recharge
Americanverb (used with object)
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to charge again with electricity.
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Informal. to refresh or restore; revitalize.
verb (used without object)
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to make a new charge, especially to attack again.
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Informal. to revive or restore energy, stamina, enthusiasm, etc.
noun
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an act or instance of recharging.
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Geology. the processes by which groundwater is absorbed into the zone of saturation.
verb
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to cause (an accumulator, capacitor, etc) to take up and store electricity again
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to revive or renew (one's energies) (esp in recharge one's batteries )
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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rechargesimple
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rechargessimple
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have rechargedperfect
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has rechargedperfect
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am rechargingprogressive
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are rechargingprogressive
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is rechargingprogressive
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have been rechargingperfect progressive
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has been rechargingperfect progressive
Past
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rechargedsimple
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had rechargedperfect
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was rechargingprogressive
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were rechargingprogressive
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had been rechargingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of recharge
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English: “to reload (a vessel)”; see re-, charge
Explanation
When you recharge something, you bring it back to life or reenergize it. You might charge your cell phone in the morning and then recharge it later in the day. If you can charge your electronics (or provide them with electrical energy), you can also recharge them when that energy is depleted. In addition to your camera battery and laptop, sometimes you need to recharge yourself, or take a break so you can become energized again. Less commonly, recharge is used to mean "refill a glass," and the original meaning, in the fifteenth century, was "to reload a vessel."
Vocabulary lists containing recharge
Earth Science - Middle School
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Earth Science - High School
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Earth Science - Introductory
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
In these circumstances, the battery does not have enough capacity to deliver a full charge on both straights, and it's not possible to recover enough energy in one braking zone to fully recharge it.
From BBC ● Jun. 23, 2026
His first major breakthrough came with FreeCharge, a mobile recharge platform he co-founded in 2010 as India's internet economy was beginning to take shape.
From BBC ● Jun. 23, 2026
At the same time, Southern California cities have been investing in projects to capture stormwater and recharge groundwater as they seek to rely less on water imported from Northern California and the Colorado River.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 5, 2026
By learning how to recharge those tiny engines, scientists may be opening a new path in the fight against dementia.
From Science Daily ● May 16, 2026
Only when it is absolutely necessary to recharge my battery.
From "A Rover's Story" by Jasmine Warga
That includes “extended range electric vehicles,” battery-powered cars that have an onboard generator, running on gas, that recharges batteries on the fly.
From Barron's ● Dec. 15, 2025
It runs 15-30 minutes on a full battery, depending on the speed, and recharges in 45 minutes to about 3 hours, depending on your charger.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2025
Regenerative braking in EVs, which recharges the battery, does not involve friction.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2025
If blooms begin lagging halfway through the bloom season, an additional feed recharges flowering.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 27, 2024
Then it stays bare through July while capillarity somewhat recharges the soil.
From Gardening Without Irrigation: or without much, anyway by Solomon, Steve
"It stores sunlight, and it can be recharged."
From Science Daily ● May 15, 2026
Thermal batteries, such as the one being developed by Cache Energy, store heat instead of electricity, and can be recharged and discharged over and over.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 29, 2026
He was taking a class on air conditioning systems, and his vehicle’s AC needed to be recharged.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 6, 2026
Nicola Shaw, chief executive of Yorkshire Water, told BBC 5 Live said: "I expect it to last until the winter as that is when the reservoirs will have recharged."
From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2025
The truck-batteries were recharged, a new shift of drivers took over, and we went on.
From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin
Other agencies are recharging aquifers at dozens of sites across California and are building more facilities to replenish groundwater.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 21, 2026
Eating out is an experience he values, a way of recharging mentally after stetches of demanding care work.
From BBC ● Feb. 13, 2026
The distance that electric trucks can travel without recharging can be drastically cut when towing heavy loads or operating in less ideal conditions, such as cold weather.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 29, 2025
We can stay off the grid and keep the fridge running for about four days without recharging the batteries, which happens automatically when we drive.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2025
"The current plan already has him recharging all day long," Venkat explained.
From "The Martian" by Andy Weir
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
