recycle

Formsrecycles, recycling, recycled

Pluralrecycles

1. 1
   verbtransitive

   To break something down into its component materials and reuse those materials.

   Modern facilities recycle aluminum cans into fresh sheet metal.

   The company recycled tons of scrap steel last year.

   Similarreprocess, reclaim, salvage

   Note

   The core material sense, built plainly from re- and cycle: the material goes around the cycle again. What gets recycled is broken down first, whether paper, plastic or crushed aggregate reused at the HS2 Bromford Tunnel site in 2024. It sits comfortably in the passive (paper can be recycled). Reusing a thing intact belongs to the "use it again whole" meaning.

2. 2
   verbtransitive

   To collect items or place them in a bin designated for recycling.

   Most households now recycle cardboard and glass separately.

   He recycled the packaging instead of throwing it away.

   Note

   A household-habit verb that often takes no object at all. Kitchen and storage guides tell readers to recycle while doing the dishes, or to recycle at the same spot where they dispose of trash. The point is the sorting, not the reprocessing that follows. In this sense recycling is a chore done at home, and the object is understood rather than stated.

3. 3
   verbUStransitive

   To get rid of something by tossing it into a recycling bin rather than the trash.

   Americans often recycle soda cans straight from the kitchen counter.

   She recycled the broken packaging without a second thought.

   Note

   An American extension in which the bin, not the reprocessing, is the whole point. To recycle a can is simply to drop it in the recycling bin instead of the trash, whatever happens to it afterward. It overlaps heavily with the sorting-at-home sense and suits casual American usage. In careful writing, say plainly where the item went.

4. 4
   verbfigurativelytransitive

   To use something again in its entirety, such as an idea, joke, or piece of writing.

   The studio recycled the same plot for three different movies.

   Politicians recycle old slogans whenever an election approaches.

   Similarreuse, rehash, repurpose

   Note

   Here nothing is broken down. The joke, the slogan or the idea comes back intact, and the word often carries a note of disapproval: Sam Adams in the AV Club (2012) complains of recycled jokes, and Simon Kuper (2025) writes of populists recycling communist verities. Rugby writing uses it neutrally. Paul Rees (2018) describes a ball "quickly recycled" after a tackle, meaning it was put straight back into play.

5. 5
   verbintransitive

   To undergo recycling; to be processed so that the material can be used again.

   Clean cardboard recycles well in most facilities.

   Some plastics simply do not recycle.

   Note

   The ergative use makes the material itself the subject: cardboard recycles well, and sulfur recycles in the sulfur cycle. In science writing it describes elements moving naturally through a cycle, with no recycling plant involved. Pair it with adverbs of manner such as well or easily to say how readily something can be reprocessed.

6. 6
   nouncountable

   A single instance of processing materials so that they can be used again.

   Each recycle of the aluminum reduces the energy needed for new production.

   The system allows several recycles within a single shift.

   Note

   The noun turns up mostly in technical and institutional prose, often with no article. Wastewater engineers Grady, Daigger and Love (2011) write of a recycle stream and the recycle of soluble constituents. Gary Gray's MUD on MY BADGE (2020) speaks of approving recycle of a cadet who failed, the noun form of the retraining sense. In everyday English, recycling is the usual noun.

7. 7
   verbUStransitive

   To put a person through a course of training a second time.

   The base recycled several trainees who missed the qualifying standard.

   Officials sometimes recycle candidates rather than dismiss them outright.

   Similarretrain

   Note

   Training jargon from the US military: a recruit who fails a phase is sent back through it rather than advanced or dismissed. Barbara and Richard Schading's A Civilian's Guide to the U.S. Military (2006) puts the word in scare quotes and notes that a failing Marine recruit may be recycled up to three more times. Academies use the noun in the same way: approving the recycle of a cadet.

8. 8
   verbintransitive

   In roller derby, to skate toward the back of the engagement zone in order to maximize the time an opposing jammer must spend before rejoining the action.

   Experienced blockers recycle whenever the opposing jammer breaks through too quickly.

   She recycled toward the rear to keep the jammer from scoring again.

   Note

   A roller derby tactic that sends skaters backward on purpose. They drift toward the rear of the engagement zone, so an opposing jammer who has got past them must skate farther before rejoining play. The same move is also called waterfall. The verb is used intransitively: players simply recycle, with no object.

Showing meanings only. Show all 8