reuse
Americanverb
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Explanation
To reuse something is to make use of it more than once, or for a subsequent time. Asking for a plastic bag at the grocery store might seem wasteful, but you can reuse that bag many times. Instead of throwing something away after using it once, ask yourself if there's any way you can reuse it. You can reuse a paper towel roll by putting it in your hamster's cage so he can crawl through and chew on it. You can reuse containers like glass jars and plastic tubs by storing leftovers in them. You can even reuse kitchen scraps by composting them and using the compost in your garden.
Vocabulary lists containing reuse
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:
And what influenced the decision to reuse them for burial, rather than building new ones?
From Science Daily ● Sep. 10, 2026
“Our $220 target is a call on reuse 20–50 flights per vehicle, cheap refurb, fast turnaround,” Wlodarczak said.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 8, 2026
Chinese company LandSpace Technology recently showed it could reuse a rocket booster, like SpaceX does, a feat that could help it deploy satellites faster.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 30, 2026
In a written statement Llŷr Gruffydd, the sustainability minister, said the appointment marked the "next step" towards improved recycling and reuse.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
She’s probably doing it because her mom wants to be able to reuse it.
From "Muffled" by Jennifer Gennari
RadixArk’s inference engine reuses KV cache by organizing conversation snippets into a filing system called a Radix tree.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 5, 2026
Its overhaul will also improve sustainability through a "retrofit-first" approach that reuses materials such as conservatory glass and pavers.
From BBC ● Dec. 12, 2025
"In the long run, understanding how the brain reuses and recombines knowledge could help us design therapies that restore that process."
From Science Daily ● Nov. 28, 2025
The Falcon 9 holds the record for the highest number of launches and reuses in U.S. history.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 20, 2025
Like well-run factories, cells are thrifty; part of the cellular machinery chops up and reuses anything that is floating around inside, including bits of the cell and foreign invaders such as viruses.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
She acknowledged a need for "sufficient strategic landfill capacity" to be available during the transition process while some materials cannot yet be recycled or reused.
From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026
Buyers pay this premium on aluminum every time it is recycled and reused.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
"There's no external energy input and it can be reused for batch after batch of feedstock," said Kate Griffiths, a chemical analyst at the Royal Mint.
From Barron's ● Aug. 4, 2026
It expects the first stage of the Long March rocket to be reused for flight by the end of the year.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 10, 2026
But Hephaestus had also said, Everything can be reused.
From "Blood of Olympus" by Rick Riordan
Rather than simply reusing existing wax, queen cell builders actively collect, modify, and enrich materials used in royal chambers.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 23, 2026
Japan has a poor recycling rate, reusing not even 20 percent of municipal waste, according to the National Institute for Environmental Studies.
From Barron's ● Mar. 25, 2026
But Iran has largely abandoned the idea of firing missiles from underground launch locations, according to Eveleth, owing to the technical difficulties of reusing silos.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 5, 2026
I’m 29 and have been to a lot of weddings the last couple of years, so I was planning on just reusing a floor-length green dress I already have.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 8, 2025
“Back home, we think they keep reusing the old footage because the Capitol can't show what’s really there now,” says Bonnie.
From "Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins
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.
