recoup
Americanverb (used with object)
-
recoups,
present (3rd person singular)
-
recouped,
past participle, past
-
recouping
present participle
-
to get back the equivalent of.
to recoup one's losses by a lucky investment.
-
to regain or recover.
-
to reimburse or indemnify; pay back.
to recoup a person for expenses.
- Synonyms:
- remunerate, recompense
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Law. to withhold (a portion of something due), having some rightful claim to do so.
verb (used without object)
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recoups,
present (3rd person singular)
-
recouped,
past participle, past
-
recouping
present participle
-
to get back an equivalent, as of something lost.
-
Law. (of a defendant in a lawsuit) to plead that one is owed, in the same matter, an amount by the plaintiff which applies against the payment of one’s own debt to the plaintiff.
noun
verb
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to regain or make good (a financial or other loss)
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(tr) to reimburse or compensate (someone), as for a loss
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law to keep back (something due), having rightful claim to do so; withhold; deduct
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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recoupsimple
-
recoupssimple
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have recoupedperfect
-
has recoupedperfect
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am recoupingprogressive
-
are recoupingprogressive
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is recoupingprogressive
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have been recoupingperfect progressive
-
has been recoupingperfect progressive
Past
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recoupedsimple
-
had recoupedperfect
-
was recoupingprogressive
-
were recoupingprogressive
-
had been recoupingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of recoup
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Middle French recouper “to cut back, cut again,” equivalent to re- re- ( def. ) + couper “to cut”; see coup 1 ( def. )
Explanation
To recoup is a kind of recovery: If you lost some money but then made that amount back, you recouped your loss. When you recuperate, you get better after being sick. And when you recoup something, you get better or bounce back after a loss. Businesses that lose money try to recoup it by throwing a sale or cutting their budget. If a runner falls behind in a race but then speeds up to the front of the pack, he's recouped his lead. In some cases this word also means "to reimburse."
Vocabulary lists containing recoup
The Joy Luck Club
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The Distance Between Us
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The Odyssey
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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:
Despite the hiccups, Monday’s mission should let SpaceX begin to recoup some of the $15 billion-plus it has spent on the rocket.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 28, 2026
Baker-Mazara is looking to recoup the remainder of his contract with USC and is also seeking damages for the decline of his NBA draft stock in light of his dismissal.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2026
To recoup the $2.2 billion owed, Pfizer is going after money used to pay air-traffic controllers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 13, 2026
Those provisions were intended as a way to level the playing field against a federal government, allowing entities to recoup attorney costs when they win legal disputes against the feds.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026
In this way, he explained, I should pay back the College of Lucidity for the kindness shown in feeding and clothing me, and they should recoup the expense of maintaining me.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party" by M.T. Anderson
The index recoups some losses premarket, as Nasdaq futures gain 0.45%.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 16, 2025
But the economy typically recoups most of that lost activity after a shutdown ends, as it would after disruption caused by a natural disaster.
From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2025
The RSN recoups that by charging cable distributors a licensing amount to carry their channel in as many places as possible.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 31, 2023
Soto said as he stepped through his mud-streaked living room to his patio, adding that he plans to rebuild, no matter what he recoups from insurance policies.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2022
The employer turns the circumstance to advantage, and recoups himself doubly for the inconveniences, that these disturbances put him to, with the payment of much lower wages.
From Woman under socialism by Daniel De Leon
But with this particular ETF, missed coupons may be recouped should the reference asset climb back above the barrier, Staudt noted.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 18, 2026
City have recouped more than £250m from selling young players over the past five years alone.
From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026
Big budget films like The Marvels and The Thunderbolts recouped their production costs but were among the studio's lowest-grossing films.
From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026
It is a noble mission; movie theaters need all the help they can get and heading into its second weekend, “The Odyssey” has already more than recouped its $250 million production budget.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
The record year, however, was 1893, when the entire crop of forty hogsheads, or over a thousand dozen, of the wine realised a price which recouped all the expenses incurred during the previous eighteen years.
From John Patrick, Third Marquess of Bute, K.T. A Memoir by David Hunter Blair
Monday’s launch is also Starship’s first revenue-generating flight, which will allow SpaceX to begin recouping some of the $15 billion-plus it has spent on the rocket.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 28, 2026
But recouping money usually isn’t enough for a studio like Warner Bros., which is always looking for profit margin, not break-even figures.
From Salon ● Aug. 30, 2026
But representatives for landlords say doing so would leave them with few desirable options for recouping the cost of utilities and would hurt conservation efforts.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
On Thursday, he said the underlying agreement on recouping the toll revenues between Canada and the state of Michigan remains in place.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
My hopes, however, of recouping my heavy losses were dashed almost instantly to the ground.
From The Mapleson Memoirs, vol II 1848-1888 by James H. Mapleson
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.
