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:
She said she had already put aside a bag of unwanted costumes at home and welcomed the opportunity for other families to reuse them.
From BBC ● Oct. 28, 2026
“Data creation, retention and reuse continue to compound storage demand with long term customer demand visibility reinforcing our view of a multiyear growth phase,” Chief Executive Officer Dave Mosley said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 2026
The lawsuit claims that such unauthorized reuse “is destroying the value of these works in a matter of a few years with only profit as its motive.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 25, 2026
At division headquarters in Ingolstadt, Germany, management has embraced the “reduce, reuse and recycle” mantra.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 24, 2026
The main thing we’ll need is paint, since we can reuse the other stuff from the original Hideout.
From "A Soft Place to Land" by Janae Marks
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
She said she reuses the Cheetos in her artwork.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 12, 2024
Depending on the type of clothing and its condition, H&M donates the clothing to charity, recycles it, or reuses it to make new clothing to sell.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 1, 2023
That maximum travel figure rises to 40,118 km overall for two reuses and 72,616km for three.
From BBC ● Dec. 9, 2022
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
The results were “very close to the originals: same structure, same hooks reused with light rewording, and full sets of verses/choruses/bridges.”
From Salon ● Oct. 30, 2026
The filtered water is reused, and the chips break down with the worm castings into a soil amendment.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 21, 2026
Known as autophagy, this process collects defective proteins and other cellular waste, packages them into specialized compartments, and breaks them down into basic molecular components that can be reused.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 13, 2026
Even after the advent of the talkies, and well into the sound era, they were reused and revised with no thought to historical value.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2026
The Sun’s stellar ash can be reused for fuel only up to a point.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
As well as reusing window blinds and kitchen units, Ali attempted to have the laminate flooring he had installed in his old office removed and reused in his new one.
From BBC ● Jun. 25, 2026
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
Rubino says she’s aiming to economize as much as possible — and that means everything from buying lower-priced candy in bulk to reusing baskets from previous Easters.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 2, 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
“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
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