What does "rouse" mean?
An arousal.
Rouse
/ˈɹaʊz/ name, noun, verb, slang
name, noun, verb, slang ·Common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: An arousal.
- Grammar: rouse is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: arouse, awaken, excite, wake.
- Useful contrasts: calm classroom, be quiet, bed.
- Usage evidence: The slogan was designed to rouse the people.
How to use "rouse"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "rouse" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "rouse" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "rouse" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "rouse" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "rouse" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "arouse" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "rouse", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 An arousal.
- 2 An official ceremony over drinks.
"No jocund health that Denmark drinks to-day But the great cannon to the clouds shall tell, And the King’s rouse the heaven shall bruit again, Respeaking earthly thunder."
- 3 The sounding of a bugle in the morning after reveille, to signal that soldiers are to rise from bed, often the rouse. British, Canada
- 4 A carousal; a festival; a drinking frolic.
"Fill the cup, and fill the can: Have a rouse before the morn: Every minute dies a man, Every minute one is born."
- 5 Wine or other liquor considered an inducement to mirth or drunkenness; a full glass; a bumper.
Verb
- 1 To wake (someone) from sleep, or from apathy. transitive
"John Hedley was Locomotive Foreman at Beattock. He was in bed, but they roused him, and he gave orders for one of his pilot engines to go up to the summit, get Mitchell's train, and take it to Carlisle."
- 2 cause to become awake or conscious wordnet
- 3 To be awoken from sleep, or from apathy. intransitive
"Good things of day begin to droop and drowse; Night’s black agents to their preys do rouse."
- 4 cause to be agitated, excited, or roused wordnet
- 5 To cause, stir up, excite (a feeling, thought, etc.).
"to rouse the faculties, passions, or emotions"
Show 7 more definitions
- 6 force or drive out wordnet
- 7 To provoke (someone) to action or anger.
"He scarce had finisht, when such murmur filld Th’ Assembly, as when hollow Rocks retain The sound of blustring winds, which all night long Had rous’d the Sea […]"
- 8 become active wordnet
- 9 To cause to start from a covert or lurking place.
"to rouse a deer or other animal of the chase"
- 10 To pull by main strength; to haul.
"Tom, you and the boy rouse the cable up—get about ten fathoms on deck, and bend it."
- 11 To raise; to make erect. obsolete
"And ouer, all with brasen scales was armd, Like plated cote of steele, so couched neare, That nought mote perce, ne might his corse bee harmd With dint of swerd, nor push of pointed speare, Which as an Eagle, seeing pray appeare, His aery plumes doth rouze, full rudely dight, So shaked he, that horror was to heare, For as the clashing of an Armor bright, Such noyse his rouzed scales did send vnto the knight."
- 12 To tell off; to criticise. slang
"He roused on her for being late yet again."
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname.
- 2 A census-designated place in Stanislaus County, California, United States.
- 3 An unincorporated community in the town of Anderson, Iron County, Wisconsin.
Antonyms
Example
"The slogan was designed to rouse the people."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "rouse"?
Common synonyms include: arouse, awaken, excite, wake, activate, actuate.
How do you use "rouse" in a sentence?
The slogan was designed to rouse the people.
How do you pronounce "rouse"?
Pronounced /ˈɹaʊz/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English rousen, from Anglo-Norman reuser, ruser, originally used in English of hawks shaking the feathers of the body, from Latin recūsō, by loss of the medial 'c.' Doublet of recuse. Figurative meaning “to stir up, provoke to activity” is from 1580s; that of “awaken” is first recorded 1590s.
Etymology 2
First attested in the late 16th Century. From carouse, from rebracketing of the phrase “drink carouse” as “drink a rouse”.
Etymology 3
* As an English surname, from Middle English and Anglo-Norman rous (“red-haired”), from Latin russus. * As a German surname, Americanized from Raus. * As a northern French and Walloon surname Rousé, variant of Rosé, Rose.