The AI-powered English dictionary
countable and uncountable, plural routines
A course of action to be followed regularly; a standard procedure. examples
A set of normal procedures, often performed mechanically. quotations examples
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
A set piece of an entertainer's act. examples
(computing) A set of instructions designed to perform a specific task; a subroutine. examples
comparative more routine, superlative most routine
According to established procedure. examples
Regular; habitual. quotations examples
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, page 108
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
Ordinary with nothing to distinguish it from all the others. quotations examples
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