v. re·cruit·ed, re·cruit·ing, re·cruits v.tr. 1. a. To enlist (persons) in military service. b. To strengthen or raise (an armed force) by enlistment. 2. To hire or enroll, or seek to hire or enroll (new employees, members, or students). 3. To renew or restore (health or vitality, for example). v.intr. 1. To enlist personnel in a military force. 2. To recruit new employees, members, or students. n. 1. A newly engaged member of a military force, especially one of the lowest rank or grade. 2. A new member of an organization. [French recruter, from obsolete recrute, recruit, variant of recrue, from feminine past participle of recroître, to grow again, from Old French recroistre : re-, re- + croistre, to grow (from Latin crēscere; see ker-2 in the Appendix of Indo-European roots).] re·cruiter n. re·cruitment n. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.