reclaim

Language: en

🇬🇧 /rɪˈkleɪm/ 🇺🇸 /riːˈkleɪm/

📖 Definitions

  1. verb
    To recover or retrieve something that was lost, taken, or given away; to get back possession of something.; To make land suitable for cultivation or building by draining, filling, or otherwise improving it, especially land that was previously underwater or marshy.; To restore someone to a better way of life; to reform or rehabilitate a person from error, vice, or a degraded state.; To recover useful materials from waste or discarded products for reuse or recycling.; To tame or domesticate a wild animal, especially a hawk or falcon, for use in hunting.; To call back or recall; to summon back from a course of action or departure.; To protest against or object to something; to cry out in opposition.
  2. noun
    The act of reclaiming; reclamation.

🔗 Details

Word forms

3rd sing.: reclaims Past: reclaimed Past part.: reclaimed Pres part.: reclaiming

Collocations

reclaim landreclaim territoryreclaim materialsreclaim one's dignityreclaim spacereclaim waste

Derivatives

reclamationreclaimablereclaimedunreclaimed

Synonyms

recoverretrieverecoupregainrehabilitaterecycle

Antonyms

abandonforfeitsurrender

Commonly confused

recover
EN: 'Recover' is broader (regain health, find lost items); 'reclaim' implies actively taking back something from a state of loss or waste.
recycle
EN: 'Recycle' specifically means processing used materials into new products; 'reclaim' can mean recovering land, rights, or materials more broadly.
reclamation
EN: 'Reclamation' is the noun form referring to the process or act; 'reclaim' is the verb.

Spelling tips

EN: No common spelling issues; simply 're-' + 'claim'.

💬 Examples

  1. She went to the airport to reclaim her luggage from the lost and found.

  2. The government plans to reclaim thousands of acres of marshland for agricultural use.

  3. The charity works to reclaim young people from a life of crime.

  4. The factory reclaims metals from old electronic devices.

  5. The falconer spent weeks trying to reclaim the young hawk.

  6. The general reclaimed his troops from the frontier.

  7. The citizens reclaimed against the unjust tax imposed by the crown.

  8. The reclaim of the wetlands took over a decade to complete.