rote

by heart

Completely; by memory. Often used in reference to something that one has memorized or knows very well. Ask Becky to recite the poem—she knows it by heart. I can't sing that song in front of an audience if I don't know the words by heart!
See also: by, heart

by rote

By memory, perhaps without true understanding of the topic. Ask Becky to recite the poem—she knows it by rote. Research shows that simply learning things by rote doesn't always translate into the best grasp of the material.
See also: by, rote

know (something) by rote

To memorize something through repetition, as opposed to acquiring a full or robust comprehension of it. I know the prayers by rote, but I've never really given much thought to what they mean. The exam is designed to test your working knowledge of the material, so you will not pass if you only know it by rote.
See also: by, know, rote

learn by rote

To use repetition to memorize something, as opposed to acquiring a full or robust comprehension of it. A noun or pronoun can be used between "learn" and "by." Learning by rote has been proven by many studies to be nearly useless in the long-term retention of information. There are so many characters in the Japanese alphabets that I have to learn them by rote.
See also: by, learn, rote
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

by rote

[of learning or memorizing] done as habit and without thinking. I simply memorized the speech by rote. I don't know what it means. The student learns everything by rote and doesn't really understand the concepts.
See also: by, rote

learn something by heart

Fig. to learn something so well that it can be written or recited without thinking; to memorize something. The director told me to learn my speech by heart. I had to go over it many times before I learned it by heart.
See also: by, heart, learn

learn something by rote

Fig. to learn something by memorizing without giving any thought to what is being learned. I learned history by rote; then I couldn't pass the test that required me to think. If you learn things by rote, you'll never understand them.
See also: by, learn, rote
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

by heart

Also, by rote. From memory; also, mechanically. For example, Betty had trouble learning the song by heart, but her teacher insisted on it, or Japanese schools put heavy emphasis on learning by rote. These terms are often put as know by heart or learn by rote . The first term was already used by Chaucer (in Troilus and Cressida). The variant, also dating from the 1300s, often implies mere memorization without deeper understanding. Both phrases remain in use, although this form of learning is no longer so widespread as it once was. Also see commit to memory.
See also: by, heart

learn by heart

Also, learn by rote. See under by heart.
See also: by, heart, learn
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

by rote

If you do something by rote, you do it without thinking about it or understanding it properly, often because you have learned about it by repeating it many times. It is easy to forget how much learning was done by rote in the past. He uses the same old lectures, delivered by rote.
See also: by, rote
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.

by heart

from memory.
See also: by, heart
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

by ˈheart

(British English also off by ˈheart) using only your memory: There was a time when I knew the whole poem by heart.
See also: by, heart
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

by heart

Learned by rote; memorized word for word.
See also: by, heart
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition.
See also:
  • by heart
  • gosh knows
  • goddess
  • goddess knows
  • goddess only knows
  • (the) gods only know
  • the dear only knows
  • heaven knows
  • Lord knows (that) I've tried
  • God/goodness/Heaven knows
References in periodicals archive
The Rote Funken are composed of more than 600 members divided into four groups called Knubbel, who meet throughout the year in pubs.
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Some students use rote learning as their main learning strategy.
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"Agents could see how many tickets we had, view tweets, see the remaining tasks, and decide on how to allocate resources," says Rote. "It was a revolution in our service and support culture."
Desk.com helps small teams and growing businesses deliver on the promise of social customer service
Tunnicliff will continue nursing in a casual rote and is pursuing a business idea.
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To illustrate how brief rote teaching exercises can be created, we will examine the opening of the first movement of Dussek's Sonatina in G Major, Op.
Preparing students: for vibrant classical sonatina performances using rote exercises
Rote's team quickly got on board with the implementation.
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Rahat Khan, a student of local university said that from the primary to BSC level he never try to understand the topic but always busy in rote that's he never achieved good marks in any examination.
Ratta trend wastage of students talent
Capitalization Rate (or cap rate): Used to determine capitalized value, this rote is the percentage rote of return on investor can expect.
Real Estate glossary: the ABCs of real estate
Hay utilizes in-depth interviews, secondary sources and primary documents to trace the vitally important social rote that nuns played by providing education, health care and social services to Chicago's most needy populations from the mid-1840s to the 1960s.
Good Hearts: Catholic Sisters in Chicago's Past
November 30 from Glasgow, seven nights self-catering in Lanza rote at three-star apartments in Playa Blanca, pounds 149 per adult.
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The main danger with dancers is that they learn movement so quickly that it can become rote, so that they sometimes lose the essence or root of it.
Exploring voice & gesture: finding strength and power
Swiss International will be joining in the celebrations - of EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg's sixtieth birthday party on Saturday, October 28 by operating two sightseeing flights whose proceeds will be donated to the Theodora and Rote Nasen charities.
Company Watch - Swiss International
The rote of religion in public life is a hotly debated topic in the United States.
The first amendment: a user's guide the most famous words in the constitution protect a host of rights for Americans--and still spur debate after 215 years
The disconnect between them and me because of the limits of technology interferes with my ability to pull them into the process and push new ways of knowing and applications beyond what is familiar, comfortable and, often, more rote. While the classroom situation can often be manipulated into one that engages all students and push them into even uncomfortable areas of discussion by personal means without compromising them, the switch to online and then back again seems to result in more reliance on "how much" instead of the deeper thinking they should explore and develop.
Issues: blending online and face-to-face teaching
Being aware of core themes is more important than memorizing variations in the Closed Sicilian, making it valuable to players who prefer to immerse themselves in the experience of the game rather than rely heavily on rote study.
Starting Out: Closed Sicilian