rut

Noun

rut (countable and uncountable, plural ruts)

1. (zoology) Sexual desire or oestrus of cattle, and various other mammals. [from early 15th c.]
2. The noise made by deer during sexual excitement.
3. Roaring, as of waves breaking upon the shore; rote.
4. (fandom slang, countable, uncountable) In omegaverse fiction, the intense biological urge of an alpha to mate, typically triggered by proximity to an omega in heat.
   • 2017, Marianne Gunderson, "What is an omega?: Rewriting sex and gender in omegaverse fanfiction", thesis submitted to the University of Oslo, page 36:

     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.

   • 2019, Tessa Barone, "Just Go Find Yourself a Nice Alpha: Gender and Consent in Supernatural Fandom's Alpha/Beta/Omega Universe", thesis submitted to Oregon State University, page 34:

     All the characters in this story pressure Dean to help Castiel through his rut, and clearly consider Dean’s resistance to be immature and an overreaction.

   • 2019, Chris van der Vegt, "The Second Genders: Utopia and Dystopia in​ Stranger Things Omegaverse Fanfiction", thesis submitted to Utrecht University, page 23:

     Early in ​Wicked Game,​ Steve goes into his first-ever rut.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:rut.

Verb

rut (third-person singular simple present ruts, present participle rutting, simple past and past participle rutted)

1. (intransitive) To be in the annual rut or mating season.

   Synonyms: blissom, brim, bull, oestruate

2. (intransitive) To have sexual intercourse.

   Synonyms: do it, get some, have sex; see also Thesaurus:copulate

3. (transitive, rare) To have sexual intercourse with.

   Synonyms: coitize, go to bed with, sleep with; see also Thesaurus:copulate with

   • 2004, Bernard Cornwell, The Last Kingdom:

     “Alfred,” Ragnar continued scathingly. “All he cares about is rutting girls, which is good! […]”

   • 1700, [John] Dryden, “Cinyras and Myrrha, out of the Tenth Book of Ovid’s Metamorphosis”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 175:

     VVhat Piety forbids the luſty Ram / Or more ſalacious Goat, to rut their Dam?

4. (slang, intransitive) To rub the genitals against something for physical stimulation.

   Near-synonym: hump

   • 1999 May 22, Joanna Woodcock, “Female dog desire ?”, in alt.animals.dog‎ (Usenet):

     We have just rescued a dog from a shelter; she has a great personality, except the one problem with her is that she ocassionally^[sic] likes to "rut" against my husband's leg or arm !

   • 2001 September 8, Looney, “On a sidenote”, in alt.underground‎ (Usenet):

     I'd bend over and wait...and wait...and wait... finally turning around to see him rutting against a table leg.

Noun

rut (plural ruts)

1. A furrow, groove, or track worn in the ground, as from the passage of many wheels along a road. [from 16th c.]

   Synonyms: groove, furrow

2. (figurative) A fixed routine, procedure, line of conduct, thought or feeling. [from 19th c.]

   Synonym: routine

3. (figurative) A dull routine.

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

   • 1980, Paul Weller, “Going Underground”, in Setting Sons, performed by The Jam:

     Some people might say my life is in a rut / I'm quite happy with what I got

Verb

rut (third-person singular simple present ruts, present participle rutting, simple past and past participle rutted)

1. (transitive) To make a furrow.

Usage notes

• The inflections with loss of -d- are restricted to westernmost Ripuarian.

Derived terms

• en rut