repeat
Americanverb (used with object)
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repeats,
present (3rd person singular)
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repeated,
past participle, past
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repeating
present participle
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to say or utter again (something already said).
to repeat a word for emphasis.
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to say or utter in reproducing the words, inflections, etc., of another.
to repeat a sentence after the teacher.
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to reproduce (utterances, sounds, etc.) in the manner of an echo, a phonograph, or the like.
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to tell (something heard) to another or others.
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to do, make, or perform again.
to repeat an action.
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to go through or undergo again.
to repeat an experience.
verb (used without object)
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repeats,
present (3rd person singular)
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repeated,
past participle, past
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repeating
present participle
-
to do or say something again.
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to cause a slight regurgitation.
The onions I ate are repeating on me.
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to vote illegally by casting more than one vote in the same election.
noun
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repeats
plural
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the act of repeating.
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something repeated; repetition.
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a duplicate or reproduction of something.
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a decorative pattern repeated, usually by printing, on a textile or the like.
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Music.
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a passage to be repeated.
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a sign, as a vertical arrangement of dots, calling for the repetition of a passage.
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a radio or television program that has been broadcast at least once before.
verb
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(when tr, may take a clause as object) to say or write (something) again, either once or several times; restate or reiterate
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to do or experience (something) again once or several times
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(intr) to occur more than once
the last figure repeats
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(tr; may take a clause as object) to reproduce (the words, sounds, etc) uttered by someone else; echo
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(tr) to utter (a poem, speech, etc) from memory; recite
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(intr)
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(of food) to be tasted again after ingestion as the result of belching or slight regurgitation
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to belch
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(tr; may take a clause as object) to tell to another person (the words, esp secrets, imparted to one by someone else)
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(intr) (of a clock) to strike the hour or quarter-hour just past, when a spring is pressed
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(intr) to vote (illegally) more than once in a single election
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to say or do the same thing more than once, esp so as to be tedious
noun
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the act or an instance of repeating
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( as modifier )
a repeat performance
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a word, action, etc, that is repeated
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an order made out for goods, provisions, etc, that duplicates a previous order
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a duplicate copy of something; reproduction
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radio television a further broadcast of a programme, film, etc, which has been broadcast before
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music a passage that is an exact restatement of the passage preceding it
Usage
Since again is part of the meaning of repeat , one should not say something is repeated again
Synonym Usage
Repeat, recapitulate, reiterate refer to saying a thing more than once. To repeat is to do or say something over again: to repeat a question, an order. To recapitulate is to restate in brief form, to summarize, often by repeating the principal points in a discourse: to recapitulate an argument. To reiterate is to do or say something over and over again, to repeat insistently: to reiterate a refusal, a demand.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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nonrepeatnoun
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repeatabilitynoun
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repeatableadjective
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self-repeatingadjective
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unrepeatableadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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repeatsimple
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repeatssimple
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have repeatedperfect
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has repeatedperfect
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am repeatingprogressive
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are repeatingprogressive
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is repeatingprogressive
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have been repeatingperfect progressive
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has been repeatingperfect progressive
Past
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repeatedsimple
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had repeatedperfect
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was repeatingprogressive
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were repeatingprogressive
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had been repeatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of repeat
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English repeten (verb), from Middle French repeter, from Latin repetere “to attack again, demand return of,” equivalent to re- re- + petere “to reach towards, seek” ( cf. perpetual, petulant)
Explanation
You can use the word repeat for things that happen again. You can use the word repeat for things that happen again. When you repeat, you do or say the same thing more than once. Sometimes you need to repeat what you said because someone didn’t hear it or understand it the first time, and other times you might repeat a statement for emphasis — you say it twice to really get your point across; in some cases you'll get "I heard you the first time" in return. Doing something over is another way to repeat, as when you repeat a test or draw a smiley face all over your notebooks in a repeat pattern.
Vocabulary lists containing repeat
Do-Over: Words For Groundhog Day
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Foundational Reading
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Units 6–7
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The researchers now want to determine more precisely how calcium triggers the contraction and how the organism prepares itself to repeat the process.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 19, 2026
"There are huge questions as to how this has happened, how it's been allowed to happen and what's going to be done to prevent a repeat of something like this in the future."
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026
With 11 days between games, McVay, his staff and the players are intent on avoiding a repeat performance.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026
The market reaction to leaving rates unchanged again could be a repeat of July, or worse.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026
I repeat, hoping Marion is still perched outside the door.
From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin
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Dow clinches its worst September start since 2008 as history repeats itself.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 16, 2026
Every subsequent concert just rinses and repeats the same story.
From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026
“The Second Lady said, ‘Well, you can have one of two things,” JD Vance says in this “joke” he repeats frequently.
From Salon ● Sep. 4, 2026
While not deterministic — elite firstborns like John McEnroe and Novak Djokovic remain towering counter-examples, and both had younger siblings that played professionally — the later-born tilt repeats across the athletic landscape.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026
“Do...you...understand?” he repeats, coming to a full stop after each word.
From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen
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Turnover among executives and ownership gave him repeated openings to make wholesale changes, a shift that coincided with California’s drought crisis.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2026
That pattern has been repeated across much of the frontline in Ukraine where local organisations have worked with international groups to try to safeguard their national heritage from Russian attack.
From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026
For troops’ families, such abstractions, repeated in media discourse, have concrete consequences when their loved ones don’t come home on time.
From Salon ● Sep. 19, 2026
Mr. Mancall, a professor of history at the University of Southern California, also recounts the repeated clashes between the Spanish and indigenous populations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
He repeated the words he’d learned with Mrs. Contreras.
From "The Way to Rio Luna" by Zoraida Cordova
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It is a chilling dynamic that keeps repeating itself in American culture, and one at the heart of “American Hostage,” a dramatic miniseries making its debut Sunday on MGM+.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026
These repeating bulges are not simply decorative details.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 17, 2026
Robinson was in prison at the time for repeating defamatory statements about a Syrian teenager, against court orders.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
By repeating the process at different locations, they were able to build up a picture of where the nest was likely to be.
From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026
I just keep repeating it in my head: G is okay.
From "Popcorn" by Rob Harrell
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.