resort

resort n *resource, expedient, shift, makeshift, stopgap, substitute, surrogate

Analogous words: see those at RESOURCE 2

resort vb Resort, refer, apply, go, turn are comparable when they mean to betake oneself or to have recourse when in need of help or relief.

Resort often implies that one has encountered difficulties or has tried ineffectually to surmount them; when it carries the latter implication, it often also connotes an approach to desperation

{

he found he could not get relief, unless he resorted to the courts

}

{

most powers conceivably may be exercised beyond the limits allowed by the law .... But we do not on that account resort to the blunt expedient of taking away the power— Justice Holmes

}

Refer usually suggests a need of authentic information and recourse to someone or something that will supply such information

{

every time he comes across a new word he refers to the dictionary

}

{

most men refer to their own watches when someone reports the time

}

Apply suggests having direct recourse (as in person or by letter) to one having the power to grant a request or petition

{

apply to a hospital for aid

}

{

apply to the court for relief

}

{

determined, that if he persisted in considering her repeated refusals as flattering encouragement, to apply to her father, whose negative might be uttered in such a manner as must be decisive— Austen

}

Go and turn are more general but often more picturesque or dramatic terms than the words previously considered, for they directly suggest action or movement

{

the presi-dent decided to go to the people with his plan for re-organization

}

{

there was no one to whom she could go for sympathy

}

{

she had taken fright at our behavior and turned to the captain pitifully— Conrad

}

Analogous words: *direct, address, devote: *use, employ, utilize