recourse
/rɪˈkɔːs
/noun [in singular]
1A source of help in a difficult situation: surgery may be the only recourse...
- This is often a last recourse, only reluctantly resorted to when a party is clearly concealing income.
- When hegemony breaks down, as it did for liberal democracy in late Weimar, there will be a recourse to extreme measures to preserve the status quo.
- Has the ability to use force with impunity lowered the moral standard for the recourse to force considerably from the last-resort requirements of just war?
Synonyms
option, possibility, alternative, possible course of action, resort, way out, place/person to turn to, source of assistance, available resource, hope, remedy, choice, expedient;
refuge
1.1 [mass noun] (recourse to) The use of (someone or something) as a source of help in a difficult situation: a means of solving disputes without recourse to courts of law all three countries had recourse to the IMF for standby loans...
- Now, the Pastons had recourse to the courts, but also felt able to join the political conflict themselves.
- Although participants remained highly critical of unregulated ethnomedicine, few had recourse to desired alternatives.
- On another note, I had recourse to the calamine lotion bottle last night when I realised I'd applied suntan lotion so cack-handedly that my left shoulder was completely unprotected.
Synonyms
resort to, make use of, use, avail oneself of, utilize, employ, turn to, call on, draw on, bring into play, bring into service, look to, appeal to;
fall back on, run to
1.2 [mass noun] The legal right to demand compensation or payment: the bank has recourse against the exporter for losses incurred...
- To make matters worse, you will have no recourse because a compensation clause will rarely be in your contract.
- As the branch had, functionally, agreed to negotiate or collect the cheque, it had a collecting bank's right of recourse when the cheque was dishonoured.
- If the company declares bankruptcy within two years of the deal you risk being charged with conspiracy in asset-stripping and could lose the property without compensation or recourse.
Phrases
without recourse
Origin
Late Middle English (also in the sense 'running or flowing back'): from Old French recours, from Latin recursus, from re- 'back, again' + cursus 'course, running'.