define re visit

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/ riːˈvɪzɪt /

• to visit again
• to re-examine (a topic or theme) after an interval, with a view to making a fresh appraisal

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Example sentences.

Consequently, Googlebot began revisiting old URLs as well as detecting new ones progressively less often.

Let’s revisit the factors and see what kind of metrics they translate into.

Campbell said that date would allow the City Council to revisit the issue later this year when there is expected to be more clarity on state and federal funding streams that could aid struggling renters.

These findings suggest it will be important to revisit past conclusions about dinosaur reproductive behavior, which primarily relied on analyses of theropod fossils.

Sims and Humphries even revisited albatrosses in a subsequent study in 2012.

So I was able to revisit my roots from studying classical music when I was a kid, all the way up to when I was 20.

With the passing of film legend Lauren Bacall, let us revisit one of the greatest love affairs in the history of cinema.

That was the point of the play—to look back and provide an accurate display of history, and revisit the legacy of Lyndon Johnson.

Pakistan needs to revisit, revise and improve its foreign relations to ask for support if needed.

(Netflix, June 1) The Stepford Wives (2004) This so-bad-it's-good Stepford Wives remake is well worth a revisit.

And why, he suddenly thought again, were they so impressed by the mere fact of his coming to revisit his old school?

For sentimental reasons a man might like to see his old head once more, just as one likes to revisit an old home.

The antiquarian Camden, were he to revisit Yarmouth, would not be a little astonished at what he would see.

They had to revisit their old haunts on the moors, white now with snow.

The traders, once safely out of his country were very careful not to revisit it while he lived.

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re•vis•it

• behind the scenes
• come across
• come around
• come through
• Revillagigedo Islands
• revindicate
• revindication
• Revirescence
• Revised Standard Version
• Revised Version
• revisionary
• revisionism
• revisionist
• revisitation
• revisualization
• revitalisation
• revitalised
• revitalising
• revitalization
• revitalized
• revitalizing
• revival meeting
• revivalistic
• revivescence
• Revivificate
• Revision Segment
• Revision Task Force
• Revisión Técnica Vehicular
• Revision Total Hip Replacement Surgery
• Révision, Gestion, Audit
• Revisionary trust
• Revisionary Trusts
• Revisionism Theory
• revisionists
• Revisions Working Group
• Revisionsverband der Westkaufgenossenschaften
• Revista Argentina de Microbiología
• Revista Brasileira de Cartografia
• Revista Brasileira de Fruticultura
• Revista Brasileira de Ginecologia e Obstetricia
• Revista Brasileira de Ornitologia
• Revista Colombiana de Computacion
• Revista da Propriedade Industrial
• Revista de Enfermedades Infecciosas Emergentes
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• Revista de Investigación Educativa
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Definition of 'revisit'

revisit in American English

Revisit in british english, examples of 'revisit' in a sentence revisit, related word partners revisit, trends of revisit.

View usage over: Since Exist Last 10 years Last 50 years Last 100 years Last 300 years

In other languages revisit

• American English : revisit / riˈvɪzɪt /
• Brazilian Portuguese : revisitar
• Chinese : 重游
• European Spanish : volver a visitar
• French : revisiter
• German : nochmals besuchen
• Italian : rivisitare
• Japanese : 再訪する
• Korean : 다시 찾아가다
• European Portuguese : revisitar
• Spanish : volver a visitar

Browse alphabetically revisit

• revisionism
• revisionist
• revisionist historian
• revisit a scene
• revisit a subject
• revisit an issue
• All ENGLISH words that begin with 'R'

Related terms of revisit

• revisit the past

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• 1.1 Etymology
• 1.2 Pronunciation
• 1.3.1 Translations
• 1.5 Anagrams

From Middle English revisite , from Middle French revisiter and Latin revīsitāre . By surface analysis , re +‎ visit .

