Library / English Dictionary

ROUTE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

An open way (generally public) for travel or transportation

Synonyms:

road; route

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("route" is a kind of...):

way (any artifact consisting of a road or path affording passage from one place to another)

Meronyms (parts of "route"):

turnout; widening (a part of a road that has been widened to allow cars to pass or park)

bend; curve (curved segment (of a road or river or railroad track etc.))

turnaround (an area sufficiently large for a vehicle to turn around)

circle; rotary; roundabout; traffic circle (a road junction at which traffic streams circularly around a central island)

crest; crown (the center of a cambered road)

berm; shoulder (a narrow edge of land (usually unpaved) along the side of a road)

roadbed (a bed supporting a road)

carrefour; crossing; crossroad; crossway; intersection (a junction where one street or road crosses another)

Meronyms (substance of "route"):

pavement; paving (the paved surface of a thoroughfare)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "route"):

turnoff (a side road where you can turn off)

cart track; cartroad; track (any road or path affording passage especially a rough one)

thoroughfare (a public road from one place to another)

speedway (road where high speed driving is allowed)

skid road (a road made of logs on which freshly cut timber can be hauled)

side road (a minor road branching off of a main road)

crosscut; cutoff; shortcut (a route shorter than the usual one)

roadway (a road (especially that part of a road) over which vehicles travel)

post road (a road over which mail is carried)

line; rail line; railway line (the road consisting of railroad track and roadbed)

highway; main road (a major road for any form of motor transport)

drive; driveway; private road (a road leading up to a private house)

drive; parkway (a wide scenic road planted with trees)

detour; roundabout way (a roundabout road (especially one that is used temporarily while a main route is blocked))

corduroy (a road made of logs laid crosswise)

clearway (a road on which you are not allowed to stop (unless you have a breakdown))

causeway (a road that is raised above water or marshland or sand)

bypath; byroad; byway (a side road little traveled (as in the countryside))

access road; slip road (a short road giving access to an expressway)

Derivation:

route (send via a specific route)

route (send documents or materials to appropriate destinations)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An established line of travel or access

Synonyms:

itinerary; path; route

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Hypernyms ("route" is a kind of...):

line (a spatial location defined by a real or imaginary unidimensional extent)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "route"):

electron orbit; orbit (the path of an electron around the nucleus of an atom)

paper round; paper route (the route taken when delivering newspapers every day)

beeline (the most direct route)

circuit (an established itinerary of venues or events that a particular group of people travel to)

crosscut (a diagonal path)

supply line; supply route (a route over which supplies can be delivered)

line of fire (the path of a missile discharged from a firearm)

flyway; migration route (the geographic route along which birds customarily migrate)

fairway (the usual course taken by vessels through a harbor or coastal waters)

direction; way (a line leading to a place or point)

trade route (a route followed by traders (usually in caravans))

celestial orbit; orbit (the (usually elliptical) path described by one celestial body in its revolution about another)

line of march (the route along which a column advances)

line of flight (the path along which a freely moving object travels through the air)

bus route (the route regularly followed by a passenger bus)

beat; round (a regular route for a sentry or policeman)

flight path (the path of a rocket or projectile or aircraft through the air)

approach pattern; pattern; traffic pattern (the path that is prescribed for an airplane that is preparing to land at an airport)

air lane; airway; flight path; skyway (a designated route followed by airplanes in flying from one airport to another)

data track; track ((computer science) one of the circular magnetic paths on a magnetic disk that serve as a guide for writing and reading data)

main line (the principal route of a transportation system)

feeder line (a branching path off of a main transportation line (especially an airline))

Instance hyponyms:

Northwest Passage (a water route between the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean along the northern coast of North America; Europeans since the 16th century had searched for a short route to the Far East before it was successfully traversed by Roald Amundsen (1903-1906))

Derivation:

route (divert in a specified direction)

route (send via a specific route)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Divert in a specified direction

Example:

divert the low voltage to the engine cylinders

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "route" is one way to...):

divert (send on a course or in a direction different from the planned or intended one)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s somebody PP
Somebody ----s something PP

Derivation:

route (an established line of travel or access)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Send via a specific route

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "route" is one way to...):

direct; send (cause to go somewhere)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s somebody PP
Somebody ----s something PP

Derivation:

route (an open way (generally public) for travel or transportation)

route (an established line of travel or access)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Send documents or materials to appropriate destinations

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "route" is one way to...):

despatch; dispatch; send off (send away towards a designated goal)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something to somebody

Derivation:

route (an open way (generally public) for travel or transportation)

Credits

 Context examples: 

Removal of the spleen in the mice, however, didn’t have an effect, indicating that the vagus nerve influenced inflammation through a novel route that didn’t involve the spleen.

(Electroacupuncture Reduces Sepsis in Mice, NIH)

AKT promotes cell survival and opposes apoptosis by a variety of routes.

(AKT Signaling Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

It was, in fact, the route which I had myself taken in my solitary journey, and it led us straight for the Indian caves.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Having been out some time, and taken a different route to the house, they had not met him.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

The route allows sustained therapeutic plasma drug levels and avoids first pass effect.

(Percutaneous Route of Administration, NCI Thesaurus)

However, the standard, ID, route of BCG administration may not generate enough of these critical cells in the lungs.

(Changed route of immunization dramatically improves efficacy of TB vaccine, National Institutes of Health)

Scientists at Joslin Diabetes Center have now identified a new route to throw the switch.

(Giving Brown Fat A Green Light, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

The biosynthesis of phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine follow similar routes.

(Phosphatidylcholine Biosynthesis Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

Aldgate, where the body was found, is considerably past the station London Bridge, which would be his route to Woolwich.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Route of drug administration not specified on this list.

(Other Route of Administration, NCI Thesaurus)