resurface
Americanverb (used with object)
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resurfaces,
present (3rd person singular)
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resurfaced,
past participle, past
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resurfacing
present participle
verb (used without object)
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resurfaces,
present (3rd person singular)
-
resurfaced,
past participle, past
-
resurfacing
present participle
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:
But it has already become a punch line that could resurface if he runs for president.
From Slate ● Sep. 9, 2026
Aiming to resurface the pool ahead of July 4 celebrations, the government had awarded a contract to a Virginia-based company, Atlantic Industrial Coatings, without a full bidding process.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 1, 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
The home goods retailer will resurface through the rebranding of 98 The Container Store locations, including 12 storefronts in California, the company announcedon Thursday.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 24, 2026
They ran and dove into a river, but the bees circled on top of the water waiting for them to resurface.
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
This preoccupation resurfaces at Regen in a large-scale print of 2023’s “Flight Honolulu to Guam,” revealing a star field above the clouds.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 17, 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
A few seconds later he resurfaces and waves up to me.
From "Everything, Everything" by Nicola Yoon
Published in London, England, in 1851, the autobiography resurfaced roughly 3,700 miles away in the library of the Western Reserve Historical Society in Cleveland, Ohio.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 7, 2026
Eagle-eyed fans then connected the dots to a resurfaced video from several months ago, which showed a fluffy white dog hopping out of one of Swift’s cars.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 7, 2026
The same argument resurfaced when Shaun got his own feature film in 2015.
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026
Senate in Michigan, when asked Monday about resurfaced posts on Sept. 11 attacks.
From Salon ● Sep. 2, 2026
The old conviction that there was no new knowledge had momentarily resurfaced, only to sink almost without trace beneath the tide whose very existence it denied.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
But not raising rates could risk another selloff in longer-term bonds by resurfacing questions about Warsh’s credibility, he added.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
That, in turn, forced city leaders to cut basic services, such as street resurfacing and streetlight repairs, she said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026
Those questions kept resurfacing throughout my reporting, particularly when I stopped talking to experts and started talking to people my own age.
From Salon ● Aug. 15, 2026
Whitemountain Quarries had been carrying out resurfacing works on a 1.3km stretch of roadway for Donegal County Council.
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026
“I mean, I’m — I’m in Gryffindor, I’m . But he fell silent, a lurking doubt resurfacing in his mind. “
From "Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets" by J. K. Rowling
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.
