recharge
Americanverb (used with object)
-
recharges,
present (3rd person singular)
-
recharged,
past participle, past
-
recharging
present participle
-
to charge again with electricity.
-
Informal. to refresh or restore; revitalize.
verb (used without object)
-
recharges,
present (3rd person singular)
-
recharged,
past participle, past
-
recharging
present participle
-
to make a new charge, especially to attack again.
-
Informal. to revive or restore energy, stamina, enthusiasm, etc.
noun
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recharges
plural
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an act or instance of recharging.
-
Geology. the processes by which groundwater is absorbed into the zone of saturation.
verb
-
to cause (an accumulator, capacitor, etc) to take up and store electricity again
-
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
-
rechargesimple
-
rechargessimple
-
have rechargedperfect
-
has rechargedperfect
-
am rechargingprogressive
-
are rechargingprogressive
-
is rechargingprogressive
-
have been rechargingperfect progressive
-
has been rechargingperfect progressive
Past
-
rechargedsimple
-
had rechargedperfect
-
was rechargingprogressive
-
were rechargingprogressive
-
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:
He’s been called the godfather of farmland groundwater recharge.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 26, 2026
The Semi comes in two versions, Standard Range and Long Range, with the latter able to travel about 500 miles before needing to recharge its battery.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 25, 2026
The max charging rate of 150 kW pencils out to a 10%-80% recharge in 28 minutes, under ideal conditions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 19, 2026
Those require large batteries that can struggle with long recharge times.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 6, 2026
That’s all I need to recharge by myself in my cocoon.
From "Muffled" by Jennifer Gennari
At lower speeds, as in city traffic, you begin to hear the engine’s whispered revving in the perceptual background as it simultaneously propels the car and recharges the 22.7-kWh battery.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 1, 2026
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
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
The energy of the recoil brings the gun back and at the same time recharges the compressed air reservoir.
From Aeroplanes and Dirigibles of War by Frederick Arthur Ambrose Talbot
Silicon is a highly effective and cheap material to use in anodes, but pure silicon expands and contracts as the battery operates and is recharged, which causes it to crack.
From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2026
"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
These signature rings are only as powerful as the will of the wearer and periodically need to be recharged.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 13, 2026
“Yeah, I guess—maybe it needed to get recharged or something. I don’t know.”
From "The Maze Runner" by James Dashner
The second sector - of which Pouhon is the highlight - is used for recharging so the battery is full again for the long run from Stavelot to the final chicane.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 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 400V battery system has a maximum recharging rate of 190 kW, restoring around 80% of capacity in 45 minutes or less.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 1, 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
The solar cells of the recharging hoverboards were blindingly bright in the sun.
From "Uglies" by Scott Westerfeld
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.