Pronunciation

• IPA ( key ) : /ɹiːˈvɪzɪt/

revisit ( third-person singular simple present revisits , present participle revisiting , simple past and past participle revisited )

• 1703 , [Richard Blackmore ], A Hymn to the Light of the World. With a Short Description of the Cartons of Raphael Urbin , in the Gallery at Hampton-Court , London: Printed for Jacob Tonson   [ … ] , →OCLC , page 8 : Thou, Kind Redeemer, toucht to ſee / So ſad a Sight, ſuch moving Miſery, / Didſt ſoon determine to diſpel / Theſe Shades of Death, and Gloom of Hell: / And ſo to reviſit with Thy Heav'nly Light / Loſt Man, bewilder'd in Infernal Night.
• 1960 February, “Motive Power Miscellany: Scottish Region”, in Trains Illustrated , page 122 : On November 21 the restored Highland "Jones Goods" 4-6-0 , No. 103, revisited its old haunts when it worked a Stephenson Locomotive Society special from Glasgow (Buchanan Street) to Blair Atholl and back; [...].
• ( transitive ) To reconsider or reexperience something.

Translations

revisit ( plural revisits )

• 1748 , [ Samuel Richardson ], “Letter CDXLVI”, in Clarissa. Or, The History of a Young Lady:   [ … ] , volumes (please specify |volume=I to VII) , London: [ … ] S [ amuel ] Richardson;   [ … ] , →OCLC : On my revisit to the lady, I found her almost as much a sufferer of joy as she had sometimes been from grief [ … ] .
• Viteris , visiter
• third-person singular present active indicative of revīsō

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• Rhymes:English/ɪzɪt/3 syllables
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revisit noun

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What does the noun revisit mean?

There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun revisit . See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.

How common is the noun revisit ?

How is the noun revisit pronounced, british english, u.s. english, where does the noun revisit come from.

Earliest known use

early 1600s

The earliest known use of the noun revisit is in the early 1600s.

OED's earliest evidence for revisit is from 1623, in a letter by John Chamberlain, letter writer.

revisit is formed within English, by derivation.

Etymons: re- prefix , visit n.

Nearby entries

• revision, n. 1595–
• revision, v. 1838–
• revisional, adj. 1793–
• revisionary, adj. 1686–
• revisioning, n. 1905–
• revisioning, adj. 1828–
• revisionism, n. 1856–
• revisionist, adj. & n. 1850–
• Revisionist Zionism, n. 1943–
• Revisionist Zionist, n. 1947–
• revisit, n. 1623–
• revisit, v. a1500–
• revisitant, adj. & n. 1729–
• revisitation, n. 1549–
• revisitor, n. 1594–1615
• revisor, n. 1598–
• revisory, adj. 1821–
• revisualization, n. 1904–
• revisualize, v. 1896–
• revitalization, n. 1850–
• revitalization movement, n. 1955–

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Meaning & use

Pronunciation, entry history for revisit, n..

revisit, n. was revised in March 2010.

revisit, n. was last modified in July 2023.

oed.com is a living text, updated every three months. Modifications may include:

• further revisions to definitions, pronunciation, etymology, headwords, variant spellings, quotations, and dates;
• new senses, phrases, and quotations.

Revisions and additions of this kind were last incorporated into revisit, n. in July 2023.

Earlier versions of this entry were published in:

OED First Edition (1908)

• Find out more

OED Second Edition (1989)

• View revisit, n. in OED Second Edition

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Citation details

Factsheet for revisit, n., browse entry.

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verb as in visit again

Strong matches

• visit often

Discover More

Example sentences.

Consequently, Googlebot began revisiting old URLs as well as detecting new ones progressively less often.

Let’s revisit the factors and see what kind of metrics they translate into.

Campbell said that date would allow the City Council to revisit the issue later this year when there is expected to be more clarity on state and federal funding streams that could aid struggling renters.

These findings suggest it will be important to revisit past conclusions about dinosaur reproductive behavior, which primarily relied on analyses of theropod fossils.

Sims and Humphries even revisited albatrosses in a subsequent study in 2012.

So I was able to revisit my roots from studying classical music when I was a kid, all the way up to when I was 20.

