(of a deer or other mammal) engage in the rut or annual period of sexual activity
researchers say the deer are rutting earlier
rutting stags
an annual period of sexual activity in deer and some other mammals, during which the males fight each other for access to the females
a moose in rut
a habit or pattern of behaviour that has become dull and unproductive but is hard to change
the administration was stuck in a rut and was losing its direction
we were ready to settle down into a comfortable middle-aged, middle-class rut