recycle
Americanverb (used with object)
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recycles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
recycled,
past participle, past
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recycling
present participle
-
to treat or process (used or waste materials) so as to make suitable for reuse.
recycling paper to save trees.
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to alter or adapt for new use without changing the essential form or nature of.
The old factory is being recycled as a theater.
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to use again in the original form or with minimal alteration.
The governor recycled some speeches from his early days.
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to cause to pass through a cycle again.
to recycle laundry through a washing machine.
verb (used without object)
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recycles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
recycled,
past participle, past
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recycling
present participle
-
to pass through a cycle again; repeat a process from the beginning.
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to undergo reuse or renewal; be subject to or suitable for further use, activity, etc..
The industry will recycle and become profitable once more.
noun
verb
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to pass (a substance) through a system again for further treatment or use
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to reclaim (packaging or products with a limited useful life) for further use
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to institute a different cycle of processes or events in (a machine, system, etc)
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to repeat (a series of operations)
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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recyclabilitynoun
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recyclernoun
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recyclistnoun
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nonrecyclableadjective
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recyclableadjective
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unrecycledadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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recyclesimple
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recyclessimple
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have recycledperfect
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has recycledperfect
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am recyclingprogressive
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are recyclingprogressive
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is recyclingprogressive
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have been recyclingperfect progressive
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has been recyclingperfect progressive
Past
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recycledsimple
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had recycledperfect
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was recyclingprogressive
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were recyclingprogressive
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had been recyclingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of recycle
Explanation
When you recycle something, you process it so it can be used again. You might recycle an old tire and make it into a snazzy black knapsack with some very cool skid marks. The prefix re- means again, and when you recycle something, you process it for another cycle of use. The phrase "reduce, reuse, recycle" gives you three ways to prevent waste. When you recycle plastic bottles, they’re melted down and made into new bottles or even furniture or clothing. You might do some creative recycling and turn your old textbooks into a coffee table. When you have your washing machine repeat the wash or rinse cycle, that’s a different recycle.
Vocabulary lists containing recycle
Natural Resources and the Environment - Introductory
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Earth Science - Middle School
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Earth Science: Natural Resources and the Environment
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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:
Figures suggest only 61% of people in Wales recycle often at their workplace, with one in five saying they do not recall seeing the appropriate facilities to do so.
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026
Yet governments have increasingly pushed citizens to recycle paper, glass and plastics worth less than the cost of collecting and processing them.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
But he left an indelible mark on the environment, authoring legislation offering incentives to recycle, limiting advertisers’ inflated claims about products’ environmental benefits and combating water and air pollution.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026
As some machines demonstrated their ability to clean or recycle objects, others showed they could deliver parcels during a live demonstration in Brussels.
From Barron's ● Sep. 3, 2026
Even one of the old boxes of National Geographic magazines that Eddie said we should recycle, the broken kerosene lantern we found, the kayak paddle.
From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy
In contrast, neighboring Utah recycles very little of its water and is even constructing artificial recreational projects far inland, he said.
From Barron's ● Aug. 27, 2026
Ngumoha recycles the ball to left-back Milos Kerkez.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
The latest “Scary Movie,” which simply recycles the title “Scary Movie,” is as lazy, dumb and offensive as the others.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 5, 2026
The site recovers and recycles silver collected from a nearby site, Sigman said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 22, 2026
He worked in the barbershop for a while, then got a job working for Free Venture, an environmentally certified nonprofit that refurbishes and recycles e-waste on-site.
From "The 57 Bus" by Dashka Slater
Natalie James, 47, said she recycled "probably about the same" at work and at home.
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026
Roughly half the waste ends up incinerated, 38% digested and 12% recycled.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
An estimated100 gallons of water are used each performance; it exits through a drainage system on the floor and is then recycled for the following show.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
Work began on the outskirts of the kibbutz, and she says material for the new houses is being recycled from the old ones, a small way of ensuring continuity.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
He hauled himself through the jagged hole, shaking the last of the recycled mud from his pants.
From "Artemis Fowl" by Eoin Colfer
It now has just one weekly collection thanks to increased recycling, including food waste, which was their biggest adaptation, following the introduction of the Welsh government's Workplace Recycling Law in 2024.
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026
Although Wales' workplace recycling rates are "reasonably high", said consultant Rebecca Colley-Jones, "there's lots of room for improvement".
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026
But, in an example of creative recycling, when she asked her painter if he’d like the set, he was delighted to take it away and did.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2026
In 2010 Scotland promised “zero waste” with 70% recycling by 2025.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
Dell and 1 go through the big blue recycling Dumpster in the carport and we find twenty-three containers for me to use as planters.
From "Counting by 7s" by Holly Goldberg Sloan
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.
