retrain

R1E1T1R1A1I1N1
/ɹiːˈtɹeɪn//ˈɹiːtɹeɪn/

verb

To train again; especially, to train or study in a new subject or job

UncommonScrabble 7

Meanings

verbretrain (third-person singular simple present retrains, present participle retraining, simple past and past participle retrained)

present singular third person retrains · participle present retraining · participle past retrained · past retrained

  1. ambitransitiveTo train again; especially, to train or study in a new subject or job

    The process of retraining a large volume of pilots, who have been idle for different periods of time over the past year is complex and challenging.

    2021 May 7, Ceylan Yeginsu, “‘It’s Not Quite Like Riding a Bike’: Pilots Get Ready to Fly Again”, in The New York Times
    4 more examples

    New York City's largest hospital has agreed to retrain some unionized employees whose jobs were to be eliminated under an austerity drive, the hospital and its largest labor union said yesterday.

    1989 February 25, “Hospital Will Retrain Workers to Save Jobs”, in The New York Times

    In 1995, Sharon Brown and her husband, Daryck, founded Environmental and Occupational Safety Services at their kitchen table. The company, which retrains workers in the fields of environmental engineering and cleanup, started to grow by winning contracts from the state of New Jersey and later branched out to do work for the federal government as well.

    2009 October 7, Sharon McLoone, “Building a Company on Government Contracts”, in The New York Times

    If we choose to change our diets and consistently eat healthier foods we retrain our brains, and the foods we initially found distasteful will become enjoyable.

    2018, Timothy R. Jennings, The Aging Brain, →ISBN, page 81

    For about $1,000 per student annually, the program retrained teachers and administrators and paid for new classroom materials, better aligned to cognitive research.

    2023 December 4, Dana Goldstein, “What Costs $1,000 Per Student and Might Help Children Learn to Read?”, in The New York Times
nounretrain (plural retrains)

plural retrains

  1. An instance of training again.

    This adds a bit of complexity as it means that our solution should not retrain for every request coming in but be able to determine whether a retrain is worth it for a given request or whether the model is already up to date.

    2021, Andrew P. McMahon, Machine Learning Engineering with Python, page 221

Origin

  1. Proto-Italic*wre-
  2. Latinre-
  3. Old Frenchre-
  4. Middle Englishre-
  5. Englishre-
  6. Proto-Indo-European*dʰregʰ-der.?
  7. Latintrahere
  8. Vulgar Latin*tragīnāre
  9. Old Frenchtraïner
  10. Old Frenchtrain
  11. Middle Englishtrayne
  12. Englishtrain
  13. Englishretrain

From re- + train.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Finnish kouluttaa uudelleen
  • kouluttaa uudelleento train again
French se recycler, se reconvertir
  • se recyclerto train again
  • se reconvertirto train again
Italian riqualificare
  • riqualificareto train again
Polish przekwalifikowywać się, przekwalifikować się
  • przekwalifikowywać sięto train again
  • przekwalifikować sięto train again
Spanish capacitar
  • capacitarto train again

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with retrain

All rhymes →

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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