rehearse

English

Etymology

From Middle English rehersen, from Anglo-Norman reherser (“to repeat word-for-word”).

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): [ɹɪˈhɜːs]
- Audio (UK) (file)
(General American) IPA^(key): /ɹɨˈhɝs/

Verb

rehearse (third-person singular simple present rehearses, present participle rehearsing, simple past and past participle rehearsed)

(transitive) To repeat, as what has been already said; to tell over again; to recite.
There’s no need to rehearse the same old argument; we’ve heard it before, and we all agree.
(transitive) To narrate; to relate; to tell.
The witness rehearsed the events of the night before for the listening detectives.
(transitive, intransitive) To practise by recitation or repetition in private for experiment and improvement, prior to a public representation, especially in theater
- 1648, Robert Herrick, Hesperides, "When he would have his verses read":
  In sober mornings, do not thou reherse
  The holy incantation of a verse ...
The main actors spent on average two hours a day rehearsing before the first night.
The lawyer advised her client to rehearse her testimony before the trial date.
(transitive, theater) To cause to rehearse; to instruct by rehearsal.
The director rehearsed the cast incessantly in the days leading up to opening night, and as a result they were tired and cranky when it arrived.
- 1859, Charles Dickens, “Darkness”, in A Tale of Two Cities, London: Chapman and Hall, […], OCLC 906152507, book III (The Track of a Storm), page 231:
  He […] has been rehearsed by Madame Defarge as to his having seen Her […]
- 1916 March 11, Charles E. Van Loan, “His Folks”, in Saturday Evening Post‎:
  It was plain that he'd been rehearsed a lot, but he wasn't letter-perfect by any manner of means.
To contrive and carefully prepare (a story, etc.) to offer consistency.
The Crown argued that the accused had rehearsed her story.

Derived terms

rehearsal
rehearsed

Translations

repeat what has already been said

Bulgarian: повтарям (bg) (povtarjam)
Catalan: reproduir (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 重复 (zh)
Dutch: herhalen (nl)
Esperanto: gurdi (eo)
Finnish: toistaa (fi), kerrata (fi)
French: rabâcher (fr), ressasser (fr)
German: wiederholen (de)
Greek: ξαναλέω (el) (xanaléo)
Hebrew: חזרה‎
Hungarian: ismétel (hu)
Italian: ripetere (it)
Persian: تکرار کردن‎ (fa) (tekrâr kardan)
Polish: powtarzać (pl)
Portuguese: repetir (pt)
Russian: твердить (ru) impf (tverditʹ)
Spanish: repetir (es)

narrate or tell

Bulgarian: разказвам (bg) (razkazvam)
Dutch: vertellen (nl)
German: erzählen (de)
Greek: αφηγούμαι (el) (afigoúmai)
Hungarian: elmesél (hu)
Italian: ripetere (it), raccontare (it)
Portuguese: contar (pt)
Russian: излагать (ru) impf (izlagatʹ)
Spanish: contar (es)

practice by repetition or recitation

Bulgarian: репетирам (bg) (repetiram)
Catalan: assajar (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 排練 (zh), 排练 (zh) (páiliàn)
Czech: zkoušet (cs)
Dutch: inoefenen (nl), repeteren (nl)
Finnish: harjoitella (fi)
French: répéter (fr)
German: üben (de), proben (de)
Hungarian: ismétel (hu), felmond (hu), elpróbál
Italian: ripetere (it), ripassare (it), provare (it)
Malayalam: പരിശീലിക്കുക (pariśīlikkuka)
Maori: whakaharatau
Portuguese: ensaiar (pt)
Russian: репети́ровать (ru) (repetírovatʹ)
Sorbian:
Lower Sorbian: probowaś impf
Spanish: practicar (es), ensayar (es)
Swedish: repetera (sv), repa (sv)
Ukrainian: репети́рувати impf (repetýruvaty)
Vietnamese: tập dượt (vi)

to cause rehearse or instruct by rehearsal

Dutch: doen repeteren
Russian: репети́ровать (ru) (repetírovatʹ)