Definition

1. Verb:
   • To happen or occur again, especially repeatedly or at intervals: "recur" describes something that happens or appears multiple times, often in a pattern or after a period of time.
   • To return to one's mind or memory: "recur" can describe a thought, idea, or memory that comes back to a person.
   • To go back to or have recourse to something: In formal use, "recur" can mean to return to a subject, method, or source for help or consideration.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • The same problem tends to recur every few months. (The problem happens again periodically.)
  • The memory of that day often recurs in my dreams. (The memory returns to my mind.)
  • In his speech, he recurred to the theme of unity. (He returned to the topic of unity.)

Advanced Usage

• "to recur to": to return to a subject or source.
  • The author recurs to this metaphor throughout the novel. (The author returns to this metaphor repeatedly.)
• Recurring as an adjective: happening repeatedly.
  • She has a recurring role on the television show. (She appears in multiple episodes.)
• Mathematical/Computing Context: A recurring decimal or event is one that repeats indefinitely.
  • The number has a recurring sequence of digits. (The digits repeat in a pattern.)

Variants and Related Words

• Recurrence (n): The fact of happening again.
  • There was a recurrence of the symptoms.
• Recurrent (adj): Happening often or repeatedly.
  • He suffers from recurrent headaches.
• Recurring (adj/verb form): Continuously happening.
  • A recurring dream.

Synonyms

• Recur: happen again, repeat, return.
• Reoccur: happen again (often interchangeable with "recur," though sometimes "recur" implies a pattern).
• Persist: continue to exist or occur.
• Return: come or go back to a place or condition.

Related Phrases

• Recur to one's mind: to be remembered again.
  • The strange incident recurred to his mind years later.
• Cycle of recurrence: a repeated pattern of events.
  • The natural cycle of recurrence in the ecosystem.

Idioms and Common Collocations

• A recurring theme: An idea or subject that appears repeatedly in a discussion or work of art.
  • Loss is a recurring theme in her poetry.
• History repeats itself / recurs: A saying implying that events or patterns tend to happen again over time.
  • In politics, we often see that history recurs.

Verb

1. have recourse to
   • The government resorted to rationing meat
2. return in thought or speech to something
3. happen or occur again
   • This is a recurring story