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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