VOOZH about

URL: https://www.wordreference.com/definition/rouse

⇱ rouse - WordReference.com Dictionary of English

rouse

Listen:
UK:**UK and possibly other pronunciationsUK and possibly other pronunciations/ˈraʊz/US:USA pronunciation: IPA and respellingUSA pronunciation: IPA/raʊz/ ,USA pronunciation: respelling(rouz)

Inflections of 'rouse' (v): (⇒ conjugate)
rouses
v 3rd person singular
rousing
v pres p
roused
v past
roused
v past p

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
rouse1 /raʊz/USA pronunciation   v., roused, rous•ing. 
  1. to (cause to) come out of a state of sleep, unconsciousness, etc.: [~ + object]tried to rouse her but she was still unconscious.[no object]She wouldn't rouse.
  2. to cause excitement, indignation, or anger in:[~ + object]His speech roused the people from their apathy.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026
rouse1 (rouz),USA pronunciation 
v.t. 
  1. to bring out of a state of sleep, unconsciousness, inactivity, fancied security, apathy, depression, etc.:He was roused to action by courageous words.
  2. to stir or incite to strong indignation or anger.
  3. Animal Husbandryto cause (game) to start from a covert or lair.
  4. Nautical, Naval Termsto pull by main strength; haul.

v.i. 
  1. to come out of a state of sleep, unconsciousness, inactivity, apathy, depression, etc.
  2. Animal Husbandryto start up from a covert or lair, as game.

n. 
  1. a rousing.
  2. a signal for rousing;
    reveille.
  • 1480–90 in sense "(of a hawk) to shake the feathers''; 1525–35 for def. 3; origin, originally uncertain
rous′er, n. 
    1. arouse, stir, excite, animate, stimulate, awaken, kindle, inflame, fire. 1. 2. See incite. 2. provoke, anger.
    1. 2. lull, calm, pacify.
rouse2 (rouz),USA pronunciation 
  1. [Archaic.]a carouse.
  2. [Obs.]a bumper of liquor.
  • perh. variant of carouse (drink carouse being wrongly analyzed as drink a rouse) 1595–1605

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
rouse /raʊz/ vb
  1. to bring (oneself or another person) out of sleep, unconsciousness, etc, or (of a person) to come to consciousness in this way
  2. (transitive) to provoke, stir, or excite: to rouse someone's anger
  3. rouse oneself ⇒ to become active or energetic
  4. to start or cause to start from cover: to rouse game birds
  5. (intransitive) (of hawks) to ruffle the feathers and cause them to stand briefly on end (a sign of contentment)
  6. /raʊs/ (intransitive) followed by on: Austral to speak scoldingly or rebukingly (to)
 n
  1. chiefly US
    another term for reveille
Etymology: 15th Century (in sense 5): origin obscure
rouse /raʊz/ n archaic
  1. another word for carousal
Etymology: 17th Century: probably a variant of carouse (as in the phrase drink a rouse, erroneous for drink carouse); compare Danish drikke en rus to become drunk, German Rausch drunkenness
'rouse' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):

🗣️Forum discussions with the word(s) "rouse" in the title:


Look up "rouse" at Merriam-Webster
Look up "rouse" at dictionary.com
  • Go to Preferences page and choose from different actions for taps or mouse clicks.

In other languages: Spanish | French | Italian | Portuguese | Romanian | German | Dutch | Swedish | Russian | Polish | Czech | Greek | Turkish | Chinese | Japanese | Korean | Arabic

Advertisements
Advertisements
Report an inappropriate ad.
WordReference.com
WORD OF THE DAY
GET THE DAILY EMAIL!
Become a WordReference Supporter to view the site ad-free.
Firefox users: use search shortcuts for the fastest search of WordReference.
Copyright © 2026 WordReference.com
Please report any problems.