again

adverb

\ə-ˈgen,

-ˈgin, -ˈgān\

Definition of again

1 : in return : back … swore he would pay him again when he was able.— William Shakespeare

2a : another time : once more : anew I shall not look upon his like again.— William Shakespeare

b —used to introduce a statement that repeats and stresses something previously said Again, I ask, why are you doing this?

c —used to ask someone to repeat something that was not heard or understood clearly I'm sorry, what was your name again?

3 : on the other hand He might go, and again he might not.

4 : in addition : besides Again, there is another matter to consider.

Synonyms & Antonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about again

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Synonyms & Antonyms for again

Synonyms

afresh, anew, de novo, over

Antonyms

nevermore

Examples of again in a Sentence

Please, come see us again. It was nice to see my friends again. She wants to prove that she can do it again. Things are back to normal again. When we heard the news, we all said, “Oh no! Not again!”. She demonstrated yet again her remarkable artistic talents. It'll just be the same thing all over again. When he stood up, he got so dizzy that he had to sit down again.

Recent Examples on the Web

But Trump has also consistently played down Russia’s role in the election, or his obligation to prevent such disruption from happening again. — BostonGlobe.com, "Crossed signals on Russia show Trump untethered from advisers," 14 July 2018 That appears to have happened again this year in the show categories, where projects from the broadcast and cable networks dominate the nominations. — Natalie Jarvey, The Hollywood Reporter, "Apple's 'Carpool Karaoke' Nabs Short-form Emmy Nomination," 12 July 2018 If the Hoosiers want to return to a bowl, that can't happen again. — Matthew Glenesk, Indianapolis Star, "Ranking Indiana's top 50 college football games in 2018," 11 July 2018 David Tepper doesn’t want to forget what got him and the Panthers here, but if all goes to plan this type of behavior won’t happen again and the Panthers can focus on winning a championship. — Jonathan Jones, SI.com, "Jerry Richardson's Hubris Remains Immortalized in His Statue," 10 July 2018 Many Nigerians were aghast that something similar could happen again, especially to a president who had campaigned on the promise of defeating Boko Haram. — New York Times, "A Homecoming for Nigerians Who Fled Militants. All That’s Missing Is the ‘Home.’," 10 July 2018 In fact, all that’s really certain about the Giants’ 6-1 Polo Grounds victory over the Phillies on Sept. 28, 1919, is that a game like that will never happen again. — Frank Fitzpatrick, Philly.com, "When and how the Phillies once played nine innings in 51 minutes," 9 July 2018 Shepherd will try to qualify again on Monday of tournament week. — Clifton Brown, Indianapolis Star, "Center Grove's Erica Shepherd looking for repeat junior title, LPGA future," 14 July 2018 As gas prices have spiked, receded, and started climbing again, sales of all Prius models have been up and down as well. — G. Chambers Williams Iii, Houston Chronicle, "COMPACT," 13 July 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'again.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

History and Etymology for again

Middle English ayen, ayein, ayan, ageyn, again "back, in the opposite direction, to a former state, once more, another time," going back to Old English ongeagn, ongeæn, ongēan, ongān, ongegn, ongēn, agēn (Northumbrian ongægn, ongǣn), (compare parallel compounds in Old Saxon angegin "once more, toward," Old High German ingagan, ingegin "in opposition") from on-, a- on entry 1, a- entry 1 + -geagn (going back to Germanic *gagna-, whence Old High German gagan "towards, against," Old Norse gagn- "against, counter, through") or -gegn (going back to Germanic *gagni-, whence Old Saxon & Old High German gegin "against," Old Frisian jēn, Old Norse gegn)

Note: It has been assumed that certain Old English forms, such as ongeagn, reflected an original *gagna-, and others, such as ongegn, an original *gegni-, though the evidence for the latter in Old English is not entirely clear. The rare instances of ongegn could represent "palatal monophthongization" of ongeagn, while ongēn would be a contraction of ongegn—this would leave only reflexes of *gagna- in Old English. Old English ongān (continued in Middle English ayan) apparently represents a monophthongization of ongēan after the crest of the diphthong had shifted forward. Middle English ayen, the most common southern form well into the 14th century, may be the outcome of either ongēan or ongēn. The form ayein would appear to directly continue ongegn. Originally northern again is presumed to have the velar /g/ from Old Norse i gegn. The shortened vowel in the usual pronunciation of again is probably due to against, where it was conditioned by the final consonant cluster. The origin of Germanic *gagna-, *gegni- (Gothic correspondent lacking) is obscure.