reclaiming

1 definition found

reclaiming - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Reclaim \Re*claim"\ (r[-e]*kl[=a]m"), v. t. [imp. & p. p.
     Reclaimed (r[-e]*kl[=a]md"); p. pr. & vb. n. Reclaiming.]
     [F. r['e]clamer, 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.
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     2. To call back from flight or disorderly action; to call to,
        for the purpose of subduing or quieting.
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              The headstrong horses hurried Octavius . . . along,
              and were deaf to his reclaiming them. --Dryden.
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     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.
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     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.
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     5. To call back to rectitude from moral wandering or
        transgression; to draw back to correct deportment or
        course of life; to reform.
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              It is the intention of Providence, in all the
              various expressions of his goodness, to reclaim
              mankind.                              --Rogers.
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     6. To correct; to reform; -- said of things. [Obs.]
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              Your error, in time reclaimed, will be venial. --Sir
                                                    E. Hoby.
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     7. To exclaim against; to gainsay. [Obs.] --Fuller.
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     Syn: To reform; recover; restore; amend; correct.
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