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🔙 To get back 🌱 To restore land 🤝 To reform ♻️ To reuse waste 🐎 To tame
to reclaim

to reclaim

1 5.6
To make a wild animal calm and accept people
  • verb
  • /rɪˈkleɪm/
translation icon : domesticar
  • The organization aims to reclaim stray animals, turning them into loving pets for families.

Examples

  • After they give the owner seven days to reclaim him, if he decides not to, this dog will be put up for adoption.

    The Drop (2014)

  • For sure, he thought, it was Muscatel trying to reclaim her pups.

    Blog text (5)

  • Danny and his uncle are struggling to reclaim control of the space station from a mob of food-flinging Illyarian diplomats.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • The trainer worked hard to reclaim the wild horse, teaching it to follow commands and accept human interaction.

  • With patience and consistency, she was able to reclaim her dog's trust after he had been abandoned.

Synonyms

to tame
vsto reclaim
68 3.0

To make something less wild or strong

focuses on restoring control over formerly wild animals
to domesticate
vsto reclaim
  • Specialized
32 4.1

To make wild animals or plants useful to people, for example by taming them

is narrower, concentrating on returning wild animals to obedience
to domesticize
vsto reclaim
  • US
8.5

To make a wild animal or plant tame so it can live with people and provide food

focuses on making wild animals obedient rather than home suitability

How Tame

to control
∞ 2.4
to domesticate
  • Specialized
32 4.1
to reclaim
1 5.6
to tame
68 3.0
to train
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

reclaim infinitive
reclaimed past
reclaimed past participle
reclaiming present participle
reclaims third person singular

Morphology

reclaim = claim (semi-transparent) = re + claim

The sense 'make an animal less wild' is a less direct, metaphorical extension of 'take back/control', so the connection is plausible but not fully literal for learners.

Etymology

Reclaim has the parts re- 'back' and claim 'to take', which can mean 'take control back'. So to reclaim an animal is to win control of it again and make it tame or manageable.