rearrange
Britishverb
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to put (something) into a new order
to rearrange the lighting
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to put (something) back in its original order after it has been displaced
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to fix a new date or time for (something postponed)
to rearrange a match
Other Word Forms
Explanation
When you rearrange something, you change its position or reorganize its contents. You could rearrange your bookshelves so that the books are sorted by color, rather than by title or author. After riding in a car with the windows down, you might need to rearrange your scarf and hairdo. And, if you're making room in your apartment for a friend to stay over, you might want to rearrange your furniture to accommodate an air mattress. You can also rearrange a schedule or routine. This word adds the "back or again" prefix, re-, to arrange, a verb which originally meant "draw up a battle line."
Vocabulary lists containing rearrange
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.
As Earth’s societies rearrange around the AI race, and many of us use it without fully measuring its environmental and social cost, “Battlestar Galactica” gives us a lot to think about.
From Salon • May 5, 2026
For travelers preparing for overseas trips with detailed itineraries, Nastro said travel insurance can protect you from losing money if illness, delays or other disruptions force you to cancel or rearrange your trip.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 9, 2026
This gives it the flexibility to handle especially complicated cases, including higher-order topological defects where defects can merge, split apart, or rearrange themselves.
From Science Daily • Jan. 29, 2026
As a result of declaring the critical incident, the trust will now rearrange some elective procedures to create capacity for the sickest patients.
From BBC • Jan. 13, 2026
Before either mother or son could speak, rearrange themselves properly, or even exchange looks, Freddie had run around the house, climbed the porch steps, and was calling them between gulps of laughter.
From "Song of Solomon" by Toni Morrison
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.
