recycle
Americanverb (used with object)
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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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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:
Efforts to recycle rare earths or develop batteries that need fewer exotic components are still in their infancy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 28, 2026
Management had a short-lived operation outside of Houston called Natura designed to recycle plastic film that can’t be handled in a typical recycling facility.
From Barron's ● Jun. 17, 2026
He said the existing infrastructure to take back and recycle vapes was "currently underperforming" because of a lack of incentives for people to use it.
From BBC ● Jun. 1, 2026
Proteases, enzymes that recycle proteins, can rapidly cut peptides into individual amino acids, shortening their effectiveness.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 28, 2026
“I ride the bus with him,” Roy said, and decided to recycle Beatrice’s line one more time: “We’re doing a science project together.”
From "Hoot" by Carl Hiaasen
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
Oklo has worked with Los Alamos National Laboratory to validate the reactor’s design, which recycles nuclear waste into energy, using surplus plutonium from the federal stockpile.
From Barron's ● May 26, 2026
The site recovers and recycles silver collected from a nearby site, Sigman said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 22, 2026
Mark Casto, 67, from Ditchingham, Norfolk - known as Dalek man - recycles everything from Christmas baubles to dustbin lids to create the life-size villains.
From BBC ● May 30, 2025
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
These sections were then cut into smaller pieces by staff using oxy-propane torches, before being sent to a local company to be recycled.
From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026
A few more rich-man-poor-man lines: They’re both outraged at the welfare system, they know the going rate for copper, and live in houses made of recycled materials.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 5, 2026
Early findings showed that pavement containing recycled polyethylene did not release more polymers than conventional SBS pavement.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 28, 2026
It emphasizes the idea of a “circular economy” in which the producer of a material must consider its fate — making sure it can be reused or recycled, or at least reduced.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 23, 2026
Another said it looked as though it came from the set of RoboCop, and another said that it looked as if it had been made entirely from recycled materials.
From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell
Part of these penalties will go towards collection and recycling infrastructure.
From Barron's ● Jun. 29, 2026
“I’m kinda into recycling, so I didn’t even buy materials for it. It was supposed to just give a laugh, maybe last a day,” he says.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026
"Some people think plastic recycling is a hoax -- that it doesn't work; it's too challenging," Lynch shares.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 28, 2026
"We're essentially just recycling the water over and over," he says.
From BBC ● Jun. 25, 2026
I don’t even drop it in the paper recycling.
From "The Benefits of Being an Octopus" by Ann Braden
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.
