retry
Britishverb
Explanation
In law, to hold another trial for a case is to retry it. It's not legal in the U.S. to retry a defendant for a crime after she's been found innocent. A judge might decide to retry a case if the jury can't come to a unanimous decision, or if a jury member is found to be biased. And when the defendant in a case is found guilty, they can appeal the decision in the hopes that the court will retry it, sometimes using a new attorney or new evidence. You probably won't use this verb to literally mean "try again" — you're more likely to say reattempt.
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.
In Flowers, Justice Clarence Thomas confidently declared in dissent that Mississippi could retry and convict Curtis Flowers.
From Slate ● May 28, 2026
Prosecutors chose to retry the Mann count, leading to the third trial.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 15, 2026
Prosecutors have 30 days to decide whether to retry the case.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 15, 2026
County district attorney’s office decided to retry him.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 10, 2025
"Judge, they're the ones that are trying to retry this case and we need our people inside," Valeska countered.
From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson
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.
