Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of reexamine
Explanation
To reexamine something is to consider or inspect it again. A detective might need to go back and reexamine the scene of a crime several times during her investigation. A scientist who's studying an unfamiliar bacteria will examine it, and then reexamine it again and again. And, if you still have an earache a week after starting antibiotics, your doctor may want to reexamine you. Whenever you take another careful look at something, you reexamine it. The verb reexamine adds the "again" prefix re- to examine, from the Latin examinare, "to test, try, consider, or ponder."
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:
If the discussion sparked by Anthropic’s CEO and other AI pioneers leads scientists and the public to reexamine longstanding assumptions about mind and awareness, it may mark the beginning of a much broader intellectual shift.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 25, 2026
Again, all communities have that right to reexamine the past.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 24, 2026
The current rescheduling push dates back to October of 2022, when former President Joe Biden directed the Department of Health and Human Services to reexamine cannabis’s scheduling status.
From Salon ● Feb. 6, 2026
Researchers at Steward Observatory now plan to reexamine systems observed in the past, searching for stars that may have been overlooked.
From Science Daily ● Dec. 17, 2025
I want to reexamine the van Daans and decide for myself what’s true and what’s been blown out of proportion.
From "The Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank
Dancing’s insouciance is reexamined so frequently throughout the album’s first half that one might read its message as hollow, like a desperate attempt to ignore all of the troubles outside the club.
From Salon ● Jul. 8, 2026
The spokesperson did not respond when asked whether that accreditation would be reexamined.
From Barron's ● Mar. 16, 2026
Some were uncovered during modern fieldwork in remote regions, while others came to light after researchers reexamined specimens that had been stored in Museum collections for decades.
From Science Daily ● Dec. 19, 2025
In that initial letter she sent Chambers, I asked, why didn’t she just tell him she was looking to do a documentary about him that reexamined the media’s role in his case.
From Slate ● Oct. 13, 2025
After Helen Joseph had been cross-examined and reexamined, accused number three, Ahmed Kathrada, opened his case.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
The hearing came amid news that ICE was pausing warehouse purchases and reexamining contracts signed under former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.
From Slate ● Apr. 27, 2026
By carefully reexamining these datasets, the team identified viral genetic material that closely matched known US strains of CLRDV.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 13, 2026
Nixon’s is a familiar story, but it’s worth reexamining in light of events that unfolded over the weekend.
From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2025
In addition to pay and bonuses, many agencies are reexamining their application requirements and hiring processes.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 27, 2024
No one can be thoroughly good who is not a flexible person, capable of drawing back his trains, reexamining them, and bringing them into better adjustment to his purposes.
From The Nature of Goodness by Palmer, George Herbert
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.
