redefine
Britishverb
Explanation
Redefine means to "give new meaning to." A really fantastic song might redefine what rock and roll can mean to people. A great muffin might redefine the idea of what a muffin can be. Technically, redefine means to define again or differently––to give a new meaning. As a basketball player, Michael Jordan redefined the jump shot––it became something much more common and much more aggressively taken. By turning the packaging design of Campbell's soup into paintings, Andy Warhol redefined art.
Vocabulary lists containing redefine
President Trump's Second State of the Union Address (2019)
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Should girls be allowed to join the boy scouts? 10 Vocab Words
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This Week in Words: Current Events Vocabulary for March 4–March 10, 2023
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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.
There have been occasional calls from Congress, most recently this year, to redefine capital gains so as to index them to prices.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026
Her portrayal of Doralee Rhodes combined comic timing with warmth, helping to redefine expectations of performers crossing over from music into film.
From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026
It could also reduce the need to repeatedly redefine groups as new fossils are uncovered and scientists gain a better understanding of our ancestors.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 20, 2026
“We believe individualized neoantigen therapies have the potential to redefine how patients with completely resected stage IIB-IV melanoma are treated.”
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 19, 2026
He used the emotional force of the occasion, channeled through his rhetoric, to quietly shift the political ground and redefine the casus belli in a way that suited him.
From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith
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.
