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.
Rearrange the words of a movie title: “The Kwai on the River Bridge”: Barbara Walters narrates a moving story of two lovers saying goodbye above the Seine.
From Washington Post • Dec. 8, 2022
Rearrange the letters in Tesla and you get Slate, the home of your favorite news quiz!
From Slate • Dec. 17, 2021
Rearrange your desktops You may want to change the order of the desktops in order to make it easier to remember which to use when.
From The Verge • Oct. 20, 2021
Rearrange the electrons to make multiple bonds with the central atom in order to obtain octets wherever possible.
From Textbooks • Feb. 14, 2019
Rearrange the ideas: This souffle recipe calls for eight eggs.
From "Woe Is I" by Patricia T. O'Conner
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.
