readdressv.
/ˌriːəˈdrɛs/, U.S. /ˌriəˈdrɛs/ 1.
a. transitive (reflexive). To address oneself again to (also †for) a task, etc.; (also) to speak again to a person.
ΚΠ
1611 J. Speed Hist. Great Brit. ix. v. 448/1 King Stephen re-addressed himselfe for the North, to prosecute that which Thurstan had begunne.
1657 R. Boyle Martyrdom Theodora (1703) vii. 102 Didymus..readdressed himself to her.
1814 W. Wordsworth Excursion vi. 256 To books, and papers, and the studious desk, He stoutly readdressed himself.
a1855 C. Brontë Professor (1857) II. xxv. 212 Our week's holiday glided by, and we re-addressed ourselves to labour.
1926 Science 2 Apr. 365/1 Sometimes he takes up a new stance, extending pseudopodia in new directions for anchorage and thus readdressing himself to the task.
a1978 S. T. Warner One Thing leading to Another (1985) 165 Mousie plucked up her spirits and re-addressed herself to the duties of a sovereign.
2005 J. Brownjohn tr. L. Thall Mimus 313 Florin readdressed himself to the landlord. ‘Will that suffice to buy something?’
b. transitive. To consider or attend again to (an issue, problem, etc.).
ΚΠ
1967 Jrnl. Amer. Statist. Assoc. 62 696 Chapter 6, which readdresses the bidding problem with a Bayesian analysis, is straightforward and nearly flawless.
1994 A. Roberts Eminent Churchillians (1995) iv. 222 Having assumed the issue shelved, the Government was forced to readdress it in early March 1954.
2002 Wicazo Sa Rev. 17 i. 162 The specific meaning and application of the provisions of the treaty have been addressed and readdressed in the courts.
2. transitive. To change the address on (a letter, parcel, etc.).
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > correspondence > sending items > send items [verb (transitive)] > address letter > to new address
redirect1618
to send on1833
readdress1847
1847 Coll. Public Gen. Statutes lxxxv. 651 All Post Letters directed or addressed to any Bankrupt..shall be re-directed, re-addressed, sent, or delivered by the Postmaster General..to the Official or other Assignee, [etc.].
1869 Edinb. Evening Courant 2 Mar. 6/4 Lockyer said he presumed Holmes had come to arrange as to readdressing his letters to the north.
1889 Daily News 3 Oct. 5/2 Why a letter from abroad should be readdressed in England without extra charge.
1911 Washington Post 7 July 3/3 A special delivery letter, addressed..to Lilian Graham, Memphis Tenn., readdressed to the girl, care Auditorium Annex, Chicago, and again readdressed to the Fairyland Theater, Memphis, Tenn.
a1968 T. Merton Coll. Poems (1977) 559 The whole crew spends all its time changing the labels and readdressing the natives' shipments to planters, government officials and policemen.
2004 Post-Standard (Syracuse, N.Y.) 25 Jan. (Business section) E1/3 A letter-size interoffice envelope, purchased for nine cents each without volume discounting, can be readdressed 14 times.
Derivatives
reaˈddressing n. the action of changing the address on a letter, parcel, etc.
ΚΠ
1878 Wonderful London 195 The readdressing and forwarding of letters.
1945 Nebraska State Jrnl. 17 Apr. 7/7 Normally mail goes directly to the prison camps, but letters for untraced prisoners come here for readdressing.
2002 RAND Jrnl. Econ. 33 412 Readdressing requires coordination with local post offices and public utilities.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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