resurface
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
verb
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(intr) to arise or occur again
the problem resurfaced
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(intr) to rise or cause to rise again to the surface
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(tr) to supply (something) with a new surface
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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resurfacesimple
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resurfacessimple
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have resurfacedperfect
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has resurfacedperfect
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am resurfacingprogressive
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are resurfacingprogressive
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is resurfacingprogressive
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have been resurfacingperfect progressive
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has been resurfacingperfect progressive
Past
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resurfacedsimple
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had resurfacedperfect
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was resurfacingprogressive
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were resurfacingprogressive
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had been resurfacingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of resurface
Explanation
To resurface is to cover something with a fresh coat, like to resurface a road with new asphalt. It also means to come back, like a problem you wanted to forget or a monster in a movie that won’t die. You can resurface a birthday cake with another layer of frosting if you discover your brother has stuck his finger in the original buttercream. Another way to resurface is to emerge or appear again, sometimes above an actual surface, like when a dolphin dives under water and then resurfaces several minutes later. The dream you forgot when you woke up might also (figuratively) resurface later in the day.
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:
"Between 2018 and 2023, apparently there was a resurface of major trafficking and transiting in Liberia. Over the last one-and-a-half years, we've been surveilling them and this is the result of that operation," said Coleman.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
The idea never gained traction, Canadian officials said, and Carney didn’t try to resurface it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
The group entered the water at Vaavu Atoll on 14 May and were reported missing when they failed to resurface later on.
From BBC ● May 22, 2026
What we throw away doesn’t take long to resurface, sometimes in the form of a witty, wise and gripping memoir.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 12, 2026
There, I would sit on the clear sandy bottom of the river and let the current take me downstream, where I would resurface, put on my dirty clothes, and return to the farm.
From "A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier" by Ishmael Beah
I recently tried the “inverted filter” trend on TikTok that has been around for years and periodically resurfaces to highlight our inherent insecurities with how the world sees us.
From Slate ● Feb. 22, 2026
Other family members expressed a desire for closure, with the DoJ quoting one family member who said "the grief resurfaces every time this case is discussed in court or other forums."
From Barron's ● Nov. 6, 2025
The deep water that resurfaces in the Southern Ocean has been isolated for centuries or even millennia, accumulating large amounts of CO2.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 27, 2025
Cue that priceless look on every adult’s face when the goonies are reunited with their families as the entire pirate ship resurfaces to float joyously in the distance.
From Salon ● Jun. 7, 2025
A few seconds later he resurfaces and waves up to me.
From "Everything, Everything" by Nicola Yoon
“Who keeps us safe?” began a popular call-and-response protest chant I first heard during the George Floyd uprising and that resurfaced during Metro Surge.
From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026
The photos resurfaced two years ago, when Yamal’s father posted it online with the caption “The beginning of two legends.”
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 17, 2026
The history of the Jews of Jedwabne resurfaced in 2001, when Polish-American historian Jan T. Gross highlighted the role of Polish villagers in his book "Neighbors".
From Barron's ● Jul. 10, 2026
The debate resurfaced last year when a social media post questioned why entrepreneurs were often celebrated despite a lack of sustained profits.
From BBC ● Jun. 23, 2026
The issue of individual rights versus the common good resurfaced in a major way in the 1980s with the devastating HIV/AIDS epidemic.
From "1919 The Year That Changed America" by Martin W. Sandler
“While compacting the concrete aggregate base in advance of final street resurfacing, water began to pool at the surface toward the eastern edge of the work area,” the utility said in a news release.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
Google says it has introduced a feature that lets users keep personalization on but block specific information from resurfacing in conversations with the chatbot.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 25, 2026
He said: "A pothole hasn't got politics, it just needs fixing. But a pothole is only a sign of failure of resurfacing and maintaining the network."
From BBC ● May 4, 2026
Workers on Saturday were resurfacing the bottom of Washington's famous Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool with "American flag blue"-colored material used in swimming pools, following an order by US President Donald Trump.
From Barron's ● Apr. 25, 2026
I wonder if she’s still afraid of him, in the way that I’m still afraid of him, like a nightmare that keeps resurfacing during the day.
From "Allegiant" by Veronica Roth
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.
