rehearse
Americanverb (used with object)
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to practice (a musical composition, a play, a speech, etc.) in private prior to a public presentation.
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to drill or train (an actor, musician, etc.) by rehearsal, as for some performance or part.
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to relate the facts or particulars of; recount.
- Synonyms:
- recapitulate, narrate, portray, describe, delineate
verb (used without object)
verb
-
to practise (a play, concert, etc), in preparation for public performance
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(tr) to run through; recount; recite
the official rehearsed the grievances of the committee
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(tr) to train or drill (a person or animal) for the public performance of a part in a play, show, etc
Related Words
See relate.
Other Word Forms
- rehearsable adjective
- rehearser noun
- unrehearsable adjective
- unrehearsed adjective
- unrehearsing adjective
- well-rehearsed adjective
Etymology
Origin of rehearse
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English rehersen, rehercen, from Middle French rehercier “to repeat,” equivalent to re- “again, over and over” + hercier “to strike, harrow” (derivative of herce, herse “a harrow”); re-, hearse
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Controllers will also rehearse parts of the countdown, sending commands through the same computers and networks that will be used on launch day, but without filling the tanks with fuel.
From BBC • Mar. 20, 2026
Hosting asks you to orchestrate, rehearse and curate.
From Salon • Dec. 2, 2025
"There wasn't any heating, the presenters had maybe two weeks to rehearse," he explained.
From BBC • Nov. 28, 2025
Some pretended to be difficult customers to allow the waitstaff to rehearse for future nitpicking.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 23, 2025
Dad wrote up about twenty-five or thirty questions like that and then insisted we rehearse the interview.
From "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
