Router

//ˈɹuː.tə(ɹ)// noun, verb

noun, verb ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Someone who routes or directs items from one location to another.

    "The router directed the movement of the company's trucks."

  2. 2
    A power tool used in carpentry for cutting grooves.

    "He made an attractive edge on the table with a router."

  3. 3
    a power tool with a shaped cutter; used in carpentry for cutting grooves wordnet
  4. 4
    Any device that directs packets of information using the equivalent of Open Systems Interconnection layer 3 (network layer) information. Most commonly used in reference to Internet Protocol routers.

    "That’s one of the biggest hurdles of managing a router and your network security in general, it’s a massive chore that is fraught with technical jargon, hurdles and screens saying ‘no’, ‘invalid’ or ‘not available’."

  5. 5
    A plane made like a spokeshave, for working the inside edges of circular sashes.
Show 5 more definitions
  1. 6
    (computer science) a device that forwards data packets between computer networks wordnet
  2. 7
    A device that connects local area networks to form a larger internet by, at minimum, selectively passing those datagrams having a destination IP address to the network which is able to deliver them to their destination; a network gateway. Internet

    "The router was configured to forward packets outside of a certain range of IP addresses to its internet uplink port."

  3. 8
    A plane with a hooked tool protruding far below the sole, for smoothing the bottom of a cavity.
  4. 9
    a worker who routes shipments for distribution and delivery wordnet
  5. 10
    In integrated circuit or printed circuit board design, an algorithm for adding all wires needed to properly connect all of the placed components while obeying all design rules.
Verb
  1. 1
    to hollow out or cut using a router power tool.

    "An alternative is shown in which the carcase ends are grooved by routering."

Example

More examples

"How can a router be used to limit network speed?"

Etymology

Etymology 1

From route + -er.

Etymology 2

From rout + -er.

Related phrases

one-armed routeronion routerplunge routerrouter on a stickintegrated circuitip addresspower toolprinted circuit board

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.