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📕 rednote ID(小红书号)：3881567312

Reclaim: Definition, Usage & Examples (2 meaning)

Meaning 1：retrieve something lost (reclaim)

reclaim 🔊

/rɪˈkleɪm/

vt.

To officially ask for or get back something that was yours but is now with someone else or lost.

Reclaim definition: person retrieving lost suitcase at airport lost and found counter.

retrieve something lost 🔊

➕

/rɪˈtriːv ˈsʌmθɪŋ lɒst/

vt.

To officially retrieve something that was lost or taken from you, often through formal procedures.

📁 Category：Transportation & Travel 🔖 Level：Intermediate

📘 Details & Usage

📖 Root Explanation

From Latin 'reclamare': 're-' (again) + 'clamare' (to call), meaning to call back or demand return.

💡 Mnemonic

Think 're-' as 'again' and 'claim' as 'to take', so reclaim means to take something back again.

📖 Example

I had to go to the lost and found office to reclaim my suitcase that got left on the plane. 🔊 I needed to visit the lost and found to get back my suitcase that was left on the plane.

🔗 Collocations

reclaim property – to get back owned assets through legal means

reclaim lost items – to retrieve misplaced belongings from a lost and found

reclaim rights – to regain legal or moral entitlements

🔄 Synonyms

retrieve (vt.) – to get back something that was lost or taken

recover (vt.) – to regain possession of something after loss

recoup (vt.) – to regain something, especially money or losses

🚫 Antonyms

lose (vt.) – to no longer have something due to misplacement or theft

forfeit (vt.) – to give up something as a penalty or sacrifice

abandon (vt.) – to leave something behind without intention to retrieve

🌱 Derivatives

reclamation (n.) – the act of reclaiming something, such as property or land

📖 Cultural Story

The word 'reclaim' originates from Latin 'reclamare', meaning 'to cry out against'. In modern English, it is commonly used in environmental contexts for land restoration and in legal settings for recovering rights or property.

Meaning 2：restore land (reclaim)

reclaim 🔊

/rɪˈkleɪm/

vt.

To make an area of land that is not suitable for use (like a dump or marsh) usable again by cleaning, draining, or filling it.

Reclaim land meaning: aerial view of degraded field transformed into green park.

restore land 🔊

➕

/rɪˈstɔːr lænd/

vt.

To restore degraded or unused land to a productive or usable state through cleaning, draining, or improvement.

📁 Category：Natural Geography 🔖 Level：Intermediate

📘 Details & Usage

📖 Example

The city plans to reclaim the old industrial site and turn it into a community garden. 🔊 The city intends to restore the old industrial area into a community garden.

🔗 Collocations

reclaim land – to restore land for agricultural or urban use

reclaim wasteland – to improve barren or polluted land for new purposes

reclaim wetlands – to drain or manage marshy areas for development

🔄 Synonyms

restore (vt.) – to bring land back to its original or usable condition

rehabilitate (vt.) – to restore land to a good state after damage

renovate (vt.) – to improve land or structures by repairing or updating

🚫 Antonyms

degrade (vt.) – to make land worse in quality or usability

pollute (vt.) – to contaminate land with harmful substances

abandon (vt.) – to leave land unused and neglected

🌱 Derivatives

reclamation (n.) – the process of reclaiming land, often for environmental or agricultural purposes