recruitment

noun

re·​cruit·​ment ri-ˈkrüt-mənt 

1

: the action or process of recruiting

2

: the process of adding new individuals to a population or subpopulation (as of breeding or legally catchable individuals) by growth, reproduction, immigration, and stocking

also : a measure (as in numbers or biomass) of recruitment

Examples of recruitment in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Their rise is a result of greater outreach to get women into these technical fields through scholarships, mentorships, and broader recruitment efforts. —Emma Burleigh, Fortune, 25 Mar. 2026

Workers should be on the lookout for phony recruitment ads designed to con desperate people. —ABC News, 25 Mar. 2026

Despite efforts to boost recruitment, numbers have declined for years; many quit last fall when a government shutdown left them unpaid. —Tasneem Nashrulla, semafor.com, 24 Mar. 2026

Upon his arrival, Levinson was said to have met with an American fugitive – Dawud Salahuddin – targeted by the CIA for recruitment, a source close to the Levinson case told Fox News in 2016. —Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, FOXNews.com, 22 Mar. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1793, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Medical Definition

recruitment

noun

re·​cruit·​ment ri-ˈkrüt-mənt 

1

: the increase in intensity of a reflex when the initiating stimulus is prolonged without alteration of intensity due to the activation of increasing numbers of motor neurons compare reinforcement

2

: an abnormally rapid increase in the sensation of loudness with increasing sound intensity that occurs in deafness of neural origin and especially in neural deafness of the aged in which soft sounds may be completely inaudible while louder sounds are distressingly loud