English Dictionary — Definitions & Meanings

revitalize

verb

An American and Oxford British English standard spelling of revitalise.

revival

noun

A return of something, such as interest, energy, or activity, after a period of decline.

revivalist

noun

A person who tries to bring something back into use or popularity.

revive

verb

To bring someone back to consciousness or restore them to health.

revivify

verb

To bring something back to life.

reviving

verb

Bringing someone or something back to life, health, or activity.

revocation

noun

The act of officially cancelling something.

revoice

verb

To give a sound or voice to something once more.

Revoir

name

A French surname, a variant of Rivoire.

revoke

verb

To officially cancel or withdraw something, such as a license, law, or permission.

revolt

verb

To rise up in rebellion against authority.

revolting

adj

Causing intense disgust; repulsive.

revoltingly

adv

In an extremely unpleasant or disgusting way.

revolution

noun

A forcible overthrow of a government or social order in favour of a new system.

revolutionary

adj

Involving a complete or dramatic change.

revolutionise

verb

To completely change the way something is done.

revolutionize

verb

To change something so completely and dramatically that it transforms the field.

revolve

verb

To move in a circular path around a central point.

revolver

noun

A handgun with a rotating chamber that lets several shots be fired one after another without reloading.

revolving

adj

Turning around a central point; rotating.

revue

noun

A light theatrical show made up of comic sketches, songs, and dances, often satirizing current events.

revulsion

noun

A strong feeling of disgust or repugnance.

revulsive

noun

Something, especially a medical treatment, that causes a strong feeling of disgust or repulsion.

revving

verb

Increasing the speed of an engine by pressing the accelerator, especially while the vehicle is stationary.

reward

noun

Something given in return for good behaviour, effort, or service.

rewarding

adj

Giving a strong sense of satisfaction or worthwhile benefit.

rewind

verb

To wind something back to an earlier point, especially a tape, film, or recording, often in order to replay part of it.

rewinding

noun

The process of winding something, such as tape or film, back to an earlier point.

rewire

verb

To replace or reconnect the electrical wiring in a building or device.

rewiring

noun

The work of putting in new electrical wires.

reword

verb

To say or write the same thing again using different words.

rework

verb

To redo, revise, or rebuild something so it works better or fits a new purpose.

reworking

noun

The process of changing or improving something that already exists.

rewrite

verb

To write something again with changes, in order to improve, correct, or update it.

rewriting

noun

The process of writing something again with changes, or the result of doing so.

rex

noun

A king, especially used as a title in ancient Rome or in formal Latin-style titles.

Rey

name

A Spanish surname, a doublet of Roy, meaning "king."

Reyes

name

A common Spanish surname, meaning "kings."

Reynard

noun

A traditional name for the fox, especially in old European fables and folklore.

Reynold

name

A male given name from Germanic roots, now more often seen as Reginald or Ronald, or as the surname Reynolds.

Reynolds

name

A common surname, originally meaning "son of Reynold."

reyse

verb

To take part in a military campaign.

Reza

name

A masculine given name and surname used among Persian and Urdu speakers, a variant of Riza meaning "satisfaction" or "contentment."

rezai

noun

A quilt filled with cotton.

rhapsode

noun

A person who recites a poet's work aloud to an audience, without necessarily having written it.

rhapsodic

adj

Full of intense enthusiasm and excitement.

rhapsodomancy

noun

A method of fortune-telling using a passage picked at random from a poem.

rhapsody

noun

A piece of music with a free, flowing structure, often mixing different moods and sometimes improvised passages.

rhason

noun

The clerical garb worn in the Greek and Russian Orthodox Churches.

rhea

noun

A large flightless South American bird related to the ostrich and emu.

rhema

noun

A personal message believed to come directly from God, rather than a general truth.

rhenish

adj

Relating to wine made in the area around the River Rhine.

rhenium

noun

A metal element numbered 75 on the periodic table; a dense, silvery-grey transition metal.

rhetoric

noun

The skill of using language persuasively, especially in speaking or writing.

rhetorical

adj

Relating to the art of persuasive speaking or writing.

