REWRITE (rewritten, rewrote)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected forms: rewritten    , rewrote   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does rewrite mean? 

• REWRITE (noun)
  The noun REWRITE has 1 sense:

1. something that has been written again

  Familiarity information: REWRITE used as a noun is very rare.

• REWRITE (verb)
  The verb REWRITE has 2 senses:

1. write differently; alter the writing of

2. rewrite so as to make fit to suit a new or different purpose

  Familiarity information: REWRITE used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• REWRITE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Something that has been written again

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

rescript; revision; rewrite

Context example:

the rewrite was much better

Hypernyms ("rewrite" is a kind of...):

piece of writing; writing; written material (the work of a writer; anything expressed in letters of the alphabet (especially when considered from the point of view of style and effect))

Derivation:

rewrite (write differently; alter the writing of)

rewrite (rewrite so as to make fit to suit a new or different purpose)

• REWRITE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they rewrite    ... he / she / it rewrites   
Past simple: rewrote   
Past participle: rewritten   
-ing form: rewriting   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Write differently; alter the writing of

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Context example:

The student rewrote his thesis

Hypernyms (to "rewrite" is one way to...):

write (communicate or express by writing)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "rewrite"):

decipher; decode; decrypt (convert code into ordinary language)

transcribe; transliterate (rewrite in a different script)

transcribe (make a phonetic transcription of)

revise (make revisions in)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

rewrite (something that has been written again)

rewriter (someone who puts text into appropriate form for publication)

rewriting (editing that involves writing something again)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Rewrite so as to make fit to suit a new or different purpose

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Context example:

re-write a play for use in schools

Hypernyms (to "rewrite" is one way to...):

compose; indite; pen; write (produce a literary work)

Domain category:

authorship; composition; penning; writing (the act of creating written works)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sentence example:

Did he rewrite his major works over a short period of time?

Derivation:

rewrite (something that has been written again)

rewriter (someone who puts text into appropriate form for publication)

 Context examples 

The last name was written in pencil, and Amy explained that he was to rewrite it in ink and seal it up for her properly.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Our paper rewrites the history of Late Antiquity from an environmental perspective that doesn't assume plague was responsible for changing the world, said Merle Eisenberg, also of the synthesis center.

(Justinianic plague not a landmark pandemic?, National Science Foundation)

He discovered in himself, at this period, a passion for perfection, under the sway of which he rewrote and polished The Jostling Street, The Wine of Life, Joy, the Sea Lyrics, and others of his earlier work.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)