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Webster 1913 Edition

Reclaim

Re-claim′

(rē-klām′)
,
Verb.
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.
W. Coxe.

Re-claim′

(rē̍-klām′)
,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Reclaimed
(rē̍-klāmd′)
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Reclaiming
.]
[F.
réclamer
, L.
reclamare
,
reclamatum
, to cry out against; pref.
re-
re- +
clamare
to call or cry aloud. See
Claim
.]
1.
To call back, as a hawk to the wrist in falconry, by a certain customary call.
Chaucer.
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.
Dryden.
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.”
Dryden.
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.
Rogers.
6.
To correct; to reform; – said of things.
[Obs.]
Your error, in time
reclaimed
, will be venial.
Sir E. Hoby.
7.
To exclaim against; to gainsay.
[Obs.]
Fuller.
Syn. – To reform; recover; restore; amend; correct.

Re-claim′

(rē̍-klām′)
,
Verb.
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.
Waterland.
At a later period Grote
reclaimed
strongly against Mill’s setting Whately above Hamilton.
Bain.
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.
Milton.
3.
To draw back; to give way.
[R. & Obs.]
Spenser.

Re-claim′

,
Noun.
The act of reclaiming, or the state of being reclaimed; reclamation; recovery.
[Obs.]

Webster 1828 Edition

Reclaim

RECLA'IM

,
Verb.
T.
[L. reclama. re and clamo, to call. See Claim.]
1.
To claim back; to demand to have returned. The vender may reclaim the goods.
2.
To call back from error, wandering or transgression, to the observance of moral rectitude; to reform; to bring back to correct deportment or course of life.
It is the intention of Providence in its various expressions of goodness, to reclaim mankind.
3.
To reduce to the state desired.
Much labor is requir'd in trees, to tame their wild disorder, and in ranks reclaim.
4.
To call back; to restrain.
Or is her tow'ring flight reclaim'd by seas from Icarus' downfall nam'd?
5.
To recall; to cry out against.
The headstrong horses hurried Octavius along, and were deaf to his reclaiming them. [Unusual.]
6.
To reduce from a wild to a tame or domestic state; to tame; to make gentle; as, to reclaim a hawk, an eagle or a wild beast.
7.
To demand or challenge; to make a claim; a French use.
8.
To recover.

Definition 2024

reclaim

reclaim

English

Verb

reclaim ‎(third-person singular simple present reclaims, present participle reclaiming, simple past and past participle reclaimed)

  1. (transitive) To return land to a suitable condition for use.
  2. (transitive) To obtain useful products from waste; to recycle.
  3. (transitive) To return someone to a proper course of action, or correct an error; to reform.
    • Milton
      They, hardened more by what might most reclaim, / Grieving to see his glory […] took envy.
    • Rogers
      It is the intention of Providence, in all the various expressions of his goodness, to reclaim mankind.
    • Sir E. Hoby
      Your error, in time reclaimed, will be venial.
  4. (transitive) To claim something back; to repossess.
  5. (transitive) To tame or domesticate a wild animal.
    • Dryden
      an eagle well reclaimed
  6. To call back from flight or disorderly action; to call to, for the purpose of subduing or quieting.
    • Dryden
      The headstrong horses hurried Octavius […] along, and were deaf to his reclaiming them.
  7. To cry out in opposition or contradiction; to exclaim against anything; to contradict; to take exceptions.
    • Waterland
      Scripture reclaims, and the whole Catholic church reclaims, and Christian ears would not hear it.
    • Bain
      At a later period Grote reclaimed strongly against Mill's setting Whately above Hamilton.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Fuller to this entry?)
  8. (obsolete, rare) To draw back; to give way.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Spenser to this entry?)

Translations

Noun

reclaim ‎(plural reclaims)

  1. (obsolete, falconry) The calling back of a hawk.
  2. (obsolete) The bringing back or recalling of a person; the fetching of someone back.
    • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.x:
      The louing couple need no reskew feare, / But leasure had, and libertie to frame / Their purpost flight, free from all mens reclame [...].
  3. An effort to take something back, to reclaim something.

Anagrams

Old French

Noun

reclaim m ‎(oblique plural reclains, nominative singular reclains, nominative plural reclaim)

  1. reputation

Descendants

References

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman reclamer (noun reclaim), Middle French reclamer (noun reclaim), from Latin reclāmō.

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ɹɪˈkleɪm/, /ɹiːˈkleɪm/, /ˈɹiːkleɪm/
  • Rhymes: -eɪm

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