repeat offend

verb

To offend again, especially after being punished for a first offence; to reoffend, to recidivate.

Meanings

verbrepeat offend (third-person singular simple present repeat offends, present participle repeat offending, simple past and past participle repeat offended)

present singular third person repeat offends · participle present repeat offending · participle past repeat offended · past repeat offended

  1. lawTo offend again, especially after being punished for a first offence; to reoffend, to recidivate.

    law enforcement is not a significant way to deter their offending, though it is a significant way to identify who is offending after they have repeat-offended.

    2006, Irvin Waller, Less Law, More Order: The Truth about Reducing Crime, →ISBN, page 23
    2 more examples

    This trip into the Jail system was not one that was going to be filled with fun and games. He was headed into hard time with no visible release date. Here this was a repeat offender headed to face criminal prosecution. He repeat offended before the last criminal offense was settled in the courts. This time the boy was without certain mental faculties.

    2006, Gary Drewes, The Silent Vow: Volume III, →ISBN

    He had no idea why he repeat offended with Cindy. Yes, he fancied her but no more or less than he fancied a hundred women that he saw walking down the street in one day.

    2010, Adele Parks, Men I've loved before, →ISBN

Origin

Cite this entry
APA

repeat offend. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/repeat%20offend

MLA

“repeat offend.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/repeat%20offend. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “repeat offend,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/repeat%20offend.

Source: repeat offend on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.