resort
Americanverb (used without object)
-
resorts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
resorted,
past participle, past
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resorting
present participle
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to have recourse for use, help, or accomplishing something, often as a final available option or resource.
to resort to war.
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to go, especially frequently or customarily.
a beach to which many people resort.
noun
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resorts
plural
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a place to which people frequently or generally go for relaxation or pleasure, especially one providing rest and recreation facilities for vacationers.
a popular winter resort.
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habitual or general going, as to a place or person.
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use of or appeal to some person or thing for aid, satisfaction, service, etc.; resource.
to have resort to force;
a court of last resort.
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a person or thing resorted to for aid, satisfaction, service, etc.
verb
-
(usually foll by to) to have recourse (to) for help, use, etc
to resort to violence
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to go, esp often or habitually; repair
to resort to the beach
noun
-
a place to which many people go for recreation, rest, etc
a holiday resort
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the use of something as a means, help, or recourse
-
the act of going to a place, esp for recreation, rest, etc
-
the last possible course of action open to one
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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resortsimple
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resortssimple
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have resortedperfect
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has resortedperfect
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am resortingprogressive
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are resortingprogressive
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is resortingprogressive
-
have been resortingperfect progressive
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has been resortingperfect progressive
Past
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resortedsimple
-
had resortedperfect
-
was resortingprogressive
-
were resortingprogressive
-
had been resortingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of resort
First recorded in 1325–75; (for the verb) Middle English resorten, from Old French resortir, from re- re- + sortir “to go out, leave, escape” (perhaps ultimately from Latin sortīrī “to draw lots”); noun derivative of the verb
Explanation
The noun resort means "turning to something or someone else for assistance." You tried everything to figure out your math homework on your own, so asking your dad for help was your last resort. Resort, pronounced "re-ZORT," is also a verb that means "to adopt a course of action to improve your situation." It's when you use that last resort: if you can't convince your mom to let you go rock-climbing, you will resort to begging. Resort also means a fancy hotel, usually in a very scenic location, or a place you go often — when your friends didn't know where you were, they checked your resorts: the gym and the park.
Vocabulary lists containing resort
"Arachne"
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Marbury v. Madison (1803)
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"A Poem for My Librarian, Mrs. Long," Vocabulary from the poem
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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.
See Examples For:
He added the tool would only ever be used as a last resort.
From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026
In Scarborough's North Bay, Phil and Carol Smith said they would still visit the resort even if a tourism levy was introduced.
From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026
Eastern time Friday morning from the Fed’s Jackson Hole summer retreat, located at a resort at the base of the Teton mountains in Wyoming.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 27, 2026
Aschenbrenner stayed in the Bahamas with Balwit in the 600-acre luxury resort that FTX executives called home.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
The Garfields made plans to vacation at a hotel in the Elberon section of Long Branch, a beach resort town visited by both Presidents Grant and Hayes.
From "Ambushed!" by Gail Jarrow
Some have turned their islands into lavish vacation compounds, while others have envisioned ambitious resorts or simply left much of the land untouched.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 1, 2026
In the Victorian era, as the town grew from a small settlement into one of Britain's most fashionable seaside resorts, thousands of tourists arrived by train each year.
From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026
You know the end of summer is nigh when Vail Resorts announces opening dates for its ski resorts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
And the country sure does look splendid through the windows of brand new cars, upscale hotels and expensive ski resorts.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
Whenever I met my classmates they would tell me about the jobs they had found, how some of them had left town to work in summer resorts in the North.
From "Black Boy" by Richard Wright
As 1931 dragged on and they remained imprisoned without trial, the couple resorted to a hunger strike in protest.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
But given that it does not even have a proper promotional poster, cinema staff have resorted to drawing their own posters to entice audiences to watch.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
To tackle the severe droughts and water shortages that plague the country, Kazakhstan has resorted to cloud seeding, a weather modification method previously unseen in Central Asia.
From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026
Residents have resorted to using orange cones to stop Waymos from driving through alleyways or onto the lots.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026
In the interest of fairness, the CPS resorted to a lottery.
From "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" by Steven D. Levitt
But resorting to litigation rather than negotiating a settlement to this trivial dispute could open a new source of pain.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026
"The Council also unanimously expresses its concern regarding the repeated unilateral actions taken without resorting to dialogue or to the institutional mechanisms established to address situations of this nature."
From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026
As some companies pump the brakes on AI spending by resorting to cheaper models, others are going all-in on the most advanced AI systems—even with their hefty price tags.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
But instead, while some players recognised it as the team simply resorting to clearing their lines and regrouping their shape in defence – it was a tactic some didn't agree with.
From BBC ● Jul. 16, 2026
For some reason resorting to uncharacteristic, bookish language.
From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy
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.
