Word.ws English Dictionary

roused

/ˈɹaʊzd/

roused is the simple past and past participle of rouse.

Meaning of rouse

Verb

rouse (third-person singular simple present rouses, present participle rousing, simple past and past participle roused)

  1. (transitive) To cause (something) to be (more) active or to move; to agitate, to stir up.
    • Thee water is rowſed, they [two serpents] do friſke with floũce [flounce] to yͤ ſhoare ward, / Thee land with ſtaring eyes bluddy and firie beholding: […]1582, “The Second Booke of Virgil His Æneis”, in Richard Stanyhurst, transl., The First Foure Bookes of Virgils Æneis, […], London: […] Henrie Bynneman […], published 1583, →OCLC, page 27
    1. (transitive) To stir (a liquid, especially (brewing) beer in the brewing process).
  2. (transitive) To provoke (someone) to react (for example, in anger or annoyance); to spur; also, to annoy, to tease.
    • This day is called the day of Cryſpin, / He that outliues this day, and ſees old age, / Shall ſtand a tiptoe vvhen this day is named, / And rovvſe him at the name of Cryſpin.1599 (date written), [William Shakespeare], The Cronicle History of Henry the Fift, […] (First Quarto), London: […] Thomas Creede, for Tho[mas] Millington, and Iohn Busby […], published 1600, →OCLC...
  3. (transitive) Originally chiefly followed by up: to cause (an emotional reaction, a feeling, etc.); to excite, to incite, to stir up.
    • to rouse the emotions or passions
  4. (transitive) Sometimes followed by up: to disturb (someone) from a state of apathy, comfort, etc.
    • But it [trial by jury] needs only to be minutely examined, and properly valued, to rouze the nation to preſerve it unimpaired, for the benefit of the preſent generation, and that vve may tranſmit it to poſterity uncontaminated and undiminiſhed.1785, a country gentleman [pseudonym], “To the Right Honourable Earl Mansfield”, in William Jones, M[anasseh] Dawes, England’s Alarm! On the Prevailing Doctrine of Libels, as Laid down by the Earl of...
  5. (also, reflexive, transitive) Sometimes followed by up: to wake (oneself or someone) from deep thought, or rest or sleep; to awaken.
    • VVhen vve be brought to this point that vve muſt be fayne to looke vnto God: vve begin after a ſort too rouze vp ourſelues, ſo as vvee be no more ſo careleſſe and drovvzie as vvee vvere: […]1574, Iohn Caluin [i.e., John Calvin], “The Nineteenth Sermon, which is the Thirde vppon the Fifth Chapter”, in Arthur Golding, transl., Sermons of Master Iohn Caluin, vpon the Booke of Iob. […]...

See all 34 meanings of rouse

Words formed from roused

Words that rhyme with roused

Questions about roused

What is roused the simple past and past participle of?
Roused is the simple past and past participle of rouse.
How do you pronounce roused?
Roused is pronounced /ˈɹaʊzd/.

Words near roused in the dictionary

  1. Rouse Hill
  2. Rouse number
  3. Rouse numbers
  4. rouseabout
  5. rouseabouts
  6. roused
  7. rousedst
  8. rouseite
  9. rousement
  10. rousements
  11. rouser

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: roused (page history and authors); rouse (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-roused.ogg.

Cite this entry: “roused.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/roused. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.