With the passing of film legend Lauren Bacall, let us revisit one of the greatest love affairs in the history of cinema.

That was the point of the play—to look back and provide an accurate display of history, and revisit the legacy of Lyndon Johnson.

Pakistan needs to revisit, revise and improve its foreign relations to ask for support if needed.

(Netflix, June 1) The Stepford Wives (2004) This so-bad-it's-good Stepford Wives remake is well worth a revisit.

And why, he suddenly thought again, were they so impressed by the mere fact of his coming to revisit his old school?

For sentimental reasons a man might like to see his old head once more, just as one likes to revisit an old home.

The antiquarian Camden, were he to revisit Yarmouth, would not be a little astonished at what he would see.

They had to revisit their old haunts on the moors, white now with snow.

The traders, once safely out of his country were very careful not to revisit it while he lived.

Related Words

Words related to revisit are not direct synonyms, but are associated with the word revisit . Browse related words to learn more about word associations.

verb as in be a regular customer of

• attend regularly
• be at home in
• be found at
• be often in
• hang about/hang around/hang out
• hang around
• hang out at

verb as in return

• arrive home

verb as in recur; return

• bounce back
• circle back
• double back
• hark back to
• retrace steps

verb as in define again

Viewing 5 / 9 related words

On this page you'll find 15 synonyms, antonyms, and words related to revisit, such as: call, frequent, return, stay, and visit often.

From Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.

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Definition of visit verb from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

• My parents are coming to visit me next week.
• to visit friends/family
• It looks like a lovely place to visit.
• to visit a country/city/town
• to visit a museum/shrine
• to visit a hospital/an office
• to visit a home/house
• She went to visit relatives in Wales.
• The Prime Minister is visiting Japan at the moment.
• You should visit your dentist at least twice a year.
• This is an area rarely visited by Europeans.
• I first visited New York in 1991.
• He is planning to visit China later this month.
• The best time to visit is during the winter dry season.
• A million people are expected to visit the museum over the next 12 months.
• We've just been to visit my grandparents.
• Be sure to visit us next time you're in London.
• I visited her in hospital.
• Jason invited us to visit his ranch.
• Next time you visit the States you'll have to come and see us.
• She's gone to visit her mother in Texas.
• The President will be visiting six European capitals.
• The shops are a major reason for visiting the city.
• The president recently visited Athens.
• She regularly visits the cemetery to tend the grave of her son.

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The Oxford Learner’s Thesaurus explains the difference between groups of similar words. Try it for free as part of the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary app

Kids Definition

Kids definition of visit.

Kids Definition of visit  (Entry 2 of 2)

Middle English visiten "to go to a person especially to give comfort," from early French visiter (same meaning), derived from Latin visere "to go to see," from vidēre "to see" — related to vision

Medical Definition

Medical definition of visit.

Medical Definition of visit  (Entry 2 of 2)

More from Merriam-Webster on visit

Nglish: Translation of visit for Spanish Speakers

Britannica English: Translation of visit for Arabic Speakers

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What are Cookies?

Everyone has seen the website banners that ask you if you’ll allow cookies on your browser or not. But what exactly does this mean and what are these cookies? Well, to begin with, they are essential to the modern internet experience. A necessary part of browsing the web, cookies help web developers give you a more personal and convenient website visit. In short, cookies let websites remember you, your logins, shopping carts and more. But they can also be a treasure trove of private info and a serious vulnerability to your privacy.

Guarding your privacy online can be overwhelming. Fortunately, even a basic understanding of cookies can help you keep unwanted eyes off your internet activity. Whilst most cookies are perfectly safe, some can be used to track you without your consent by  cybercriminals . In this article, we will guide you through how cookies work and how you can stay safe online.

What Are Internet Cookies?

Cookies  (often known as internet cookies) are text files with small pieces of data — like a username and password — that are used to identify your computer as you use a network. Specific cookies are used to identify specific users and improve their web browsing experience. Data stored in a cookie is created by the server upon your connection. This data is labeled with an ID unique to you and your computer. When the cookie is exchanged between your computer and the network server, the server reads the ID and knows what information to specifically serve you.

