(~s, ~ing, ~ed)
Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English.
1.
If you ~ to a course of action that you do not really approve of, you adopt it because you cannot see any other way of achieving what you want.
His punishing work schedule had made him ~ to drugs...
VERB: V to n/-ing
2.
If you achieve something without ~ to a particular course of action, you succeed without carrying out that action. To have ~ to a particular course of action means to have to do that action in order to achieve something.
Congress has a responsibility to ensure that all peaceful options are exhausted before ~ to war.
= recourse
N-UNCOUNT: N to n
3.
If you do something as a last ~, you do it because you can find no other way of getting out of a difficult situation or of solving a problem.
Nuclear weapons should be used only as a last ~...
PHRASE: PHR with cl
4.
You use in the last ~ when stating the most basic or important fact that will still be true in a situation whatever else happens.
They would in the last ~ support their friends whatever they did.
= ultimately
PHRASE: PHR with cl
5.
A ~ is a place where a lot of people spend their holidays.
...the ski ~s.
N-COUNT: usu supp N