The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Resort \Re*sort"\ (r?*z?rt"), n. [F. ressort.]
   Active power or movement; spring. [A Gallicism] [Obs.]
   [1913 Webster]

         Some . . . know the resorts and falls of business that
         can not sink into the main of it.        --Bacon.
   [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Resort \Re*sort"\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Resorted; p. pr. & vb.
   n. Resorting.] [OF. resortir to withdraw, take refuge, F.
   ressortir to be in the jurisdiction, LL. resortire; pref. re-
   re- + L. sortiri to draw lots, obtain by lot, from sors lot.
   See Sort. The meaning is first to reobtain (by lot), then
   to gain by appeal to a higher court (as a law term), to
   appeal, go for protection or refuge.]
   1. To go; to repair; to betake one's self.
      [1913 Webster]

            What men name resort to him?          --Shak.
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   2. To fall back; to revert. [Obs.]
      [1913 Webster]

            The inheritance of the son never resorted to the
            mother, or to any of her ancestors.   --Sir M. Hale.
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   3. To have recourse; to apply; to one's self for help,
      relief, or advantage.
      [1913 Webster]

            The king thought it time to resort to other
            counsels.                             --Clarendon.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Resort \Re*sort"\ (r?*z?rt"), n. [Cf. F. ressort jurisdiction.
   See Resort, v.]
   1. The act of going to, or making application; a betaking
      one's self; the act of visiting or seeking; recourse; as,
      a place of popular resort; -- often figuratively; as, to
      have resort to force.
      [1913 Webster]

            Join with me to forbid him her resort. --Shak.
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   2. A place to which one betakes himself habitually; a place
      of frequent assembly; a haunt.
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            Far from all resort of mirth.         --Milton.
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   3. That to which one resorts or looks for help; resource;
      refuge.
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   Last resort, ultimate means of relief; also, final
      tribunal; that from which there is no appeal.
      [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

resort
    n 1: a hotel located in a resort area [syn: resort, resort
         hotel, holiday resort]
    2: a frequently visited place [syn: haunt, hangout,
       resort, repair, stamping ground]
    3: something or someone turned to for assistance or security;
       "his only recourse was the police"; "took refuge in lying"
       [syn: recourse, refuge, resort]
    4: act of turning to for assistance; "have recourse to the
       courts"; "an appeal to his uncle was his last resort" [syn:
       recourse, resort, refuge]
    v 1: have recourse to; "The government resorted to rationing
         meat" [syn: fall back, resort, recur]
    2: move, travel, or proceed toward some place; "He repaired to
       his cabin in the woods" [syn: repair, resort]

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

128 Moby Thesaurus words for "resort":
   ability, action, ad hoc measure, affect, agency, alternative,
   amusement park, answer, artifice, attend, backup, ballroom, baths,
   cabaret, cafe chantant, cafe dansant, capacity, capital, casino,
   club, clubhouse, contrivance, countermove, coup, course of action,
   dance floor, dance hall, dancing pavilion, demarche,
   dernier ressort, device, devices, disposable resources, dodge,
   effort, entertainment industry, expediency, expedient,
   fall back on, frequent, fun-fair, funds, gambling house,
   gathering place, gimmick, going between, hang, hang around,
   hangout, haunt, have recourse to, health resort, hope,
   improvisation, instrumentality, intermediation, juke joint,
   jury-rig, jury-rigged expedient, last expedient, last resort,
   last shift, look to, machinery, makeshift, maneuver, means,
   measure, mechanism, mediation, meeting place, method, move,
   night spot, nightclub, nitery, patronize, pis aller, power,
   purlieu, rallying point, recourse, recourses, refuge, remedy,
   rendezvous, repair to, reserve, resort to, resorts, resource,
   resources, retreat, roadhouse, service, shake-up, shift, show biz,
   show business, solution, spa, springs, stamping, stamping ground,
   step, stock, stopgap, stratagem, stroke, stroke of policy,
   substitute, supply, tactic, take to, tavern, temporary expedient,
   theater, trick, trump, turn to, visit, watering place, ways,
   ways and means, wherewith, wherewithal, working hypothesis,
   working proposition



Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):

RESORT. The authority or jurisdiction of a court. The supreme court of the
United States is a court of the last resort.