/ree"kawrs, -kohrs, ri kawrs", -kohrs"/ , n.
1. access or resort to a person or thing for help or protection: to have recourse to the courts for justice.
2. a person or thing resorted to for help or protection.
3. the right to collect from a maker or endorser of a negotiable instrument. The endorser may add the words "without recourse" on the instrument, thereby transferring the instrument without assuming any liability.
[ 1350-1400; ME recours recursus, L: return, retreat, n. use of ptp. of recurrere to run back; see RECUR ]