Due to international laws, such as the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and certain state laws, like the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), many websites are now required to ask for permission to use certain cookies with your browser and provide you with information on how their cookies will be used if you accept.

Magic Cookies and HTTP Cookies

All cookies generally function in the same way, but have been applied to different use cases:

Magic cookies  are an old computing term that refers to packets of information that are sent and received without changes to the data. This would commonly be used for a login to computer database systems, such as a business internal network. This concept predates the modern “cookie” we use today.

HTTP cookies  are a repurposed version of the “magic cookie” built for contemporary internet browsing. In 1994, web browser programmer Lou Montulli used the “magic cookie” as inspiration to create the HTTP cookie, whilst he was helping an online shopping store fix their overloaded servers. The HTTP cookie is what we currently refer to as a cookie more generally today. It is also what some cybercriminals can use to spy on your online activity  and hack your personal information.

What are HTTP Cookies?

HTTP cookies,  or internet cookies, are built specifically for web browsers to track, personalize and save information about each user’s session. A “session” is the word used to define the amount of time you spend on a site. Cookies are created to identify you when you visit a new website. The web server — which stores the website’s data — sends a short stream of identifying information to your web browser in the form of cookies. This identifying data (known sometimes as “browser cookies”) is processed and read by “name-value” pairs. These pairs tell the cookies where to be sent and what data to recall.

So, where are the cookies are stored? It’s simple: your web browser will store them locally to remember the “name-value pair” that identifies you. When you return to the website in the future, your web browser returns that cookie data to the website’s server, triggering the recall of your data from your previous sessions.

To put it simply, cookies are a bit like getting a ticket for a coat check:

• You hand over your “coat” to the cloak desk.  You connect/visit a website and a pocket of data is linked to you on the website’s server. This data can be your personal account, your shopping cart or even just what pages you’ve visited.
• You get a “ticket” to identify you as the “coat” owner.  The cookie (containing the data) is then given to you and stored in your web browser. It has a unique ID especially for you.
• If you leave and return, you can get the “coat” with your “ticket”.  When you revisit the website, your browser gives the website the cookie back. The website then reads the unique ID in the cookie to assemble your activity data, bringing you back to where you were when you first visited, as if you never left.

What Are Cookies Used For?

Websites use HTTP cookies to streamline your web experiences. Without cookies, you’d have to login every time you leave a site or rebuild your shopping cart if you accidentally closed the page. Making cookies is an important part of the modern internet experience.

To be more concise, cookies are intended to be used for:

• Session management:  For example, cookies let websites recognize users and recall their individual login information and preferences, such as sports news versus politics.
• Personalization:  Customized advertising is the main way cookies are used to personalize your sessions. You may view certain items or parts of a site, and cookies use this data to help build targeted ads that you might enjoy. They’re also used for language preferences as well.
• Tracking:  Shopping sites use cookies to track items users previously viewed, allowing the sites to suggest other goods they might like and keep items in shopping carts while they continue shopping on another part of the website. They will also track and monitor performance analytics, like how many times you visited a page or how much time you spent on a page.

While this is mostly for your benefit, web developers get a lot out of this set-up as well. Cookies are stored on your device locally to free up storage space on a website’s servers. In turn, websites can personalize content, whilst saving money on server maintenance and storage costs.

What are the different types of HTTP Cookies?

With a few variations (which we’ll discuss later), cookies in the cyber world essentially come in two types: session cookies and persistent cookies.

Session cookies  are used only while navigating a website. They are stored in random access memory and are never written on to the hard drive. When the session ends, session cookies are automatically deleted. They also help the "back" button work on your browser.

Persistent cookies , on the other hand, remain on a computer indefinitely, although many include an expiration date and are automatically removed when that date is reached. Persistent cookies are used for two primary purposes:

• Authentication.  These cookies track whether a user is logged in and under what name. They also streamline login information, so users don't have to remember site passwords.
• Tracking.  These cookies track multiple visits to the same site over time. Some online merchants, for example, use cookies to track visits from particular users, including the pages and products viewed. The information they gain allows them to suggest other items that might interest visitors. Gradually, a profile is built based on a user's browsing history on that site.

