recourse
part of speech
noun (recourse — usually uncountable)
meaning for a pupil
1) (formal) Recourse is a way of getting help or a solution when you are in trouble. tree →
2) (formal) To have recourse to something means to use it because you need to, often when other ways have failed. tree →
3) (law, formal) Recourse is the right to ask someone to pay you back or put a wrong right. tree →
sense in the lessons
It belongs to the stiff, official voice of exams, letters and rules: «without recourse to calculators» means you may not use calculators. In everyday life it appears in notices about complaints and money. Phrases: «have recourse to», «without recourse to», «the only recourse», «legal recourse».
examples
- Answer the questions without recourse to a calculator. tree →
- When the shop would not refund the broken toy, Mum's only recourse was to complain to the manager. tree →
- The sailors had no recourse but to swim for the shore. tree →
- Teachers should have recourse to punishment only when talking fails. tree →
- If the company cheats you, you have recourse to the law. tree →
- Without any recourse to the map, she found the way home. tree →
- Our last recourse was to ring Grandad for a lift. tree →
- But Jokwa had recourse to magic. tree →
note
Formal word; in everyday talk people say «without using», «turn to» or «choice». Uncountable: say «no recourse», not «a recourse» (rare). Do not confuse with «resource» (something useful you have, like water or money) — they look alike but mean different things. In an exam, «without recourse to a calculator» means work it out by hand.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «recourse» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.