resort
Definitions
A place people go to for holidays, leisure, or recreation.
度假胜地，游览地
An action or option turned to for help, especially when others fail (as in 'last resort').
求助的手段，凭借（如 last resort 最后手段）
To turn to or make use of something, especially as a last option ('resort to').
诉诸，求助于（resort to）
Root Breakdown
Root-derivedre- (again) + Old French sortir (to go out) = 'to keep going out to.' A resort is the place you go to again and again for pleasure. The verb 'resort to' is the same 'turn/go to,' but as the option you fall back on — so 'a last resort' is the final thing you go to when everything else has failed.
Root sort still carries 6 more wordsWhy It Means This
Both meanings come from one image: a place or option you repeatedly 'go out to.' Holidaymakers keep going back to a favorite spot — that's the noun resort. When all easy paths fail, you 'go to' the option of last resort. The connecting idea is returning to something you fall back on.
Usage Guide
- last resort / first resort: the final or first option turned to.
- resort to + noun/gerund (the verb): resort to violence, resort to lying — almost always negative, implying you'd rather not.
- resort (noun, 'holiday place') vs resort to (verb, 'fall back on') are read entirely from context and grammar; the holiday sense is never followed by 'to.'
Example Sentences
- 1.
We spent a week at a beach resort in Thailand.
- 2.
Violence should never be your first resort.
- 3.
As a last resort, we can borrow money from the bank.
- 4.
The protesters resorted to blocking the road.
Easily Confused
resort to vs resort (place) — same spelling, opposite registers. 'a resort' is a pleasant holiday destination; 'to resort to' something is a reluctant, often grim fallback. The 'to' is the tell: only the verb sense takes it.