Definition

1. Verb:
   • To bring (wasteland) under cultivation; to make (land) fit for use by changing its condition: The core meaning involves transforming land from a wild, unused, or damaged state into productive, usable land.
   • To retrieve or recover (something previously lost, given, or paid): To get back or regain possession of something.
   • To bring (a person) back from error or wrongdoing to right conduct or a proper state: To reform or persuade someone to abandon a bad or mistaken way of life.
   • To obtain (useful materials) from waste products: To recycle or reprocess waste to create new, usable materials.

Usage Examples

• Verb (Land):
  • The government plans to reclaim the marshlands for agriculture.
  • They used advanced techniques to reclaim the desert for farming.
• Verb (Recover):
  • You can reclaim your luggage at the baggage carousel.
  • She went to the lost property office to reclaim her umbrella.
• Verb (Reform):
  • The program aims to reclaim young people from a life of crime.
  • He was reclaimed from his destructive habits by his family's support.
• Verb (Recycle):
  • This facility reclaims plastic from old bottles.
  • The process reclaims valuable metals from electronic waste.

Advanced Usage

• "to reclaim one's heritage/identity": To assert or recover one's cultural or personal identity.
  • The community is working to reclaim its traditional language and customs.
• "past/beyond reclaim": (Formal/Literary) Describing a person or situation that is too far gone to be reformed or recovered.
  • The novel's villain was considered a soul past reclaim.

Variants and Related Words

• Reclamation (n): The process of reclaiming something.
  • Land reclamation is a major engineering project.
• Reclaimable (adj): Capable of being reclaimed.
  • Most of the materials in this waste stream are reclaimable.

Synonyms

• Recover: To get back something lost.
• Retrieve: To regain possession of.
• Restore: To bring back to a former or original condition.
• Reform: To make changes to improve or correct.
• Rehabilitate: To restore to a former state or good condition.

Related Phrasal Verbs

(Note: "Reclaim" is not commonly used with particles to form standard phrasal verbs. The verb is typically used transitively on its own.)

Related Idioms

• "To reclaim the narrative": To take back control of how a story or situation is described and understood.
  • After the scandal, the CEO sought to reclaim the narrative by giving a public interview.

Verb

1. overcome the wildness of; make docile and tractable
   • He tames lions for the circus
   • reclaim falcons
2. make useful again; transform from a useless or uncultivated state
   • The people reclaimed the marshes
3. bring, lead, or force to abandon a wrong or evil course of life, conduct, and adopt a right one
   • The Church reformed me
   • reform your conduct
4. reuse (materials from waste products)
5. claim back