recap
1 Americanverb (used with object)
noun
noun
verb (used with or without object)
verb
noun
-
informal recapitulation
-
another name for retread
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of recap1
First recorded in 1935–40; re- + cap 1
Origin of recap2
First recorded in 1945–50; by shortening
Explanation
To recap is to briefly explain something by giving just the main points or details. You might write a popular blog in which you recap episodes of your favorite TV shows. Some shows on television begin with a recap of the previous episode, so viewers can refresh their memories about what's happening in the story so far. A book review is sometimes nothing more than a recap of the plot. And if you miss an important meeting of your Spanish club, the secretary's minutes will recap what was discussed. Recap is a shortened form of recapitulate, "summarize," from the Latin recapitulare, "go over the main points again."
Vocabulary lists containing recap
"The Latehomecomer," Vocabulary from the memoir excerpt
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"The Latehomecomer" by Kao Kalia Yang
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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:
To recap: Purcell punishes a plaintiff in voting cases for being too late to court.
From Slate ● Aug. 25, 2026
As a quick recap, rules that were introduced to the white-ball team in January were kept in place for the Test side at the beginning of the home summer.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
A brief recap of the past dozen years in bubbles:
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026
A recap of consumer prices in April showed inflation climbing to a three-year high.
From MarketWatch ● May 13, 2026
Robert kicked at the left front tire; the recap was beginning to peel loose.
From "Ceremony:" by Leslie Marmon Silko
As Dobbins put it, the event was recapped on both celebrity gossip site “DeuxMoi and LinkedIn.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
His recent visit to Vietnam was recapped on TikTok over a techno rave soundtrack.
From BBC ● May 1, 2025
Every lyric is recapped as a presumed confession, combed for autobiographical Easter eggs and compared, true crime Reddit-style, to the forensic files of her life and loves.
From Salon ● Apr. 19, 2024
“This is a tale that Hollywood would love to tell,” the Grosse Pointe Animal Adoption Society said on their Facebook page where they recapped the happy series of events in a video.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 5, 2024
Dobrynya recapped the case, stroked a thick finger down the hawk’s back, and said, “I’ll keep him here, so you can write a letter back. Hopefully he’ll return to where he came from.”
From Anya and the Dragon by Sofiya Pasternack
A couple of posts later, Zach Witkoff added another message, a video recapping the “World Liberty Forum” held at Mar-a-Lago in February.
From Slate ● Jul. 22, 2026
The second part of the series’ two-part finale, released Wednesday, concludes with the “Clarkson’s Farm” crew recapping the ups and downs of their harvest year and with the show’s namesake back in a hospital bed.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 17, 2026
“We still believe this will be the year of the IPO,” Blackstone President Jon Gray said on a video recapping the firm’s first-quarter results.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 13, 2026
As DA Davidson analyst Clark Wright says in his note recapping Phreesia’s fourth quarter earnings, “there are several moving pieces to the story.”
From Barron's ● Mar. 31, 2026
It was late that night when Katherine and Jimmy tucked the girls into their beds and collapsed onto their own bed, but they stayed up even later laughing and gossiping, recapping the family gathering.
From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly
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.
