reauthorize

verb

re·​au·​tho·​rize (ˌ)rē-ˈȯ-thə-ˌrīz 

reauthorized; reauthorizing; reauthorizes

transitive verb

: to authorize (something or someone) again

especially : to renew the authority or effective legal power, warrant, or right of

called for Congress to reauthorize the Clean Water Act

Since passage, each law has been amended or "reauthorized," a confusing process under which existing statutes are reenacted with new language.

—Gregg Easterbrook

reauthorization

(ˌ)rē-ˌȯ-th(ə-)rə-ˈzā-shən 

noun

plural reauthorizations

Congressional leaders are expected to continue negotiating a long-term reauthorization of the program in the coming weeks.

—Mike Debonis

Examples of reauthorize in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The focus is back on the House, where Johnson is also under deadline pressure this week to reauthorize the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act's Section 702, a key national security surveillance law. —Kaia Hubbard, CBS News, 13 Apr. 2026

Reports of the court's concern were cited by privacy advocates and some congressional aides as a reason Congress should not reauthorize the law without changes and without the administration explaining the querying filter issue. —Arkansas Online, 12 Apr. 2026

The revelation also comes shortly before Congress is set to debate whether to reauthorize a surveillance law, and whether to close a legal loophole that allows the federal government to buy data about millions of Americans in bulk from commercial data brokers. —Jude Joffe-Block, NPR, 7 Apr. 2026

The expiration of the WOTC at the end of 2025 presents a critical opportunity to reauthorize and modernize the program to better support employment outcomes for veterans and military families. —Brooke Creek, Boston Herald, 7 Apr. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1605, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for reauthorize

• actualize
• antagonize
• apologise
• apologize
• capitalize
• categorize
• characterize
• commercialize
• conceptualize
• contrariwise
• criminalize
• decentralize