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:
Intense rainfall may fall in the wrong locations, run off too quickly, or fail to recharge the systems that sustain the lakes.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 21, 2026
It means she's had to find ways to recharge throughout a weekend - such as returning to her tent for a break.
From BBC ● Jun. 26, 2026
They’re useful for remote military applications, where soldiers can use them to recharge an ever-growing array of electronic devices.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026
The majority of Brentford, Everton and Leeds' squads can put their feet up and recharge their batteries for next season, with those clubs sending just four players each.
From BBC ● Jun. 3, 2026
Tally planned to do most of her traveling at night, letting the hoverboard recharge in sunlight, wasting no time.
From "Uglies" by Scott Westerfeld
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
Building sand dams on these rivers, where people can scoop the sand to fetch the water or use hand pumps, helps minimize water loss through evaporation and recharges groundwater.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 24, 2024
A little advertising by the service station man, stating that he sells radio batteries, and also recharges them should bring in: very profitable business.
From The Automobile Storage Battery Its Care And Repair by Witte, Otto A.
"It recharged her and made her feel better," McVey said.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
"It stores sunlight, and it can be recharged."
From Science Daily ● May 15, 2026
Something that stopped being effective suddenly emerges recharged and presto!
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 21, 2026
It wasn't quite the traditional sequence I’d expected, and left a touch of grit behind, but the massage itself was wonderful and the overall experience left me relaxed and recharged.
From Salon ● May 28, 2025
I was back at the master’s, instantly recharged with the familiar, unrelenting tension and the need to escape, but this time I was plotting it together with the other boys.
From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo
And I think the electric side is going to be a lot less big in Monaco, just because we'll be recharging quite a bit with all the corners that there are.
From BBC ● Jun. 3, 2026
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
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
"My genius powers are recharging," Max declares as she brushes the crumbs from her lap.
From "The Sky at Our Feet" by Nadia Hashimi
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.