First-Party vs. Third-Party Cookies

From here, internet cookies can be broken down into two further categories: first-party and third-party. Depending on where they come from, some cookies may potentially be more of a threat than others.

First-party cookies  are directly created by the website you are using. These are generally safer, as long as you are browsing reputable websites or ones that have not been compromised by a recent data breach or cyberattack.

Third-party cookies  are more troubling. They are generated by websites that are different from the pages that the users are currently surfing, usually because they're linked to ads on that page. Third-party cookies let advertisers or analytics companies track an individual's browsing history across the web on any sites that contain their ads. However, as previously mentioned, due to new data protection laws, allowing third-party cookies to access your browser is now optional in many countries and states. These days, most third-party cookies have no direct impact on your browsing experience, as many browsers have already begun phasing them out (Google has announced the end of third-party cookies in Chrome by 2024). Many websites still operate fine and remember your preferences without using third-party cookies.

Zombie cookies  are a form of third-party, persistent cookie, which are permanently installed on users' computers. They have the unique ability to reappear after they've been “deleted” from your computer. They are also sometimes called “flash cookies” or “supercookies” and are extremely difficult to remove. Like other third-party cookies, zombie cookies can be used by web analytics companies to track unique individuals' browsing histories. Websites may also use zombies to ban specific users. In some cases, however, these types of cookies can be fabricated by hackers and used to infect your system with viruses and malware.

Essential Cookies are now synonymous with the pop-up asking you for your cookie preferences when you first visit a website. Essential cookies are first-party session cookies that are necessary to run the website or services you have requested online (such as remembering your login credentials).

Enabling and Removing Cookies

Some cookies can be an optional part of your internet experience, for example you can limit what cookies end up on your computer or mobile device. Today, this is commonly done when you visit a website and are given the option to enable third-party (or other) cookies or not.

If you enable and allow cookies,  it can streamline your web-surfing experience. Here’s how to allow cookies:

• Find the cookie section — typically under Settings Privacy.
• Click the boxes to allow cookies. Sometimes the option says, allow “local” data.
• If you don’t want cookies, you can simply uncheck these boxes.

Removing cookies  can help you mitigate your risks of privacy breaches. It can also reset your browser tracking and personalization. Removing normal cookies is easy, but it could make certain web sites harder to navigate. Without cookies, internet users may have to re-enter their data for each visit. Different browsers store cookies in different places, but usually, you can:

• Find the Settings, Privacy section — sometimes listed under Tools, Internet Options, or Advanced.
• Follow the prompts on the available options to manage or remove cookies.

However, to remove persistent tracking cookie infestations and more malicious types created by hackers, you’ll want to enlist the help of some  Premium Protection . In the future, you should also anonymize your web use by using a  virtual private network (VPN) . These services tunnel your web connection to a remote server that poses as you. Cookies will then be labeled for that remote server in another country, instead of your local computer.

Regardless of how you handle cookies, it’s best to remain on guard and clean up your cookies often.

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Meaning of visit in English

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• I want to buy a little something to give to Val when I visit her in hospital .
• There are several places of interest to visit in the area .
• I've never been to Kenya, but I hope to visit it next year .
• I have clear memories of visiting my grandfather's farm as a child .
• He picked up malaria when he was visiting the country on business .
• beard the lion (in his/her den) idiom
• call (in) on someone
• happen along/by (somewhere)
• have access to someone/something
• state visit
• stomping ground
• stop by (somewhere)

You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Phrasal verbs

• They received a visit from the police .
• My uncle paid us a surprise visit yesterday .
• He gave a talk about his visit to America .
• The timetable for our trip to Paris includes visits to Notre Dame , the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre.
• The president's official visit marks the start of a more relaxed relationship between the two countries .

visit | American Dictionary

Examples of visit, collocations with visit.

