rut

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

noun a groove or furrow (especially one in soft earth caused by wheels)
noun a settled and monotonous routine that is hard to escape
noun applies to nonhuman mammals: a state or period of heightened sexual arousal and activity

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

An instant of blind rut. — Ulysses, James Joyce
Rut only at the very first. — The Works of Rudyard Kipling: One Volume Edition, Rudyard Kipling
I got in a rut--and stayed put. — The Straw, Eugene O'Neill

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