re-sign
Formsre-signs, re-signing, re-signed
- 1To sign something a second time, providing one's signature again.
You will need to re-sign the contract once we correct the typo.
He re-signed the lease after the landlord adjusted the terms.
Note
A word assembled in plain sight: re- plus sign. It is built from the same pieces as resign, which long ago went its own way to mean giving up a post. The hyphen keeps the two apart, and it stays in every form: re-signs, re-signing, re-signed. It matters most in the past tense, where he re-signed and he resigned would otherwise look identical and mean very different things.
- 2To sign a contract that renews or restarts a professional relationship, such as an athlete staying with a sports team.
The club moved quickly to re-sign its star striker for another three seasons.
Fans were thrilled when the quarterback re-signed instead of testing free agency.
Similarretain
Note
An extension from the pen to the relationship: what gets renewed is the deal, not just a document. The verb runs both ways. A club re-signs a player, and a player re-signs with a club. It also reaches beyond sport. Billboard in 1997 reports that a band "re-signed to XL for another three albums," with a record label in the club's place and to marking the partner. That use stands apart from the literal signing again.
Practice
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Origin
Formed from the prefix 're-' plus 'sign', making it a piecewise doublet of 'resign'.