Synonyms

rehearse

American

[ri-hurs] / rɪˈhɜrs /

verb (used with object)

to practice (a musical composition, a play, a speech, etc.) in private prior to a public presentation.
to drill or train (an actor, musician, etc.) by rehearsal, as for some performance or part.
to relate the facts or particulars of; recount.

Synonyms:

recapitulate, narrate, portray, describe, delineate

verb (used without object)

to rehearse a play, part, etc.; participate in a rehearsal.

rehearse British

/ rɪˈhɜːs /

verb

to practise (a play, concert, etc), in preparation for public performance
(tr) to run through; recount; recite

the official rehearsed the grievances of the committee
(tr) to train or drill (a person or animal) for the public performance of a part in a play, show, etc

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Synonym Usage

See relate.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

Etymology

Origin of rehearse

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English rehersen, rehercen, from Middle French rehercier “to repeat,” equivalent to re- “again, over and over” + hercier “to strike, harrow” (derivative of herce, herse “a harrow”); see re-, hearse

Explanation

When you rehearse, you practice something. You and your cast mates will need to rehearse for several weeks before you'll be ready to perform the entire two hours and forty-five minutes of the musical "Hamilton." A new teacher might rehearse before his first day teaching math to ninth graders, and you'll want to rehearse before you sing the national anthem on the field before a baseball game begins. If you're nervous about something, like asking someone to the prom, you might rehearse it in your mind. At the root of rehearse is the Old French word rehercier, which means both "go over again," and "rake and turn over the soil."

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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:

rehearse rehearses rehearsed rehearsing

At one of Snabbit's training hubs in the southern tech hub of Bengaluru, workers rehearse tasks such as chopping vegetables against the clock.

From Barron's ● Jul. 22, 2026

Kwan said she would attend presentations with her sales team and rehearse what she saw in the mirror “over and over and over again” until it became second nature.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 23, 2026

"I think she would love this moment," Zanai tells the band after they rehearse.

From BBC ● Jun. 21, 2026

Frontier labs already maintain internal safety processes, rehearse responses to cyberattacks, and publish manuals for their systems.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 18, 2026

“Did you rehearse what you were going to say to get me here?”

From "Boy 2.0" by Tracey Baptiste

In the next scene, Howze is splayed out on a mattress beneath a suspended fun house mirror, skis dangling from the ceiling as he rehearses his final thoughts.

From New York Times ● Feb. 12, 2024

It rehearses in the school hall and involves students in its productions and performances.

From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2023

When she rehearses a play, he’s at the theater too, yet it never smacks of a caretaking decision.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2023

Channeling that energy, he rehearses his fact-heavy, feelings-scant eulogy.

From Salon ● May 22, 2023

Orson Welles rehearses The Campbell Playhouse in this 1938 CBS publicity composite.

From "Spooked!" by Gail Jarrow

The hosts of “The View” did not allow him to coast on his carefully rehearsed charm.

From Salon ● Jun. 17, 2026

Rannells: We rehearsed it like a play, which was really fun, and I’ve never really ...

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 9, 2026

Indeed there were groans from the watching journalists as the politicians repeated some of their best rehearsed lines.

From BBC ● Apr. 28, 2026

It was clearly a rehearsed training ground ploy, although Slegers gave little away.

From BBC ● Apr. 26, 2026

I rehearsed every word that had passed between us for its true meaning, but found no certainty.

From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein

Inside Nardis Jazz Club, a dimly lit venue with an intimate feel in the shadow of Istanbul's Galata Tower, a jazz trio is rehearsing ahead of an evening show with a singer.

From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026

She is currently rehearsing for her role as Clara in “The Nutcracker” in November, a part she has played for 45 years.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026

One performer described the worst possible outcome: working all week, staying up all night, writing sketches, rehearsing constantly, and then discovering on Saturday night that you don’t even need hair and makeup.

From Salon ● Jul. 5, 2026

Twenty minutes later, they are on stage rehearsing The Happy Dictator; followed by Shaun Ryder, hamming up his part on the 2005 classic Dare!

From BBC ● Jun. 21, 2026

"I think we're rehearsing the ballroom scene," Nancy called out to her friends.

From "The Cinderella Ballet Mystery: Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew, #4" by Carolyn Keene

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023