reexamination

noun

re·​ex·​am·​i·​na·​tion (ˌ)rē-ig-ˌza-mə-ˈnā-shən 

variants or re-examination

plural reexaminations or re-examinations

1

: the act or process of examining something again especially from a different viewpoint

… force a critical reexamination of the premises and standards of existing scholarly work.

—Joan W. Scott

2

law

a

: the act or process of examining a witness in a court of law after the witness has been cross-examined : redirect examination

b

: the review by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office of the validity of a patent being questioned on the basis of prior art

In another type of proceedings, called reexamination, the challenger can trigger rejection of the patent by producing new evidence of prior art …

—Erik Larson

Synonyms of reexamination

• review
• reconsideration
• retrospect
• reappraisal

Examples of reexamination in a Sentence

the safety board's reexamination of the accident to see if it could have been prevented

Recent Examples on the Web

That’s true even for routine reviews without any surprises, but add to that the potential for people to challenge the review and force costly reexamination or even litigation — something that practically anyone who might conceivably be affected by a development can do. —New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 7 Apr. 2026

Orbán's conduct has prompted a reexamination of how the EU accepts new members and monitors current ones. —Sam McNeil, Arkansas Online, 7 Apr. 2026

Orbán's conduct has prompted a reexamination of how the EU accepts new members and monitors current ones. —ABC News, 6 Apr. 2026

However, recent reexaminations of medieval artwork are complicating these assumptions. —Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 19 Mar. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1604, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for reexamination

• acclimatisation
• acclimatization
• acidification
• actualization
• annualization
• autocorrelation
• autoregulation
• beatification
• beneficiation
• biodegradation
• biotransformation
• bureaucratization