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rut

/ɹʊt/noun, verb

rut is spelled R-U-T: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 1.3 times per million words in written English, the 25,070th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, rut means “Sexual desire in any of many mammals, often specific to mating season; the state or season in which this is experienced” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of rut is ruts.

How many letters and syllables are in rut?

Letters3: R-U-T
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing1.3 times per million words; the 25,070th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is rut?

Rut appears 1.3 times per million words in written English, the 25,070th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce rut?

  • /ɹʌt/ [ɹʌʔ]
  • /ɹʊt/

Rut has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-rut.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-rut.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with rut?

No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as rut.

Spelled with the same letters in another order: tru, tur.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of rut

  • ruts plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • rutting participle, present
  • rutted participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does rut mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    Sexual desire in any of many mammals, often specific to mating season; the state or season in which this is experienced.

  2. 2

    The noise made by deer during sexual excitement.

    Near-synonyms: grunt, roar

  3. 3

    Roaring, as of waves breaking upon the shore; rote.

  4. 4

    slangIn omegaverse fiction, the intense biological urge of an alpha to mate, typically triggered by proximity to an omega in heat.

    Proximity to an omega in heat can sometimes cause alphas go into rut, an aggressive need for sexual intercourse usually triggered by the scent of an omega in heat.

  5. 5

    A furrow, groove, or track worn in the ground, as from the passage of many wheels along a road.

  6. 6

    A fixed routine, procedure, line of conduct, thought or feeling.

  7. 7

    A dull routine.

    Dull job, no interests, no dates. He's really in a rut.

verb

  1. 1

    To be in the annual rut or mating season.

  2. 2

    To have sexual intercourse.

  3. 3

    rareTo have sexual intercourse with.

  4. 4

    slangTo rub the genitals against something for physical stimulation.

    Near-synonym: hump

  5. 5

    To make a furrow.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Rut in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchrut (sexual desire or oestrus), être en rut (to be in the annual rut), ornière (furrow, groove, or track worn in the ground), voie de garage (fixed routine, procedure, line of conduct…), sillonner (make a furrow)
GermanBrunft, Brunst (sexual desire or oestrus), brunften, brunsten (to be in the annual rut), Furche, Spur (furrow, groove, or track worn in the ground)
Portuguesecio (sexual desire or oestrus), estar em cio (to be in the annual rut), sulco, rodeira (furrow, groove, or track worn in the ground), rotina, marasmo (fixed routine, procedure, line of conduct…)
Spanishestro, brama, celo, berrea, cachondez (sexual desire or oestrus), estar en brama / celo (to be in the annual rut)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does rut come from?

From Middle English rutte (noun) and rutten (verb), from Old French rut (“noise, roar, bellowing”), from Latin rugītus, from rugīre (“to roar”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after rut