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Webster 1913 Edition

Recourse

Re-course′

(r?-k?rs′)
,
Noun.
[F.
recours
, L.
recursus
a running back, return, fr.
recurrere
,
recursum
, to run back. See
Recur
.]
1.
A coursing back, or coursing again, along the line of a previous coursing; renewed course; return; retreat; recurence.
[Obs.]
“Swift recourse of flushing blood.”
Spenser.
Unto my first I will have my
recourse
.
Chaucer.
Preventive physic . . . preventeth sickness in the healthy, or the
recourse thereof in the valetudinary
.
Sir T. Browne.
2.
Recurrence in difficulty, perplexity, need, or the like; access or application for aid; resort.
Thus died this great peer, in a time of great
recourse
unto him and dependence upon him.
Sir H. Wotton.
Our last
recourse
is therefore to our art.
Dryden.
3.
Access; admittance.
[Obs.]
Give me
recourse
to him.
Shakespeare
Without recourse
(Commerce)
,
words sometimes added to the indorsement of a negotiable instrument to protect the indorser from liability to the indorsee and subsequent holders. It is a restricted indorsement.

Re-course′

,
Verb.
I.
1.
To return; to recur.
[Obs.]
The flame departing and
recoursing
.
Foxe.
2.
To have recourse; to resort.
[Obs.]
Bp. Hacket.

Webster 1828 Edition

Recourse

RECOURSE

,
Noun.
[L. recursus; re and cursus, curro, to run.] Literally, a running back; a return.
1.
Return; a new attack. [Not in use.]
2.
A going to with a request or application, as for aid or protection. Children have recourse to their parents for assistance.
3.
Application of efforts, art or labor. The general had recourse to stratagem to effect his purpose.
Our last recourse is therefore to our art.
4.
Access. [Little used.]
5.
Frequent passage.

RECOURSE

,
Verb.
I.
To return. [Not used.]

Definition 2024

recourse

recourse

English

Noun

recourse ‎(countable and uncountable, plural recourses)

  1. The act of seeking assistance or advice.
    • Sir H. Wotton
      Thus died this great peer, in a time of great recourse unto him and dependence upon him.
    • Dryden
      Our last recourse is therefore to our art.
    • 1912: Edgar Rice Burroughs, Tarzan of the Apes, Chapter 12
      Tarzan would have liked to subdue the ugly beast without recourse to knife or arrows. So much had his great strength and agility increased in the period following his maturity that he had come to believe that he might master the redoubtable Terkoz in a hand to hand fight were it not for the terrible advantage the anthropoid's huge fighting fangs gave him over the poorly armed Tarzan.
    • 1929, M. Barnard Eldershaw, A House Is Built, chapter VIII, section ii:
      Nor were the wool prospects much better. The pastoral industry, which had weathered the severe depression of the early forties by recourse to boiling down the sheep for their tallow, and was now firmly re-established as the staple industry of the colony, was threatened once more with eclipse.
  2. (obsolete) A coursing back, or coursing again; renewed course; return; retreat; recurrence.
    • Spenser
      swift recourse of flushing blood
    • Sir Thomas Browne
      Preventive physic […] preventeth sickness in the healthy, or the recourse thereof in the valetudinary.
  3. (obsolete) Access; admittance.
    • Shakespeare
      Give me recourse to him.

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Verb

recourse ‎(third-person singular simple present recourses, present participle recoursing, simple past and past participle recoursed)

  1. (obsolete) To return; to recur.
    • (Can we date this quote?) Foxe:
      The flame departing and recoursing.
  2. (obsolete) To have recourse; to resort.
    • (Can we find and add a quotation of Bishop Hacket to this entry?)

Anagrams

Etymology

From Old French recours < Latin recursus, past participle of recurrō.

Pronunciation

  • Rhymes: -ɔː(r)s

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