refocus

re- +‎ focus

refocus (third-person singular simple present refocuses or refocusses, present participle refocusing or refocussing, simple past and past participle refocused or refocussed)

1. (intransitive) to focus on something else
   • 2023 August 9, Nigel Harris, “Comment: Disinterested and dishonest”, in RAIL, number 989, page 3:

     Labour frontbencher Louise Haigh (Shadow Transport Secretary for heaven's sake!) initially lambasted TOCs before the handful of specialist rail commentators fell on her tweets and she changed her tune, refocusing her fire on Government.

2. (transitive) to change the focus of
   • 1989 August 12, Phil Harper, “Why It's So Hard To Talk About This Movie”, in Gay Community News, volume 17, number 5, page 9:

     These two sets of questions are interrelated in such a way that they often actually work to prevent productive discussion of the movie's politics. Just a few observations might make this point clear, and help to refocus the debate that has surrounded the film since its opening earlier this summer.

   to refocus a microscope

3. (intransitive) to change one's priorities
4. (intransitive) to come back into focus
   • 1954, William Golding, Lord of the Flies:

     Presently the white, broken stumps, the split sticks and the tangle of the thicket refocused.

The spellings with -ss- are more common in Britain than the US.

• focus
• prioritize

• focuser