resurrect
[rez-uh-rekt]
- to raise from the dead; bring to life again.
- to bring back into use, practice, etc.: to resurrect an ancient custom.
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- to rise from the dead.
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Origin of resurrect
First recorded in 1765–75; back formation from resurrection
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for resurrect
Contemporary Examples
How might we resurrect a tradition threatened with extinction?
His goal, he said at the time, was to “resurrect something that my family built.”
Pancakes and Pickaninnies: The Saga of ‘Sambo’s,’ The ‘Racist’ Restaurant Chain America Once LovedAndrew Romano
June 30, 2014
It was that basic desire that the justices in Gregg relied upon to resurrect the death penalty.
The Supreme Court Will Never Kill the Death Penalty, Even With Botched ExecutionsMike Sacks
May 1, 2014
She used her new powers to save the Doctor, defeat the Daleks, and to resurrect Captain Jack Harkness.
I had never heard of him either, and I very much wanted to resurrect him and people like him.
Historical Examples
And vampires are things I'd like to see drowned so deep they can't ever resurrect.
The Heart of UnagaRidgwell Cullum
I have dared to resurrect an extinct tribe for the purposes of fiction.
Brothers of PerilTheodore Goodridge Roberts
But look here, old chap, you look a bit cheap; we'll resurrect you to start with.
War's Brighter SideJulian Ralph.
From those cells we can resurrect any one of whom we have an identification plate.
The VictorBryce Walton
If we need Einstein, why don't we Resurrect him, deal with him as a man?
The Big TimeFritz Reuter Leiber
resurrect
- to rise or raise from the dead; bring or be brought back to life
- (tr) to bring back into use or activity; reviveto resurrect an ancient law
- (tr) to renew (one's hopes, etc)
- (tr) facetious (formerly) to exhume and steal (a body) from its grave, esp in order to sell it
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for resurrect
v.
1772, back-formation from resurrection. Related: Resurrected; resurrecting. "The correct form is resurge, which, however, is intransitive only, whereas the verb resurrect can be used both as transitive and intransitive ..." [Klein]. Related: Resurrected; resurrecting.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper