could hear the bulls rutting in the meadow.
- During mating season, the males rut and clash antlers.