These are words often used in combination with visit .

Click on a collocation to see more examples of it.

Translations of visit

Get a quick, free translation!

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any of the rods that join the edge of a wheel to its centre, so giving the wheel its strength

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• Patient Care & Health Information
• Diseases & Conditions

Illustration of cold sore on different skin colors. A cold sore is a cluster of fluid-filled blisters. Healing often occurs in two to three weeks without scarring. Cold sores are sometimes called fever blisters.

Cold sores, or fever blisters, are a common viral infection. They are tiny, fluid-filled blisters on and around the lips. These blisters are often grouped together in patches. After the blisters break, a scab forms that can last several days. Cold sores usually heal in 2 to 3 weeks without leaving a scar.

Cold sores spread from person to person by close contact, such as kissing. They're usually caused by herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1), and less commonly herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2). Both of these viruses can affect the mouth or genitals and can be spread by oral sex. The virus can spread even if you don't see the sores.

There's no cure for cold sores, but treatment can help manage outbreaks. Prescription antiviral medicine or creams can help sores heal more quickly. And they may make future outbreaks happen less often and be shorter and less serious.

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A cold sore usually passes through several stages:

• Tingling and itching. Many people feel itching, burning or tingling around the lips for a day or so before a small, hard, painful spot appears and blisters form.
• Blisters. Small fluid-filled blisters often form along the border of the lips. Sometimes they appear around the nose or cheeks or inside the mouth.
• Oozing and crusting. The small blisters may merge and then burst. This can leave shallow open sores that ooze and crust over.

Symptoms vary, depending on whether this is your first outbreak or a recurrence. The first time you have a cold sore, symptoms may not start for up to 20 days after you were first exposed to the virus. The sores can last several days. And the blisters can take 2 to 3 weeks to heal completely. If blisters return, they'll often appear at the same spot each time and tend to be less severe than the first outbreak.

In a first-time outbreak, you also might experience:

• Painful gums.
• Sore throat.
• Muscle aches.
• Swollen lymph nodes.

Children under 5 years old may have cold sores inside their mouths. These sores are often mistaken for canker sores. Canker sores involve only the mucous membrane and aren't caused by the herpes simplex virus.

When to see a doctor

Cold sores generally clear up without treatment. See your health care provider if:

• You have a weak immune system.
• The cold sores don't heal within two weeks.
• Symptoms are severe.
• The cold sores often return.
• You have gritty or painful eyes.

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Cold sores are caused by certain strains of the herpes simplex virus (HSV). HSV-1 usually causes cold sores. HSV-2 is often the cause of genital herpes. But either type can spread to the face or genitals through close contact, such as kissing or oral sex. Shared eating utensils, razors and towels can also spread HSV-1 .

Cold sores are most likely to spread when you have oozing blisters. But you can spread the virus even if you don't have blisters. Many people who are infected with the virus that causes cold sores never develop symptoms.

Once you've had a herpes infection, the virus can hide in nerve cells in the skin and may cause another cold sore at the same place as before. A return of cold sores may be triggered by:

• Viral infection or fever.
• Hormonal changes, such as those related to a menstrual period.
• Being in the sun or wind.
• Changes in the immune system.
• Injury to the skin.
• Video: 3 things you didn't know about cold sores

Ian Roth: Cold sores on the lips can be embarrassing and tough to hide. But, turns out, you might not have a reason to be embarrassed.

Pritish Tosh, M.D., Infectious Diseases, Mayo Clinic: About 70-plus percent of the U.S. population has been infected with herpes simplex 1. Now, a very small percentage of those people will actually develop cold sores.

Ian Roth: Dr. Pritish Tosh, an infectious diseases specialist at Mayo Clinic, says genetics determines whether a person will develop cold sores.

Dr. Tosh: A proportion of the population, they don't quite have the right immunologic genes and things like that and so they're not able to handle the virus as well as other people in the population.

Ian Roth: The problem is people can spread the herpes virus whether they develop cold sores or not. Herpes virus spreads through physical contact like kissing, sharing a toothbrush — even sharing a drinking glass — or through sexual contact.

