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Glite Dictionary
🔁 To argue again ⚖️ To retry in court
to relitigate

to relitigate

3 8.0
To argue again about a decision that was already settled
  • verb
  • /ˌriːˈlɪtɪˌɡeɪt/
  • Formal
translation icon : relitigar
  • During the debate, they tried to relitigate the decision that had already been made last year.
  • relitigate the issue
  • relitigate the past
  • relitigate the election

And as soon as you realize that, you can break the cycle of reliving and relitigating the things that happened before right now.

Examples

  • And as soon as you realize that, you can break the cycle of reliving and relitigating the things that happened before right now.

    The Minimalists

  • Rick, Rick, let's not relitigate this.

    The Mitchells vs. the Machines (2021)

  • We're not going to relitigate this issue.

    Blog text (2)

  • Come on, babe, we're gonna relitigate this?

    Overboard (2018)

  • Obama argues that we should look forward and not "relitigate the past eight years."

    Academic text (2009)

  • Forcing us to relitigate the past means we're not moving forward into a better future, but fighting to retain that which has been won through blood and sacrifice in the past.

    Blog text (31)

  • Let's relitigate the 4,500 of our soldiers killed, 38,000 wounded, over 100,000 innocent Iraqis dead, and a real cost still rising of nearly $2 trillion.

    Blog text (19)

  • Yet going a step further and explicitly requiring the PTAB to adopt district court constructions would better promote efficiency, since the PTAB would not have to relitigate the same interpretation issues already considered by a district court.

    Academic text (2017)

  • Applying the Phillips standard in IPR proceedings would decrease litigation costs by allowing the PTAB to adopt district court constructions directly rather than relitigating the issue when a district court has already construed a claim term.

    Academic text (2017)

  • She believed it was pointless to relitigate issues that had already been settled.

Synonyms

to refight
vsto relitigate
2 6.3

To fight the same battle, match, or argument again

focuses on arguing again to settle an issue through discussion
to re-argue
vsto relitigate
  • UK
6.4

Talk about something again after others have already decided it

aims to reopen and try to settle an already decided issue

Antonyms

to settle
596 3.3

To end an argument by agreement or decision

How Forceful

to relitigate
  • Formal
3 8.0
to argue over
36 2.9
to reopen
182 1.4
to revisit
72 3.7
to reconsider
227 3.7

Surface Forms

relitigate infinitive
relitigated past
relitigated past participle
relitigating present participle
relitigates third person singular

Morphology

relitigate = litigate (semi-transparent) = re + litigate

The prefix 're-' clearly adds the meaning 'again', but this sense extends the legal verb metaphorically to repeated discussion or debate rather than literal court action.

Etymology

Relitigate is formed from re- meaning 'again' and litigate meaning 'to take to court' or 'to argue a case', the same root you see in litigation. So to relitigate in discussion is to try to argue or settle something 'again' after it was already decided.