1 [+ obj] a : to say (something) again
▪ Will you repeat the question? ▪ He kept repeating the same thing over and over. ▪ He often has to ask people to repeat themselves because he's a little deaf. ▪ The group's message is one that bears repeating. [=is important enough to state more than once] — sometimes used in speech to emphasize a word or phrase ▪ “There are five—(I) repeat—five ways to do this.”
b : to say (something) after someone else has said it
▪ Repeat after me: “I promise to do my best…” ▪ You are simply repeating, in slightly different words, what has been said already. 2 [+ obj] : to say (something that you have memorized) : recite
▪ My five-year-old can repeat her favorite stories word for word. 3 [+ obj] : to tell (something that you have heard) to someone else
▪ Please don't repeat what I've told you (to anyone). 4 a : to make, do, or achieve (something) again [+ obj] ▪ The doctors had to repeat the operation. ▪ We need to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past. ▪ I'm not so sure the team can repeat the success they had last season. ▪ I had trouble in school when I was young and had to repeat (the) third grade. [=I had to stay in the third grade for another year] ▪ She's been absent so much that she is going to have to repeat her sophomore year. ▪ They won the championship last year. Will history repeat itself this year? [=will the same thing happen again?; will they win the championship again this year?] [no obj] (US) ▪ They're trying to repeat as champions this year. [=to win the championship again after winning it last year]
b [+ obj] : to present (something) again
▪ The workshop will be repeated in the fall. ▪ The radio station broadcasts the show live on Saturday mornings, and then repeats it on Wednesday nights. 5 [no obj] : to begin again
▪ The cycle repeats every 24 hours. ▪ The pattern on the wallpaper repeats every foot or so.