Resorting

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Turning to a chosen strategy or resource when facing difficulties
2. The act of deciding to use a particular approach or resource in challenging situations
3. Choosing to rely on a specific method or option when encountering problems

Etymology: "Resorting" is the present participle of "resort," and the verb's history is more tangled than its everyday sense suggests. It comes from Old French "resortir," meaning "to fall back, return, have recourse, appeal." That French verb was itself a back-formation from "sortir," "to go out," so the English word inherits a sense of going out again, or going back to a source, rather than anything about choosing. The Old French verb reached Middle English as "resorten," and the modern meaning of turning to a particular option when problems arise grew out of that idea of having recourse to something. Over the centuries, the verb's sense shifted from literal movement toward the figurative act of falling back on a means of help.

Synonyms: turning, reverting, resorting back, falling back