If someone such as a judge recuseshimself or herselffrom a legal case, they state that they will not be involved in making decisions about the case, for example because they consider themselves to be biased.
If her husband became governor, Judge Rendell would have to recuse herself from casesinvolving the state.
recuse in British English
(rɪˈkjuːz)
verb US, Canadian and South Africa
(tr; reflexive)
to remove from participation in a court case due to potential prejudice or partiality
Word origin
C19: see recusant
recuse in American English
(rɪˈkjuz)
verb transitive, verb intransitiveWord forms: reˈcused or reˈcusing
to disqualify or withdraw from a position of judging, as because of prejudice or personal interest
Derived forms
recusal (reˈcusal)
noun
Word origin
ME recusen < MFr recuser < L recusare: see recusant
Examples of 'recuse' in a sentence
recuse
In fact, I move that you recuse yourself immediately on the grounds that you are partial to defense counsel, sir.