recruit
Americannoun
-
recruits
plural
-
a newly enlisted or drafted member of the armed forces.
-
a new member of a group, organization, or the like.
-
a fresh supply of something.
verb (used with object)
-
recruits,
present (3rd person singular)
-
recruited,
past participle, past
-
recruiting
present participle
-
to enlist (a person) for service in one of the armed forces.
-
to raise (a force) by enlistment.
-
to strengthen or supply (an armed force) with new members.
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to furnish or replenish with a fresh supply; renew.
-
to renew or restore (the health, strength, etc.).
-
to attempt to acquire the services of (a person) for an employer.
She recruits executives for all the top companies.
-
to attempt to enroll or enlist (a member, affiliate, student, or the like).
a campaign to recruit new club members.
-
to seek to enroll (an athlete) at a school or college, often with an offer of an athletic scholarship.
verb (used without object)
-
recruits,
present (3rd person singular)
-
recruited,
past participle, past
-
recruiting
present participle
-
to enlist persons for service in one of the armed forces.
-
to engage in finding and attracting employees, new members, students, athletes, etc.
-
to recover health, strength, etc.
-
to gain new supplies of anything lost or wasted.
verb
-
-
to enlist (men) for military service
-
to raise or strengthen (an army, navy, etc) by enlistment
-
-
(tr) to enrol or obtain (members, support, etc)
-
to furnish or be furnished with a fresh supply; renew
-
archaic to recover (health, strength, spirits, etc)
noun
-
a newly joined member of a military service
-
any new member or supporter
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
recruitsimple
-
recruitssimple
-
have recruitedperfect
-
has recruitedperfect
-
am recruitingprogressive
-
are recruitingprogressive
-
is recruitingprogressive
-
have been recruitingperfect progressive
-
has been recruitingperfect progressive
Past
-
recruitedsimple
-
had recruitedperfect
-
was recruitingprogressive
-
were recruitingprogressive
-
had been recruitingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of recruit
First recorded in 1635–45; from French, stem of recruter, derivative of recrue “new growth,” noun use of feminine past participle of recroître ( re- re- + croître, from Latin crēscere “to grow”; cf. crescent)
Explanation
To recruit means to get someone to join something. You might recruit people for the navy or you might recruit members for your quilting group. The verb recruit often refers to formally joining an organization or a group, such as the military or a corporation. It can also be used more broadly to refer to getting someone to participate in a cause, formal or otherwise, like when you recruit your friend to help paint your room. As a noun, recruit means "a person who has been recruited." If you just joined the Army, you're a new recruit.
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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:
Meanwhile, all eyes were on a different player as the traitors' possible new recruit.
From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2026
USC is also leaning into artificial intelligence, with a $200-million gift from Nvidia board member Mark Stevens and his wife, Mary Stevens, meant to infuse AI across the campus and recruit AI researchers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026
It is also looking to recruit foreign fighters to help its Yemeni allies, they said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026
These substances influence blood vessel permeability and help recruit additional cells to the wound.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 10, 2026
The first recruit seems actually to have gone insane.
From "All Quiet on the Western Front: A Novel" by Erich Maria Remarque
Chun-Li, played by Liang, recruits the pair to compete with other elite fighters in the World Warrior tournament, organised by crime boss M. Bison.
From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026
The decision comes as ICE is quietly shedding many of the 12,000 new recruits it hired last year.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 14, 2026
Sweden reinstated conscription in 2018 and will call up 9,000 recruits this year, compared with 3,500 in 2018.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2026
In early 2025, Run For Something, an organization that recruits and trains progressive millennial and Gen Z candidates for state and local office, launched an initiative that aims to get more renters elected.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 6, 2026
She still had to train her recruits and prove that they could make their mark as serious combat teams.
From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein
He has recruited young politicians with large online followings, including Ana Elisa, a 21-year-old newly elected lawmaker from Minas Gerais state who has millions of followers.
From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026
Sawitskas has recruited a pair of co-workers, Troy Leverton and Pim Renting, who work in various aspects of ride engineering, to help in the task.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026
Participation has boomed in Australia and scores of athletes are switching from Australian rules football, netball and rugby, while the American team has recruited basketball players.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
He had recruited Kerr while he was in high school and was glad to have another chance to sign him.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
As a saber fencer, Peter excelled on his high school’s fencing team and was recruited with a fencing scholarship to attend New York University, one of the best collegiate fencing schools in the country.
From "Proud" by Ibtihaj Muhammad
QB Chris Fields III has opened up his recruiting while showing off his talent.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026
In many cases, dealmakers’ focus has shifted from making new investments toward grinding through portfolio operations, which many find less engaging, said Anthony Keizner, co-founder of recruiting firm Odyssey Search Partners.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026
The SNP public finance minister is recruiting a Shetland-based creative, of any discipline, to engage with the community and deliver projects reflecting policy priorities.
From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026
The action by Vance’s antifraud task force targets Microsoft, Adobe and several tech recruiting companies over what officials have alleged are widespread abuses of the visa system.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
For this reason, I loved making recruiting trips to Cambridge, because it gave me some influence in which Harvard students got chosen for an interview.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