Rhett

name

A masculine given name, originally an American surname of Dutch origin; famously borne by the character Rhett Butler in Gone with the Wind.

rheum

noun

Thin or watery discharge of mucus or serum, especially from the eyes or nose, formerly thought to cause disease.

rheumatic

adj

Relating to or similar to rheumatism.

rheumaticky

adj

(informal) Suffering from, or relating to, rheumatism.

rheumatism

noun

A general term for pain and stiffness in the joints, muscles, or connective tissue.

rheumatoid

adj

Relating to rheumatism, especially the joint disease rheumatoid arthritis.

rheumatologist

noun

A doctor who treats arthritis and other joint problems.

rheumatology

noun

The area of medicine dealing with arthritis and other joint conditions.

rheumy

adj

Relating to, or composed of, rheum: a thin, watery fluid such as mucus or serum that is discharged from the body; watery in character.

rhianna

name

A female first name of Arabic, variant of Rihanna origin.

rhinal

adj

Relating to the nose.

Rhine

name

A major river flowing through Switzerland, Germany, France, and the Netherlands into the North Sea.

rhinestone

noun

A shiny glass or paste stone made to look like a diamond.

rhino

noun

Informal short form of rhinoceros.

rhinoceros

noun

A large, thick-skinned plant-eating mammal from Africa or Asia with one or two horns on its snout.

Rhinos

noun

The nickname for Bangladesh's national cricket team.

rhizome

noun

A plant stem that grows sideways underground and puts out roots and new shoots along its length.

rho

noun

The seventeenth letter of the Greek alphabet (Ρ, ρ), corresponding roughly to the English R.

Rhoades

name

A surname, a variant spelling of Rhodes.

Rhoda

name

A feminine given name of Ancient Greek origin, meaning "rose" or "woman from Rhodes."

Rhode

name

An English surname originally describing someone who lived near a woodland clearing or a reed bed.

Rhodes

name

A Greek island in the Aegean Sea; also an English surname describing someone who lived near woodland clearings.

Rhodesia

name

A former country in Southern Africa, now Zimbabwe, named after British colonialist Cecil Rhodes.

rhodium

noun

A rare, hard, silvery-white, inert metallic element with the chemical symbol Rh and atomic number 45.

rhodochrosite

noun

A crystal-forming mineral consisting largely of manganese carbonate (MnCO₃).

rhododendron

noun

Any of various flowering shrubs of the genus Rhododendron.

rhodomontade

noun

A dated spelling of rodomontade.

rhomaian

adj

Of or pertaining to the Eastern Roman (or Byzantine) empire; alternative form of Romaean.

rhombus

noun

A parallelogram whose sides are all equal in length.

Rhonda

name

A female given name of Welsh origin.

rhondda

name

The name of a valley in South Wales formerly used for coal mining.

rhubarb

noun

A garden plant with long, tart red or green stalks that are cooked and eaten, usually sweetened, while its leaves are poisonous.

rhyme

noun

A similarity of sound between the endings of words, especially at the ends of lines of verse.

rhymer

noun

A person who creates, writes or performs rhymes or simple poems.

rhyming

adj

Having words that end in matching sounds.

rhyming words

noun

Words whose endings sound the same from the last stressed vowel onwards, such as light and night, or station and nation.

Rhys

name

A male given name and surname of Welsh origin.

rhythm

noun

A regular, repeating pattern of beats or sounds, especially in music or speech.

rhythmic

adj

Having or following a regular, repeating pattern of beats or movement.

rhythmically

adv

In a way that follows a steady, repeating beat or pattern.

rhytidectomy

noun

A cosmetic surgery procedure that removes wrinkles to make the face look younger.

rhytidoplasty

noun

Cosmetic surgery that removes facial wrinkles to reduce the signs of ageing.

RI

noun

The initials once used by a British monarch after their name, standing for the Latin for "king-emperor" or "queen-empress" (used 1877-1947).

ria

noun

A long, narrow coastal inlet formed when a river valley floods with seawater.

riad

noun

A traditional house or palace in Morocco built around an inner garden.

