recur

verb

re·​cur ri-ˈkər 

recurred; recurring

intransitive verb

1

: to have recourse : resort

2

: to go back in thought or discourse

on recurring to my letters of that date

—Thomas Jefferson

3

a

: to come up again for consideration

b

: to come again to mind

4

: to occur again after an interval : occur time after time

the cancer recurred

Examples of recur in a Sentence

There is only a slight chance that the disease will recur.

The same problem keeps recurring.

Recent Examples on the Web

Hughes has recurred on Tell Me Lies, Echo 3 and The Goldbergs, with additional appearances in films like Me and Earl and the Dying Girl and Jason Reitman’s Men, Women & Children. —Matt Grobar, Deadline, 14 Oct. 2025

The Pixel 10 Pro Fold’s failure highlights a recurring issue. —Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 14 Oct. 2025

Unfortunately, the doctor said that an episode can recur, and racemic epinephrine, which helped quickly reduce swelling in his airway, is not available over the counter. —Melissa Willets, Parents, 14 Oct. 2025

SpaceX took steps to minimize the chances that the problem would recur on Flight 8. —Mike Wall, Space.com, 14 Oct. 2025

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Latin recurrere "to run back, return, have recourse (to)," from re- re- + currere "to run" — more at current entry 1

First Known Use

circa 1512, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for recur

• chauffeur
• cockspur
• concur
• confer
• defer
• demur
• deter
• hotspur
• incur
• infer
• inter
• jagir

Kids Definition

recur

verb

re·​cur ri-ˈkər 

recurred; recurring

1

: to go or come back in thought or discussion

2

: to come again into the mind

3

: to occur or appear again

recurrence

-ˈkər-ən(t)s 

-ˈkə-rən(t)s

noun

Medical Definition

recur

intransitive verb

re·​cur ri-ˈkər 

recurred; recurring

: to occur again after an interval

a disease likely to recur