Online dictionaryOnline dictionary
Synonyms, antonyms, pronunciation

  Home 		English Dictionary      examples: 'day', 'get rid of', 'New York Bay'




Reclaim   /riklˈeɪm/   Listen
verb
Reclaim  v. t.  To claim back; to demand the return of as a right; to attempt to recover possession of. "A tract of land (Holland) snatched from an element perpetually reclaiming its prior occupancy."


Reclaim  v. t.  (past & past part. reclaimed; pres. part. reclaiming)  
1.
To call back, as a hawk to the wrist in falconry, by a certain customary call.
2.
To call back from flight or disorderly action; to call to, for the purpose of subduing or quieting. "The headstrong horses hurried Octavius... along, and were deaf to his reclaiming them."
3.
To reduce from a wild to a tamed state; to bring under discipline; said especially of birds trained for the chase, but also of other animals. "An eagle well reclaimed."
4.
Hence: To reduce to a desired state by discipline, labor, cultivation, or the like; to rescue from being wild, desert, waste, submerged, or the like; as, to reclaim wild land, overflowed land, etc.
5.
To call back to rectitude from moral wandering or transgression; to draw back to correct deportment or course of life; to reform. "It is the intention of Providence, in all the various expressions of his goodness, to reclaim mankind."
6.
To correct; to reform; said of things. (Obs.) "Your error, in time reclaimed, will be venial."
7.
To exclaim against; to gainsay. (Obs.)
Synonyms: To reform; recover; restore; amend; correct.


Reclaim  v. i.  
1.
To cry out in opposition or contradiction; to exclaim against anything; to contradict; to take exceptions. "Scripture reclaims, and the whole Catholic church reclaims, and Christian ears would not hear it." "At a later period Grote reclaimed strongly against Mill's setting Whately above Hamilton."
2.
To bring anyone back from evil courses; to reform. "They, hardened more by what might most reclaim, Grieving to see his glory,... took envy."
3.
To draw back; to give way. (R. & Obs.)


noun
Reclaim  n.  The act of reclaiming, or the state of being reclaimed; reclamation; recovery. (Obs.)





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


Advanced search
     Find words:
Starting with
Ending with
Containing
Matching a pattern  

Synonyms
Antonyms
Quotes
Words linked to  

only single words


Share |
Add this dictionary
to your browser search bar




"Reclaim" Quotes from Famous Books



... the children ran away and lost themselves in the corridors or endeavoured to commit suicide by means of the lift. So Cecilia took command of them and played with them until the harassed mother had finished, and came to reclaim her offspring—this time with the worry lines smoothed out of her face. She sat down by Cecilia and talked, and presently it appeared that she also was ...
— Back To Billabong • Mary Grant Bruce
... been set upon by a troop of Indians, who had seized their companions and carried them off. La Salle ordered those about him to take their arms, and at once set out in pursuit. He overtook the Indians, and opened a parley with them; but when he wished to reclaim his men, he discovered that they had been led away during the conference to the Indian camp, a league and a half distant. Among them was one of his lieutenants, the young Marquis de la Sablonniere. He was deeply vexed, for the moment ...
— France and England in North America, a Series of Historical Narratives, Part Third • Francis Parkman
... had the right to inherit divine genius, and deserting them for the sordid reason that he did not choose to earn their bread,—the helpless mother weeping at home, and begging, through long years, to be allowed to seek and reclaim them. ...
— The Atlantic Monthly, Vol. IV, No. 22, Aug., 1859 • Various
... Brother of Sappho, the seas reclaim! Age upon age have the great waves rolled Mad with her music, exultant, aflame; Thee, thee too, shall their glory enfold, ...
— Collected Poems - Volume Two (of 2) • Alfred Noyes
... adopted, to reclaim them, which in those days were considered efficacious in bringing back stray sheep to the fold; that is to say, they were coaxed, they were admonished, they were menaced, they were buffeted—line upon line, precept ...
— Knickerbocker's History of New York, Complete • Washington Irving


More quotes...


Copyright © 2025 Dictionary One.com