rehabilitate
/,ri:ə'biliteit/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Verb:
- To restore to a state of good condition, operation, or health: To help someone or something recover to a former, better state, especially after illness, injury, or damage.
- To restore to good standing or reputation: To reinstate someone's good name, social position, or rights after a period of disfavor or punishment.
- To restore to a former capacity or position: To bring back into use, operation, or a previous state of effectiveness.
Usage and Examples
Restoring health or function:
- The physical therapist worked to rehabilitate the athlete's injured knee.
- The program aims to rehabilitate stroke victims so they can live independently.
Restoring reputation or social standing:
- The new evidence served to rehabilitate the scientist's reputation, which had been unfairly tarnished.
- After serving his sentence, he sought to rehabilitate himself in the eyes of the community.
Restoring to a former state or use:
- The city plans to rehabilitate the old railway station into a modern transportation hub.
- Conservationists are working to rehabilitate the polluted wetlands.
Advanced Usage and Nuances
- Political/Historical Context: Often used to describe the official restoration of a person's rights, status, or reputation after a period of political disfavor or imprisonment.
- Several dissident writers were rehabilitated after the fall of the regime.
- Legal and Penal Context: Refers to the process of reintegrating an offender into society through education, therapy, and training.
- The prison's primary goal should be to rehabilitate inmates, not merely to punish them.
Variants and Related Words
- Rehabilitation (noun): The process or act of rehabilitating.
- He underwent a long rehabilitation after the accident.
- The rehabilitation of the historic building won an architectural award.
- Rehabilitative (adjective): Having the function of rehabilitating.
- The center provides rehabilitative care for patients with spinal cord injuries.
Synonyms
- Restore: To bring back to an original or former condition.
- Reintegrate: To bring back into a group or society.
- Recondition: To restore to a good or satisfactory condition.
- Reclaim: To recover or restore to a useful state.
Antonyms
- Disable: To make unable to function normally.
- Damage: To harm or injure.
- Discredit: To harm the reputation of.
- Demolish: To destroy completely.
Related Phrases and Concepts
- Rehabilitative justice: A system of criminal justice that focuses on the rehabilitation of offenders through treatment and training.
- Physical rehabilitation: Therapy designed to restore physical function.
- Vocational rehabilitation: Training and services to help a person return to work after an illness or injury.
Verb
- restore to a state of good condition or operation
- reinstall politically
- Deng Xiao Ping was rehabilitated several times throughout his lifetime
- help to readapt, as to a former state of health or good repute
- The prisoner was successfully rehabilitated
- After a year in the mental clinic, the patient is now rehabilitated