Riaz

name

A surname and masculine given name found in South Asian and Middle Eastern communities.

rib

noun

One of the curved bones that run from the spine around toward the breastbone, forming the cage that protects the chest.

ribald

adj

Crude, vulgar or indecent in a way meant to amuse; treating sexual topics in a disrespectful, cheeky manner.

ribbing

noun

The act of teasing someone playfully.

ribbit

intj

Used to represent the croaking sound a frog makes.

ribbon

noun

A narrow strip of fabric, often decorative, used for tying, trimming, or as an award.

ribibe

noun

An old stringed musical instrument, similar to a rebec.

ribosome

noun

A tiny structure found in every cell that builds proteins by reading messenger RNA.

Ricardo

name

A masculine given name of Portuguese and Spanish origin, equivalent to English Richard.

Ricco

name

A surname.

rice

noun

A cereal grass grown widely in flooded paddies, or the starchy seeds it produces that are eaten as a staple food.

rich

adj

Having a great deal of money or valuable possessions; wealthy.

Richard

noun

Vulgar slang for a piece of solid human waste.

Richards

name

An English and Welsh surname, a patronymic meaning "son of Richard."

richdom

noun

Wealth and prosperity.

Riche

name

An English and French surname; the English form derives from Rich, the French from Old French riche.

Richelieu

name

A surname and place name, most famously borne by Cardinal Richelieu, the powerful chief minister of France in the 17th century.

richen

verb

To make something rich or richer.

Richer

name

A surname.

riches

noun

Great wealth, especially in the form of money, property, or valuable possessions.

Richie

name

A diminutive of the masculine given name Richard, also used as a surname.

richly

adv

In a lavish, luxurious, or elaborately detailed way.

Richmond

name

A common English place name, borne by numerous towns and cities including the capital of Virginia; also an English surname and given name.

richness

noun

The quality of being rich, whether in wealth, flavour, detail, or abundance.

Richter

noun

Used (followed by a number) to state the magnitude of an earthquake on the Richter scale.

ricin

noun

A highly poisonous protein extracted from castor beans.

rick

noun

A large, often thatched, outdoor stack of hay, straw, or firewood.

Rickard

name

A surname, from a medieval variant of the given name Richard.

rickets

noun

A childhood bone disorder caused by a lack of vitamin D, leading to soft or weakened bones.

rickety

adj

Weak, shaky, or unstable, typically because of poor construction or age.

Rickey

noun

A cocktail made with lime juice, a spirit (often gin), and carbonated water.

Ricki

name

A feminine given name, sometimes a diminutive of Richard, also spelled Rikki.

Rickie

name

A diminutive of the given name Richard, also used as a feminine name.

Rickman

name

An English surname.

rickroll

verb

To trick someone into clicking a link that leads to the music video for Rick Astley's song "Never Gonna Give You Up" instead of the content they were expecting.

Ricks

name

A surname originating as a patronymic, meaning "son of Rick."

rickshaw

noun

A small two- or three-wheeled vehicle for one or two passengers, pulled or pedalled by a driver.

Ricky

name

A masculine given name, a diminutive of Richard.

Rico

name

A masculine given name, a diminutive of Ricardo, Federico, or Enrico.

ricochet

noun

The action of a projectile bouncing off a surface at an angle rather than penetrating it.

ricotta

noun

A soft, mild Italian cheese made from whey, similar in texture to cottage cheese.

rid

verb

To free a person, place, or thing of something unwanted, usually followed by "of."

riddance

noun

The act of getting rid of something unwanted, or the relief that comes from it.

ridden

adj

Used as the second part of a compound to mean full of, or troubled and dominated by, something negative.

Riddick

name

A surname.

ridding

noun

A patch of land that has been cleared of trees or brush.

riddle

noun

A question or statement phrased puzzlingly, meant to be solved for fun or as a test of wit.

riddled

adj

Full of holes throughout.

riddler

noun

Someone who poses riddles or speaks in puzzles.

Riddles

name

A surname.