rescission
Americannoun
noun
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the act of rescinding
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law the right to have a contract set aside if it has been entered into mistakenly, as a result of misrepresentation, undue influence, etc
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of rescission
1605–15; < Late Latin rescissiōn- (stem of rescissiō ) a making void, rescinding, equivalent to resciss ( us ) (past participle of rescindere to rescind, equivalent to re- re- + scid-, variant stem of scindere to cleave, tear in two + -tus past participle suffix, with dt > ss ) + -iōn- -ion
Explanation
If you’ve really had it with your business partner, you may make a motion for rescission to dissolve your legal ties. Rescission refers to the canceling of a contract or other legal agreement. The word rescission entered English in the17th century from the Latin word rescissio(n-), from resciss-, meaning “split again.” When a rescission takes place, you can think of it as two parties that are split up again — it’s as if they never had any ties together. You’ll most often hear the word used in a legal context. If someone violates part of a contract, then the other party might seek rescission, meaning the contract will be declared void.
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 you are seeking rescission of a written contract, the claim is probably subject to a four-year statute of limitations.”
From MarketWatch ● May 20, 2026
The ruling allows the agency to find no endangerment exists, but this rescission avoids arguing the science or challenging particulars of the 2009 finding.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 18, 2026
At the current spot price of $5,300 per metric ton, the minister added, the country "stands to raise additional revenue of US$60 million... each year resulting from Trump's tariff rescission".
From Barron's ● Nov. 24, 2025
Even McConnell voted to approve the $9-billion rescission request.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 10, 2025
It is no doubt only by reason of a condition construed into the contract that fraud is a ground of rescission.
From The Common Law by Holmes, Oliver Wendell
“The appropriations bills, reconciliation, rescissions, all the different tools we are using. . . . It’s the end of futility,” Mr. Vought says in an interview.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 5, 2026
From then on, presidents had to request rescissions from Congress—essentially asking permission to withhold funds after they had been included in an appropriations bill.
From Barron's ● Oct. 6, 2025
“If Congress wanted a president to have that authority, it would need to change the law,” the GAO wrote in a post on pocket rescissions earlier this month.
From Salon ● Aug. 29, 2025
Similarly, the significant health and climate benefits sacrificed with these rescissions disproportionately harm people with compromised health and communities with high exposure to pollution or weather impacts.
From Slate ● Jun. 5, 2025
I submitted to the last Congress a list of budget deferrals and rescissions.
From State of the Union Address by Ford, Gerald R.
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.
