rewrite
Americanverb (used with object)
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rewrites,
present (3rd person singular)
-
rewrote,
past
-
rewritten,
past participle
-
rewriting
present participle
-
to write in a different form or manner; revise.
to rewrite the entire book.
-
to write again.
-
to write (news submitted by a reporter) for inclusion in a newspaper.
noun
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rewrites
plural
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the news story rewritten.
-
something written in a different form or manner; revision.
They loved the rewrite, and said it would be a blockbuster!
verb
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to write (written material) again, esp changing the words or form
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computing to return (data) to a store when it has been erased during reading
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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rewritesimple
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rewritessimple
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have rewrittenperfect
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has rewrittenperfect
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am rewritingprogressive
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are rewritingprogressive
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is rewritingprogressive
-
have been rewritingperfect progressive
-
has been rewritingperfect progressive
Past
-
rewrotesimple
-
had rewrittenperfect
-
was rewritingprogressive
-
were rewritingprogressive
-
had been rewritingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of rewrite
Explanation
When you rewrite something, you start from scratch, writing it again to improve it. You might decide to rewrite a poem after your entire poetry class seems confused by your original version. A newspaper editor might instruct a reporter to rewrite her story, approaching it from a new angle or including more interviews. To rewrite something is to edit it, but the word implies making significant changes — or even starting all over again with a blank piece of paper or computer screen. You can call the new version itself a rewrite too. In journalism, it was once common for a "rewrite man" to work crafting new stories out of other people's reporting.
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 state initially refused to ratify the 1922 compact at all, provoking the other states to rewrite the document so it would go into effect with the approval of only six states rather than seven.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2026
Mr. Sullivan’s challenge is to refute this remarkable rewrite of recent history.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
Two months later, Raman unveiled a plan to ask voters to rewrite Measure ULA, calling for her ballot proposal to be fast-tracked to the council.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026
The detectors can also be ineffective as a new crop of AI "humanizing" tools emerges that rewrite AI-generated text to make it appear more human-like, researchers warn.
From Barron's ● Oct. 6, 2026
“Hey! What if we rip open the envelope and then put the letter in a fresh one? We’ll just rewrite the address!”
From "Chasing Vermeer" by Blue Balliett
"The study rewrites the timeline for the koala's genetic history in Australia," says PhD student Toby Kovacs, who led the research.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 17, 2026
Some of it was spent gathering input from residents, public health groups, Native American governments and companies — feedback the agency addressed in subsequent rewrites.
From Salon ● May 10, 2026
It also says proposed amendments have to go through the Legislature twice, with an election in between, giving voters another chance to be heard on constitutional rewrites.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 8, 2026
In situations when clients wanted more-substantial rewrites, I could charge a few hundred dollars for an essay.
From Slate ● Mar. 20, 2026
He was in final rewrites for a book about his first Arctic expedition; she was finishing prior séance commitments.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
Some players, including Brooks Koepka, have since returned to the PGA Tour, which rewrote its rules in December to allow the five-time major winner to come back, subject to certain sanctions.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
Congress rewrote the charitable-deduction rules, effective Jan. 1, 2026, with the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, and every change pushed value away from the deduction and toward your adjusted gross income.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 14, 2026
He also rewrote contracts so Welltower participated more directly in the gains when its operators filled more apartments and increased rents.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 29, 2026
“The bill rewrote the math on charitable giving,” says Kevin Knull, chief executive officer of TaxStatus.
From Barron's ● May 9, 2026
There he rewrote another computer language—Java—and his legend grew still further.
From "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell
A few lines in your letter could be rewritten to reframe your history.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 1, 2026
A judge ruled the legislature’s summary unfair and ordered it rewritten.
From Salon ● Aug. 25, 2026
However, he also said that the compact is woefully out of date and should be scrapped and rewritten to match the reality of the shrinking river.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026
But in recent weeks, several organisations have called for the rules to be rewritten.
From BBC ● Jun. 30, 2026
I’ve rewritten my whole History of Magic essay to include some of the things I’ve found out.
From "Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban" by J.K. Rowling
Others, however, will insist the rewriting of history is the only way of restoring the competition's official record, and rewarding clubs that competed within the rules.
From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2026
A player who is rewriting the NFL record book is more likely to come back and torch the Giants than to have two poor performances in a row.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026
But I remember rewriting several sentences of my own work in the hopes of satisfying this new integrity god.
From Slate ● Aug. 18, 2026
While no-frills fares expand to business and first class, airlines are quietly rewriting the rules in standard economy—most notably around cancellation policies, miles and loyalty perks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
They believed they had found traces of ancient Indians in modern blood—a first step, possibly, toward rewriting the history of the Americas.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
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