recur
Americanverb (used without object)
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to occur again, as an event, experience, etc.
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to return to the mind.
The idea kept recurring.
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to come up again for consideration, as a question.
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to have recourse.
verb
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to happen again, esp at regular intervals
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(of a thought, idea, etc) to come back to the mind
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(of a problem, etc) to come up again
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maths (of a digit or group of digits) to be repeated an infinite number of times at the end of a decimal fraction
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of recur
1610–20; earlier: to recede < Latin recurrere to run back, equivalent to re- re- + currere to run
Explanation
Have you ever had the same crazy dream night after night? If so, you know that dreams can recur, meaning they repeat, or happen again. The verb recur is used to describe something that happens over and over, whether it’s an injury, an argument, or a character who pops up from time to time on a television show. Recur often describes an event that happens repeatedly, but it can also be used to describe something, such as an image or a memory, that for some reason just keeps popping back up in your mind, like self-doubt that recurs every time you worry about something.
Vocabulary lists containing recur
The Outsiders
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Make a Run for It: Cur, Curs
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Power Prefix: re-
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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.
“It is definitely terrifying,” particularly the thought that her cancer might recur, she said.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 15, 2026
While it can cause painful blisters or ulcers that recur over time, it can lay dormant with most people having no symptoms - and Helen never had a cold sore herself.
From BBC • Apr. 12, 2026
Tillmans’ interest in stargazing goes back to his adolescence, and images of the moon and cosmos recur in his work.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 17, 2026
"However, to ensure that such failures never recur, a broader understanding is needed -- one that encompasses the inter-organisational and inter-hierarchical interfaces that have not yet been examined," he added.
From Barron's • Nov. 10, 2025
The pattern would recur over and over, but there was an important exception.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
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.
