routine

plural routines

1. countableuncountableA course of action to be followed regularly; a standard procedure.

   Synonyms: habit, wont, ritual

2. countableuncountableA set of normal procedures, often performed mechanically.

   Connie was completely robotic and emotionless by age 12; her entire life had become one big routine.

   1 more example

   It is never possible to settle down to the ordinary routine of life at sea until the screw begins to revolve. There is an hour or two, after the passengers have embarked, which is disquieting and fussy.

   1915, G[eorge] A. Birmingham [pseudonym; James Owen Hannay], chapter I, in Gossamer, New York, N.Y.: George H. Doran Company, →OCLC

   Synonyms: rut

3. countableuncountableA set piece of an entertainer's act.

   stand-up comedy routine

4. countableuncountablerhythmic gymnasticsgymnasticsA performance, execution of gymnastics for one of the apparatus.

   Synonyms: composition

5. countableuncountablecomputingA set of instructions designed to perform a specific task; a subroutine.

   Synonyms: function, procedure, subroutine

comparative more routine · superlative most routine

1. According to established procedure.

   "Morning, inspector," affably remarked the cripple—he had not failed to observe the badge—"rather early for your job, eh? Nothing wrong with our supply up here, I hope, eh?" "Nothing at all, sir," said the inspector. "Just an ordinary routine round. We do them regularly."

   1934, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], The Bravo of London

   Synonyms: by the book, conventional, traditional, halal, homodox, kosher, orthodox, by the book

2. Regular; habitual.

   Pepper's forgiven me in the quiet, hurt way women sometimes forgive. She doesn't cry. She doesn't smile either. She's being routine.

   1993, Tristan Hawkins, Pepper, London: Flamingo, →ISBN, page 108

   1 more example

   Whether modern, industrial man is less or more warlike than his hunter-gatherer ancestors is impossible to determine.[…]One thing that is true, though, is that murder rates have fallen over the centuries, as policing has spread and the routine carrying of weapons has diminished. Modern society may not have done anything about war. But peace is a lot more peaceful.

   2013 July 20, “Old soldiers?”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845, archived from the original on 24 Aug 2013

   Synonyms: general, regular, usual, average, basic, bog-standard, common, common as bums

3. Ordinary with nothing to distinguish it from all the others.

   Stoke put themselves in a fine position to qualify for the Europa League knockout stage with a routine victory over Maccabi Tel-Aviv in Israel.

   2011 November 3, David Ornstein, “Macc Tel-Aviv 1-2 Stoke”, in BBC Sport, archived from the original on 11 Jan 2012

   Synonyms: customary, mundane, typical, average, medial, basic, bog-standard, common

4. Boringly predictable, monotonous, and unchanging

   I found the work pretty routine.