Dr. Tosh: Since the number of people who are infected but don't have symptoms vastly outnumber the people who are infected and have symptoms, most new transmissions occur from people who have no idea that they are infected.

For the Mayo Clinic News Network, I'm Ian Roth.

Risk factors

Almost everyone is at risk of cold sores. Most adults carry the virus that causes cold sores, even if they've never had symptoms.

You're most at risk of complications from the virus if you have a weak immune system from conditions and treatments such as:

• HIV / AIDS .
• Atopic dermatitis (eczema).
• Cancer chemotherapy.
• Anti-rejection medicine for organ transplants.

Complications

In some people, the virus that causes cold sores can cause problems in other areas of the body, including:

• Fingertips. Both HSV-1 and HSV-2 can be spread to the fingers. This type of infection is often referred to as herpes whitlow. Children who suck their thumbs may transfer the infection from their mouths to their thumbs.
• Eyes. The virus can sometimes cause eye infection. Repeated infections can cause scarring and injury, which may lead to vision problems or loss of vision.
• Widespread areas of skin. People who have a skin condition called atopic dermatitis (eczema) are at higher risk of cold sores spreading all across their bodies. This can become a medical emergency.

Your health care provider may prescribe an antiviral medicine for you to take on a regular basis if you develop cold sores more than nine times a year or if you're at high risk of serious complications. If sunlight seems to trigger your condition, apply sunblock to the spot where the cold sore tends to form. Or talk with your health care provider about using an oral antiviral medicine before you do an activity that tends to cause a cold sore to return.

Take these steps to help avoid spreading cold sores to other people:

• Avoid kissing and skin contact with people while blisters are present. The virus spreads most easily when the blisters leak fluid.
• Avoid sharing items. Utensils, towels, lip balm and other personal items can spread the virus when blisters are present.
• Keep your hands clean. When you have a cold sore, wash your hands carefully before touching yourself and other people, especially babies.
• AskMayoExpert. Cold sores (herpes simplex infection). Mayo Clinic; 2019.
• Dinulos JGH. Warts, herpes simplex, and other viral infections. In: Habif's Clinical Dermatology. 7th ed. Elsevier; 2021. https://www.clinicalkey.com. Accessed April 7, 2020.
• Herpes simplex. American Academy of Dermatology. https://www.aad.org/public/diseases/a-z/herpes-simplex-overview. Accessed April 7, 2020.
• Ferri FF, et al., eds. Herpes simplex. In: Ferri's Fast Facts in Dermatology: A Practical Guide to Skin Diseases and Disorders. 2nd ed. Elsevier; 2019. https://www.clinicalkey.com. Accessed April 7, 2020.
• Kermott CA, et al., eds. Canker sores. In: Mayo Clinic Book of Home Remedies. 2nd ed. Time; 2017.
• Kermott CA, et al., eds. Cold sores. In: Mayo Clinic Book of Home Remedies. 2nd ed. Time; 2017.
• Gibson LE (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic. April 6, 2015.
• Lemon balm. Natural Medicines. https://naturalmedicines.therapeuticresearch.com/. Accessed April 8, 2020.
• Lysine. Natural Medicines. https://naturalmedicines.therapeuticresearch.com/. Accessed April 8, 2020.
• Rhubarb. Natural Medicines. https://naturalmedicines.therapeuticresearch.com/. Accessed April 8, 2020.
• Propolis. Natural Medicines. https://naturalmedicines.therapeuticresearch.com/. Accessed April 8, 2020.
• Bauer BA, ed. Making wellness the focus of care. In: Mayo Clinic Guide to Integrative Medicine. Time; 2017.
• Klein RS. Treatment of herpes simplex virus type 1 infection in immunocompetent patients. https://www.uptodate.com/contents/search. Accessed April 8, 2020.
• Hargitai IA. Painful oral lesions. Dental Clinics of North America. 2018; doi.10.1016/j.cden.2018.06.002.
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