Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- transitive verb To use or convert for use in another format or product.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb To
reuse for a differentpurpose , on a long-term basis, without alteration. - verb To
alter to make more suited for a differentpurpose .
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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The former may do something better than the latter, but itâs not âintelligenceâ; as with Howard Gardnerâs shtick, thatâs just trying to repurpose a word because you want to draw different conclusions.
The Volokh Conspiracy » 1. Science, Faith, and Not Ruling Out Possibilities 2010
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The former may do something better than the latter, but itâs not âintelligenceâ; as with Howard Gardnerâs shtick, thatâs just trying to repurpose a word because you want to draw different conclusions.
The Volokh Conspiracy » 1. Science, Faith, and Not Ruling Out Possibilities 2010
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Hey Rick Mervine, what's the "repurpose" of an abortion clinic?
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They comb through the many drugs that are no longer in use--- and are no longer under patent--- and "repurpose" them for new applications.
Tech . . . Tech . . . Tech Walter Jon Williams 2010
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Normally I cringe when companies try to "repurpose" their "catalog" like when they keep trying to make musicals out of movies and TV shows, but Krypto's old stuff worked great for this lighthearted show for the younger set.
Space Canines Animated Brian Hughes 2009
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They want to drag the best of the cable shows and "repurpose" them for broadcast standards.
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Preservation advocates say it's far better to "repurpose" beautiful old buildings no longer in use than to tear them down.
A Sacred Mission 2007
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Preservation advocates say it's far better to "repurpose" beautiful old buildings no longer in use than to tear them down.
A Sacred Mission 2007
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It means that a sprawling company like AOL Time Warner not only can produce news, entertainment and sports programming, but also distribute it exclusively on any one of its cable or broadcast outlets and subsequently "repurpose," or air it, on any of the rest of its networks.
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According to laurel, MTV will "repurpose" episodes of Veronica Mars.
Zathras no more yendi 2004
thewordnerd commented on the word repurpose
Verb. To modify content only slightly, but enough to make it useful in another context than that for which it was originally intended. Ex: "write this for the newsletter; we can repurpose it for the blog."
May 28, 2008
corylusavellana commented on the word repurpose
I keep seeing this on Lifehacker and it annoys me to hyperbole. Perhaps I should stop reading it...
In Lifehacker's context it's usually applied to any DIY job entailing recycling some old item and giving it new life, with a new purpose.
August 13, 2009