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recycle

verb · noun

Simple meaning

To break down and reuse component materials.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

reesykuhl

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ɹiˈsaɪkəl

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

verb

  1. transitive

    To break down and reuse component materials.

  2. intransitiveergative

    To be recycled.

  3. transitive

    To collect or place in a bin for recycling.

  4. transitivefigurative

    To reuse as a whole.

  5. us

    To discard into a recycling bin.

noun

  1. An act of recycling.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
Frequency
Moderately Common
Typical Use
Neutral / general English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: To break down and reuse component materials.

Used this way, recycle is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
No strong connotation
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use recycle

  • “We must recycle the cardboard boxes.”verb

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

recycle binrecycle ratiorecycle streamrecycle flowrecycle systemrecycle rateplutonium recyclecell recycle

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • recyclingnounInflected form

    Used or abandoned materials for use in creating new products.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • recycling binnounCompound term

    A bin for depositing things to be recycled.

  • recycling plantnounCompound term

    A plant for reprocessing used or abandoned materials.

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.