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PlainSpell

rerun

/ˈɹiɹʌn/noun, verb

rerun is spelled R-E-R-U-N: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 32,798th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “re-run vs rerun” about 10 times a month (Bing, United States). As a noun, rerun means “An act or instance of rerunning; a repetition” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of rerun is reruns.

How many letters and syllables are in rerun?

Letters5: R-E-R-U-N
Syllables2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writingabout once in every 1 million words; the 32,798th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).

How common is rerun?

Rerun appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 32,798th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce rerun?

  • UK /ˈɹiːɹʌn/
  • US /ˈɹiɹʌn/

As a verb (“To run again; to repeat”): /ɹiːˈɹʌn/, /ɹiˈɹʌn/.

Rerun has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-rerun_(noun).wav, En-us-rerun.oga, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-rerun_(verb).wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with rerun

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

re-run vs rerun10 B

Also written: re-run (one word or two).

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

Forms of rerun

  • reruns plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • re-run
  • rerunning participle, present
  • reran past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does rerun mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    An act or instance of rerunning; a repetition.

  2. 2

    USA television program shown after its initial presentation, particularly many weeks after its initial presentation; a repeat.

    I'm not a fan of the new Simpsons episodes, but the old reruns have me in stitches, although I've seen them countless times.

  3. 3

    Another printing run (impression; batch of copies of a given edition) of a book, cartoon, etc.

  4. 4

    A political candidate who holds the same political agenda or doctrine as a past or incumbent holder of a given political office.

  5. 5

    A second or subsequent run of a computer program.

    Each rerun of the algorithm takes several minutes.

verb

  1. 1

    To run again; to repeat.

  2. 2

    To broadcast (a television program etc.) again.

    They're still rerunning The Flintstones on this channel.

  3. 3

    To be broadcast again.

  4. 4

    To run (a race or other contest) again.

    rerun the election

  5. 5

    To run (a computer program) again.

    Restart the computer and rerun the installation.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Rerun in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchrediffusion, reprise (television program shown after its initial…), rediffuser (run (a television program) again)
GermanWiederausstrahlung, Wiederholung (television program shown after its initial…)
Portuguesereposição, reprise (television program shown after its initial…), repor, reprisar (run (a television program) again)
Spanishreposición, redifusión (television program shown after its initial…), repetir, reemitir, volver a emitir, reponer (run (a television program) again)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does rerun come from?

From re- + run.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after rerun