the fact of having to, or being able to, use something that can provide help in a difficult situationYour only recourse is legal action.She made a complete recovery without recourse to surgery.The government, when necessary, has recourse to the armed forces.Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjectiveconstant,frequent,limited,…verb + recoursehave,seek,avoid,…prepositionby recourse to,with (no) recourse to,without recourse to,…phrasesrecourse available to somebodySeefull entryWord Originlate Middle English (also in the sense ‘running or flowing back’): from Old French recours, from Latin recursus, from re- ‘back, again’ + cursus ‘course, running’.Extra examplesCitizens have learned that they do have recourse against governments.Drivers have little recourse but to wait until the weather clears.I have no other recourse than to inform the police.She often had recourse to her dictionary.The mother of an illegitimate child had no legal recourse to the father.The study of these creatures has been conducted without direct recourse to living specimens.Their system of dispute resolution avoids recourse to the courts.There is no recourse available to the victim.They tried to settle the dispute without recourse to the courts.a charity for women with no recourse to public fundspeople who deal with emotional pain by recourse to drugs and alcoholworkers who have no recourse to trade unionsThe government, when necessary has recourse to the armed forces.
See recourse in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic EnglishSee recourse in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary
