recruit

[ri-kroot]

noun

1. a newly enlisted or drafted member of the armed forces.

2. a new member of a group, organization, or the like.

3. a fresh supply of something.

verb (used with object)

1. to enlist (a person) for service in one of the armed forces.

2. to raise (a force) by enlistment.

3. to strengthen or supply (an armed force) with new members.

4. to furnish or replenish with a fresh supply; renew.

5. to renew or restore (the health, strength, etc.).

6. to attempt to acquire the services of (a person) for an employer.

   She recruits executives for all the top companies.

7. to attempt to enroll or enlist (a member, affiliate, student, or the like).

   a campaign to recruit new club members.

8. to seek to enroll (an athlete) at a school or college, often with an offer of an athletic scholarship.

verb (used without object)

1. to enlist persons for service in one of the armed forces.

2. to engage in finding and attracting employees, new members, students, athletes, etc.

3. to recover health, strength, etc.

4. to gain new supplies of anything lost or wasted.

recruit

/ rɪˈkruːt /

verb

1. 1. to enlist (men) for military service

   2. to raise or strengthen (an army, navy, etc) by enlistment

2. (tr) to enrol or obtain (members, support, etc)

3. to furnish or be furnished with a fresh supply; renew

4. archaic,  to recover (health, strength, spirits, etc)

noun

1. a newly joined member of a military service

2. any new member or supporter

Other Word Forms

• recruitable adjective
• recruiter noun
• unrecruitable adjective
• unrecruited adjective
• recruitment noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of recruit¹

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”; crescent )

Word History and Origins

Origin of recruit¹

C17: from French recrute literally: new growth, from recroître to grow again, from Latin recrēscere from _re- + crēscere to grow

Example Sentences

Secure messaging platform Silent Courier aims to strengthen national security by making it easier for the intelligence agency to recruit, the Foreign Office said.

From BBC

Cdr Dominic Murphy, head of the Met's Counter Terrorism Command, said the Met had seen an increasing number of people in the UK being recruited by foreign intelligence services.

From BBC

Nonetheless, when it comes to recruiting at Harvard and Yale and other points on the Other Coast, “I still think the county has got nowhere near the name recognition that Los Angeles does.”

From Los Angeles Times

In any normal year, that would’ve led to attention on the recruiting trail.

From Los Angeles Times

And three cheers for those Van Nuys players recruited out of P.E. class.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• call up 
• draft 
• engage 
• enlist 
• enroll 
• improve 
• mobilize 
• raise 
• round up 
• select