routes 1 of 2

noun

plural of route
1
as in roads
a passage cleared for public vehicular travel take Route 190 for six miles, then get off

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance
2
as in paths
an established course for traveling from one place to another we're going to get stuck in traffic if we take the usual route

Synonyms & Similar Words
3
as in ways
the direction along which something or someone moves hurricanes generally take a northerly route up the Atlantic seaboard

Synonyms & Similar Words

routes

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of route
as in guides
to point out the way for (someone) especially from a position in front the guide routed us smoothly through the jungle

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of routes
Noun
The climbing routes' closure came after a 26-year-old was killed in a bear attack, per the outlet. — Gina Kalsi, PEOPLE, 6 July 2026 Rather, the carrier may be slimmed down, with more of its routes focused on serving its holiday offerings. — Kate Duffy, Fortune, 6 July 2026 Business-class fares on some of those routes can cost $10,000 for a round-trip instead of less than half that on a domestic route. — Leslie Josephs, CNBC, 6 July 2026 Tehran meanwhile has tried to strengthen its leverage by saying crew members must gain permission to traverse the strait along routes approved by its officials. — Lex Harvey, CNN Money, 7 July 2026 In the Nutanix implementation, an agent talks to a unified endpoint that routes to the appropriate model. — Janakiram Msv, Forbes.com, 6 July 2026 Food bank logistics managers design routes and dispatch vehicles to visit as many retail store locations as often as possible. — John Lowrey, The Conversation, 6 July 2026 The 70-year-old Oscar-winning actress was trapped in Italy over the weekend amid the eruption of Mount Etna in the European region, which forced the closure of major travel routes in the area. — Joey Nolfi, Entertainment Weekly, 6 July 2026 Ukraine’s advances in drone technology have given it an edge in recent months, analysts and Western officials say, striking supply routes behind the front line, stripping the Russian army of momentum on the battlefield and slowing its advance. — Hanna Arhirova, Los Angeles Times, 6 July 2026
Verb
For images, Google routes your prompt to Nano Banana. — ArsTechnica, 19 May 2026 Charter routes much of the traffic through its Wi-Fi networks. — Kelcee Griffis, Fortune, 27 June 2026 This is software that encrypts data traffic and routes it through private tunnels to secure servers to prevent anyone from being able to read it. — ABC News, 22 Apr. 2026 Despite operating on stablecoin rails, Caliza still routes many transactions through Swift. — Aaron Stanley, Forbes.com, 29 June 2026 Other steps include creating a greeting, enabling call recording (if your plan supports it), and setting business hours (which determines whether the system sends a customer to voicemail right away or routes the call). — John Brandon, PC Magazine, 17 June 2026 The lymphatic system collects that fluid from your tissues and routes it through a network of vessels, nodes and organs running parallel to the circulatory system throughout nearly the entire body, per StatPearls. — Allison Palmer, Charlotte Observer, 29 June 2026 In addition, the new system routes incoming calls to the closest of the county’s three call centers, switching automatically to another county center if any one should become flooded with calls, and even recruiting nearby counties in the rare event all three county centers are overwhelmed. — Rafael Olmeda, Sun Sentinel, 9 June 2026 The platform that routes content to the right provider, enforces terminology, tracks usage, maintains audit trails, and integrates with CI/CD pipelines and CMS platforms becomes the product. — Wyles Daniel, USA Today, 15 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for routes
  1. roads
  2. paths
  3. ways
  4. guides
  5. highways
  6. approaches
  7. pathways
  8. steers
Noun
  • Rodríguez denied those claims, saying some remote areas were difficult to reach because roads were blocked by landslides and debris, forcing authorities to rely on motorcycles, drones and satellite imagery.
    — Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald, 3 July 2026
  • The roads can become extremely dangerous during this period because of fog, smoke, black ice and poor visibility.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 2 July 2026
Definition of roads
Noun
  • Some of those places have her crossing paths with new characters played by Wanda Sykes and Ice-T, among others.
    — Emily Blackwood, PEOPLE, 6 July 2026
  • For finance professionals, the findings suggest that employers who invest in meaningful on-the-job development and clear growth paths can gain a competitive edge in attracting and keeping talent in an increasingly demanding and data-driven function.
    — Sheryl Estrada, Fortune, 6 July 2026
Definition of paths
Noun
  • Go casual with denim shorts or lean more sophisticated with crisp trousers for the office — two ways Swift has styled white shirts before.
    — Claire West, PEOPLE, 6 July 2026
  • That has caused several groups to propose their own ways to fix the program.
    — Fernando Cervantes Jr, USA Today, 6 July 2026
Definition of ways
Verb
  • Eder believed that American flags should be made in America, a philosophy that still guides the company today.
    — Ginger Crichton, Midwest Living, 26 June 2026
  • For a truly memorable half day on the island, book a session at Forge a Memory, where a blacksmith guides you through making your own knife.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 25 June 2026
Definition of guides
Noun
  • Here's your daily look at traffic on major highways in the Kansas City area.
    — Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 4 July 2026
  • As the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary, the museum offers a patriotic lens into how the canals, highways, railroads and mines that stitched this country together were built by machines born in American factories.
    — Malika Bowling, USA Today, 3 July 2026
Definition of highways
Noun
  • The market sees diverse approaches from infrastructure, authorization, and security vendors, alongside consolidation through acquisitions and open-source initiatives.
    — Janakiram MSV, Forbes.com, 6 July 2026
  • The probability of lightning strikes rises as a thunderstorm approaches and peaks when the storm is directly above.
    — STAR-TELEGRAM WEATHER BOT, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 5 July 2026
Definition of approaches
Noun
  • Senate Bills 1144 and 1140 required highway districts to prioritize vehicle traffic and barred them from narrowing streets to make room for bike lanes and pedestrian pathways, according to previous Idaho Statesman reporting.
    — Hali Smith July 1, Idaho Statesman, 1 July 2026
  • Regional leaders should use those results and current labor-market data to improve or discontinue pathways that no longer lead to viable work.
    — Paulo Carvão, Forbes.com, 1 July 2026
Definition of pathways
Verb
  • The jet stream is a highway of air at high altitudes which steers weather systems.
    — Andrew Freedman, CNN Money, 1 July 2026
  • Taking a cue from nickelodeon piano players, composer John Powell steers the mood with a vibrantly eclectic score of sprightly ragtime, violin pathos and popcorn crescendos.
    — Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 1 July 2026
Definition of steers

Browse Nearby Words

routed (out)
routes
routeway
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Routes.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/routes. Accessed 8 Jul. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on routes

Nglish: Translation of routes for Spanish Speakers

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