reuse
part of speech
verb (reuse, reuses, reused, reusing); noun (reuse — uncountable)
meaning for a pupil
1) To reuse something means to use it again instead of throwing it away, either for the same job or for a new one. tree →
2) Reuse is the act of using things again. tree →
sense in the lessons
In science and everyday life, reuse is one of the «three Rs»: reduce, reuse, recycle; reusing saves materials and energy and makes less rubbish. Examples: a refillable water bottle, jars for storing buttons, the back of paper for drawing. Reuse is different from recycling, which breaks a thing down to make new material. Phrases: reuse and recycle, reusable bag, reuse paper.
examples
- We reuse glass jars to keep pencils and crayons in. tree →
- Reduce, reuse, recycle! tree →
- Mum reuses shopping bags every week. tree →
- I reused an old shoebox to make a diorama. tree →
- Do not reuse a plastic bottle for drinks too many times — wash it well. tree →
- Reusing things means less rubbish goes to the landfill. tree →
- We drew on the back of the paper to reuse it. tree →
note
Regular verb: reused, reusing (one word, no hyphen today; older «re-use»). Adjective: reusable. Trap: reuse is not recycle — reusing keeps the thing as it is; recycling turns it into raw material. Some things are not safe to reuse, such as single-use masks, needles or plastic cutlery meant for once.
In the corpora
- Many spiders eat their old web before building a new one, to reuse the protein in the silk.
- Saving food, water and energy and reusing bottles and bags means less land cleared and less pollution.
- Around 1450 Johannes Gutenberg in Germany built a printing press with movable metal letters that could be reused.
- Reduce, reuse, recycle: use less, use things again, and turn waste into new materials.
- Reduce, Reuse and Recycle are three ways to make less waste.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «reuse» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.