retread
Americanverb (used with object)
noun
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a tire that has been retreaded.
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Slang. a person returned to active work after retirement, dismissal, etc.
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a person retrained for a new or more modern job or task.
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Informal. a repeating, reviving, or reworking of an old or familiar idea, presentation, story, etc., especially when unimaginative or hackneyed; rehash.
a boring retread of a classic movie.
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Slang. a person representing older or previous times, ideas, policies, etc., especially when they are deemed passé or tiresome.
verb
noun
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another word for remould
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informal a pensioner who has resumed employment, esp in a former profession
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a film, piece of music, etc, which is a superficially altered version of an earlier original
Other Word Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
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have retreadedperfect
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has retreadedperfect 3rd person singular
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has been retreadingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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am retreadingprogressive 1st person singular
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retreadssingular 3rd person
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is retreadingprogressive 3rd person singular
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have been retreadingperfect progressive
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are retreadingprogressive
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retreadingparticiple
Past
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had retreadedperfect
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were retreadingprogressive plural
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had been retreadingperfect progressive
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retreadedsimple
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was retreadingprogressive singular
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retreadedparticiple
Future
Etymology
Origin of retread
Explanation
When you do the same thing again, or walk along the same path, you retread. You might love a writer's first book, but you'll still be disappointed if she only retreads the same plot in her second one. You can, quite literally, retread your steps through the woods to find the beautiful grove of ferns you saw yesterday. You can also figuratively retread: "That candidate just retreads the same points over and over again!" When a car mechanic uses this word, it means "put new treads on a tire," or as a noun, the new surface of the tire itself. During World War I, retread was Australian slang for a "re-enlisted soldier."
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.
McKenzie was getting old, he wanted a Retread, and wanted it badly.
From Martyr by Nourse, Alan Edward
There had been a chilly look about Walter Rinehart's eyes before his first Retread.
From Martyr by Nourse, Alan Edward
"Well, would you walk into the Center for a Retread now without being sure he's wrong?"
From Martyr by Nourse, Alan Edward
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.
