reusable

British  

/ riːˈjuːzəbəl /

adjective

1. able to be used more than once

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Explanation

Something is reusable if it can be used more than once. Since you can wash a cloth napkin after you use it, it is reusable. Toilet paper? Not reusable. Many cities now encourage shoppers to bring their own reusable bags to stores, instead of having groceries and other goods put in plastic bags that are usually thrown away after a single use. Reusable is a word you'll often see alongside words like recyclable, renewable, or sustainable, in an environmentally conscious context. It comes from the "again" prefix re- and usable.

Example Sentences

In the time it took to work on SLS, SpaceX essentially perfected its partially reusable Falcon 9 rocket, which has launched roughly 650 times, and dramatically lowered the cost to reach space.

From Barron's • Apr. 10, 2026

With Falcon 9, SpaceX demonstrated the power of reusable boosters and brought new competition to the launch market.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 7, 2026

Both are intended to be rapidly and fully reusable.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 4, 2026

SLS isn’t as big as SpaceX’s fully reusable Starship, though, which is roughly 80 feet taller.

From Barron's • Apr. 1, 2026

On one website, we find a list of supplies every dog walker should own: a spare leash, lots of baggies, and a reusable water bottle and plastic bowl to keep the dogs hydrated.

From "A Soft Place to Land" by Janae Marks