review
Pluralreviews
Verbreviews, reviewing, reviewed
Pluralreviews
Formsreviews, reviewing, reviewed
- 1A written or spoken assessment of how good something is, such as a book, film, product, restaurant or service, by a critic or a customer.
The novel received a glowing review in the Sunday paper.
Critics' reviews of the album ranged from praise to outright scorn.
UsageA review of a book or film; a work gets good reviews, bad reviews or mixed reviews.
Similarcritique, appraisal, evaluation, notice
- 2To examine something carefully, such as a plan, policy, decision or set of results, so as to judge it, decide about it, or see whether it needs changing.
A panel of judges will review the evidence before deciding whether to reopen the case.
The company is reviewing its travel policy after complaints about rising costs.
UsageTakes its object directly, with no preposition: review the evidence, review a policy.
Similarexamine, assess, evaluate, reassess, reconsider
- 3A formal or careful examination of something, often a second look, to judge it or decide whether changes are needed, as in 'the policy is under review'.
The agency conducted a compliance review of the company's financial records.
A review of the plant's emissions found several breaches of the code.
UsageSomething being checked is under review; people carry out or conduct a review of it.
Similarreconsideration
- 4To write or give an assessment of how good something is, such as a book, film, performance, product, restaurant or hotel.
Critics review hundreds of films during the festival each year.
He was asked to review the new restaurant for the magazine.
UsageOften passive with an adverb: a poorly reviewed comedy, a book reviewed well by critics.
Similarcritique
Note
The past participle has become a ready-made verdict. David E. Sanger, writing in 2014, called "The Interview" "a crude and poorly reviewed comedy." In that passive construction the critics vanish and only their judgment remains, usually with an adverb like poorly or well in front.
- 5A survey or summary of a body of material, events, or research, such as a review of the year or a scientific article summing up past studies.
The report opened with a review of the resources currently available.
She presented a thorough review of the materials on hand for the project.
UsageUsually a review of something: a review of the year; in research, a literature review.
- 6To survey something as a whole, such as a scene, an area or a body of material, looking broadly over it rather than examining it closely.
The opening chapter will review the main theories of how human language began.
Her first lecture reviewed two centuries of thinking about the human mind.
- 7A reassessment of a case or an event by a court of law.
Her lawyers asked the appeals court for a review of the sentence.
The case went back to a higher court for review.
UsageOften in judicial review; lawyers ask for or file for a review of a sentence or ruling.
Similarreassessment, reexamination
Note
What a court mainly reconsiders is whether the earlier decision was legally sound, rather than finding the facts again. That is why a review is not a retrial: the evidence is not normally heard afresh, but the reasoning that produced the ruling is tested.
- 8A periodical that surveys the arts or another field.
Her essay appeared in a respected literary review.
The quarterly review publishes criticism of contemporary art.
Similarjournal, magazine, periodical
Less common meanings
- 9To go over something previously written or learned again, especially to prepare for an exam.
Students review their lecture notes before final exams.
He reviewed the entire textbook the night before the test.
UsageBritish students say revise for this; here you review your notes or a chapter before an exam.
Similarrevise
- 10The process of going back over and studying material already learned, especially to get ready for a test or exam.
Most of Friday's class will be review, so bring your notes from the first unit.
The night before the final, the professor held an optional review session in the library.
UsageOften with no article (class will be review) and before nouns: a review session. British students say revision.
Similarrevision
- 11To go back over past events or experiences in one's mind and reflect on them, as when trying to make sense of them or assess them.
Lying awake, he reviewed the whole conversation, wondering where it had gone wrong.
Many people review their lives as they grow older, trying to make sense of the choices they made.
- 12To carry out a formal inspection of troops or ships, usually as they parade or assemble, as a head of state or senior officer does.
The king reviewed the fleet from the deck of the royal yacht as the warships sailed past.
Every spring the commanding general comes out to review the cadets on the parade ground.
Similarinspect
- 13A formal military inspection or parade staged for senior officers or important guests.
The regiment passed in review before the visiting dignitaries.
A military review marked the anniversary of the nation's founding.
Similarparade, inspection
- 14A stage show made up of topical sketches, songs, and short comic scenes.
UsageUsually spelled revue, which keeps the show apart from a critic's review.
Similarrevue
Note
Here the word meets its French twin. Revue comes from the same Old French reveüe and is a doublet of this word, as well as its synonym for a show of topical sketches. Cambridge's Footlights club, whose student shows launched several Monty Python members, bills those shows as revues.
- 15To view or see something again; to look back on it.
Note
This is Shakespeare's verb, and now an obsolete one. In The Winter's Tale (c. 1610–1611), Camillo hopes he "shall review Sicilia," meaning simply that he will see his homeland again. It is the Latin "see again" behind the assessing sense, taken at face value. In modern writing, to review a place would suggest assessing it, not returning to it.
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 5 facts
- The sense of review meaning to see again is obsolete. en.wiktionary.org
- The Winter's Tale is Shakespeare's play and can be dated approximately 1610–1611. rsc.org.uk
- Camillo says the quoted words while hoping to see Sicilia again. shakespeare.mit.edu
- Sicilia is Camillo's homeland. folger.edu
- The word's Latin ancestry carries the literal meaning of seeing or visiting again. en.wiktionary.org
- 16To retrace something; to go over the same ground again.
Shall I the long, laborious ſcene review, // And open all the wounds of Greece anew?
1725, Homer, The Odyssey of HomerNote
The retracing can be figurative. In Book III of Alexander Pope's 1725 translation of the Odyssey, Nestor asks, "Shall I the long, laborious scene review, / And open all the wounds of Greece anew?" He means recounting painful events, as though going over familiar ground again. This sense is recorded as obsolete. Today, recount or go over again expresses the idea.
Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origin
From Middle English revewe, from Old French reveüe, revue, the past participle form of reveoir ("to see again"), from Latin revideō, formed from re- plus videō ("see, observe"). It is equivalent to re- + view and is a doublet of revue.
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 7 facts
- Review derives from Middle English revewe and Old French reveüe, revue. en.wiktionary.org
- The Old French forms represent a past participle of reveoir. en.wiktionary.org
- Old French reveoir means to see again. en.wiktionary.org
- Latin revideō is the ancestor of Old French reveoir. en.wiktionary.org
- Latin revideō is formed from re- and videō, meaning see or observe. en.wiktionary.org
- Review is equivalent to re- plus view. en.wiktionary.org
- Review and revue are doublets. en.wiktionary.org