rerun

R1E1R1U1N1
UK/ˈɹiːɹʌn/US/ˈɹiɹʌn//ɹiːˈɹʌn//ɹiˈɹʌn/

noun

An act or instance of rerunning; a repetition.

“I'm not a fan of the new Simpsons episodes, but the old reruns have me in stitches, although I've seen them countless times.”

Less commonScrabble 5

Meanings

nounrerun (plural reruns)

plural reruns · alternative re-run

  1. An act or instance of rerunning; a repetition.

    Even some strong supporters of leaving the UK worry that an early re-run would be doomed to failure.

    2017 February 27, Mure Dickie, Henry Mance, “Theresa May’s speech to head off Scottish independence poll”, in Financial Times
    1 more example

    The central concern that runs through The Technology Trap is that, unless we are very careful, our latest technological revolution may well turn out to be a tumultuous rerun of the Industrial Revolution, with dire social and political consequences.

    2019 July 11, John Thornhill, “Does tech threaten to rerun the worst of the Industrial Revolution?”, in Financial Times
  2. USA television program shown after its initial presentation, particularly many weeks after its initial presentation; a repeat.

    I'm not a fan of the new Simpsons episodes, but the old reruns have me in stitches, although I've seen them countless times.

    Synonyms: repeat

  3. mediaAnother printing run (impression; batch of copies of a given edition) of a book, cartoon, etc.
  4. governmentA political candidate who holds the same political agenda or doctrine as a past or incumbent holder of a given political office.
  5. computingA second or subsequent run of a computer program.

    Each rerun of the algorithm takes several minutes.

verbrerun (third-person singular simple present reruns, present participle rerunning, simple past reran, past participle rerun)

present singular third person reruns · participle present rerunning · past reran · alternative re-run

  1. transitiveTo run again; to repeat.

    Ms. Hill has rerun those questions in her mind. “If the girls told me they want to stay where they are, I would have to leave them,” she said.

    2013 July 6, N. R. Kleinfield, “The Girls Who Haven’t Come Home”, in The New York Times
  2. transitiveTo broadcast (a television program etc.) again.

    They're still rerunning The Flintstones on this channel.

    1 more example

    Earlier Sunday, MTV ran and reran a compilation of Ms. Spears’s previous appearances on the show, including her high-school hottie debut in 1999 and her on-the-lips kiss with Madonna in 2003, glossing over her lethargic dance number last year.

    2008 September 8, Jon Pareles, “At the MTV Video Music Awards, a Big Draw, a Punch Line and, Now, a Winner”, in The New York Times

    Synonyms: reair

  3. intransitiveTo be broadcast again.
    1 more example

    Everyone is talking about Lemonade, Beyoncé's new visual album that immediately became a sensation when it debuted on HBO on Saturday night. For those who missed it (and those without a loved one's HBO Go password), Lemonade even reran just before the Game of Thrones' highly anticipated season six premiere on April 24.

    2016 April 28, Caroline Framke, “Beyoncé's Lemonade is on iTunes and Amazon — but will only stream on Tidal and Pandora”, in Vox

    Synonyms: reair

  4. transitiveTo run (a race or other contest) again.

    rerun the election

    1 more example

    Thursday night, running in Lane 2 on an otherwise empty eight-lane track, at a half-empty Olympic Stadium, the United States women’s 4x100-meter relay team reran a qualifying round all by itself.

    2016 August 18, Jeré Longman, “U.S. Women Drop Baton, but Advance After a Second Chance”, in The New York Times
  5. transitiveTo run (a computer program) again.

    Restart the computer and rerun the installation.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA television program shown after its initial presentation, particularly many weeks after its initial presentation; a repeat.

Similar

verbTo broadcast (a television program etc.) again.

Similar

verbTo be broadcast again.

Similar

More synonyms by meaning

verbbroadcast again, as of a film

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Italic*wre-
  2. Latinre-
  3. Old Frenchre-
  4. Middle Englishre-
  5. Englishre-
  6. Englishrun
  7. Englishrerun

From re- + run.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 重播, 重播
  • 重播 (chóngbō)television program shown after its initial presentation
  • 重播 (chóngbō)run (a television program) again
Czech repríza
  • reprízatelevision program shown after its initial presentation
Finnish uusinta, esittää uusintana
  • uusintatelevision program shown after its initial presentation
  • esittää uusintanarun (a television program) again
French rediffusion, reprise
  • rediffusiontelevision program shown after its initial presentation
  • reprisetelevision program shown after its initial presentation
  • rediffuserrun (a television program) again
German Wiederausstrahlung, Wiederholung
  • Wiederausstrahlungtelevision program shown after its initial presentation
  • Wiederholungtelevision program shown after its initial presentation
Hebrew שִׁדּוּר חוֹזֵר
  • שִׁדּוּר חוֹזֵר (shidúr khozér)television program shown after its initial presentation
Hungarian ismétlés
  • ismétléstelevision program shown after its initial presentation
Japanese 再放送, 再放送する
  • 再放送 (saihōsō)television program shown after its initial presentation
  • 再放送する (saihōsō suru)run (a television program) again
Korean 재방송, 재방
  • 재방송 (jaebangsong)television program shown after its initial presentation
  • 재방 (jaebang)television program shown after its initial presentation
  • 재방송(再放送)하다 (jaebangsonghada)run (a television program) again
  • 재방(再放)하다 (jaebanghada)run (a television program) again
  • 재경주(再競走)하다 (jaegyeongjuhada)run (a race) again
Persian بازپخش
  • بازپخش (bâz-paxš)television program shown after its initial presentation
Portuguese reposição, reprise
  • reposiçãotelevision program shown after its initial presentation
  • reprisetelevision program shown after its initial presentation
  • reporrun (a television program) again
  • reprisarrun (a television program) again
Romanian relua
  • reluarun (a television program) again
Russian повто́рный пока́з, повторе́ние
  • повто́рный пока́з (povtórnyj pokáz)television program shown after its initial presentation
  • повторе́ние (povtorénije)television program shown after its initial presentation
  • повто́р (povtór)television program shown after its initial presentation
  • ретрансля́ция (retransljácija)television program shown after its initial presentation
  • ретрансли́ровать (retranslírovatʹ)run (a television program) again
  • повторя́ть трансля́цию (povtorjátʹ transljáciju)run (a television program) again
  • повторя́ть (povtorjátʹ)run (a television program) again
Spanish reposición, redifusión
  • reposicióntelevision program shown after its initial presentation
  • redifusióntelevision program shown after its initial presentation
  • repetirrun (a television program) again
  • reemitirrun (a television program) again
  • volver a emitirrun (a television program) again
  • reponerrun (a television program) again
Urdu نشر مکرر
  • نشر مکرر (naśar mukarrar)television program shown after its initial presentation

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with rerun

All rhymes →

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

“rerun.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rerun. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “rerun,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rerun.

Source: rerun on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.