verb (used with object), re·cy·cled, re·cy·cling.- to treat or process (used or waste materials) so as to make suitable for reuse: recycling paper to save trees.
- to alter or adapt for new use without changing the essential form or nature of: The old factory is being recycled as a theater.
- to use again in the original form or with minimal alteration: The governor recycled some speeches from his early days.
- to cause to pass through a cycle again: to recycle laundry through a washing machine.
verb (used without object), re·cy·cled, re·cy·cling.- to pass through a cycle again; repeat a process from the beginning.
- to undergo reuse or renewal; be subject to or suitable for further use, activity, etc.: The industry will recycle and become profitable once more.
- the act or process of recycling.
Origin of recycle
First recorded in
1925–30; re- +
cycleDictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for recyclable
Contemporary Examples of recyclable
The prototypes are built from a recyclable flat foam-rubber called ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA).
China has stopped taking thousands of tons of recyclable trash from the U.S., which could mean huge garbage back-ups for cities.
British Dictionary definitions for recyclable- to pass (a substance) through a system again for further treatment or use
- to reclaim (packaging or products with a limited useful life) for further use
- to institute a different cycle of processes or events in (a machine, system, etc)
- to repeat (a series of operations)
- the repetition of a fixed sequence of events
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for recyclableadj.1971, from recycle + -able. As a noun, by 1973. Related: Recyclables.
v.1922, originally of industrial processes; see re- + cycle (v.). Specifically of waste material from 1960. Related: Recycled; recycling.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
