recirculate

verb

re·​cir·​cu·​late (ˌ)rē-ˈsər-kyə-ˌlāt 

recirculated; recirculating; recirculates

transitive + intransitive

1

: to circulate or cause to circulate again

According to the organization, between two and four times more money recirculates in the local community when people shop at small businesses.

—Christina Hepner

The system will recirculate 99 percent of the water that enters the tanks …

—Nick McCrea

2

: to circulate continuously

Along a slope, a peaceful water feature surrounded by rocks offers the tranquil sounds of water recirculating between two ponds.

—Kelli Adanick

He uses an American Hydroponics system that recirculates water and nutrients through the plants' root systems, allowing them to grow without soil.

—Alana Melanson

Examples of recirculate in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Now, surgeons are perfusing these organs, either by removing them to a machine or, in a lower-tech manner, by recirculating blood in that region of the donor’s body. —Ted Alcorn, New York Times, 2 Apr. 2024

The machine acts as the patient's heart and lungs, removing carbon dioxide from blood and recirculating oxygenated blood. —Detroit Free Press, 22 Feb. 2024

These manmade structures allow water to pass over their top, which creates a recirculating current below the dam that can hold and drown even the strongest of swimmers. —Dac Collins, Outdoor Life, 22 Feb. 2024

That political weakness has been accentuated by occasional trips, falls and verbal stumbles that are recirculated on social media with far more velocity than any triumphant clips from his speeches. —Nicholas Nehamas, New York Times, 8 Mar. 2024

After quotes from a 2023 interview with City AM recirculated and seemed to show the JFK filmmaker antagonizing Greta Gerwig’s movie, Stone wrote a post on social media to set the record straight. —Wesley Stenzel, EW.com, 22 Jan. 2024

In the days leading up to the film’s world premiere in London on Thursday, rumors began recirculating online that Taylor-Joy would play a role in the film led by Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya. —Angelique Jackson, Variety, 15 Feb. 2024

The psychiatrist appears to not exist, but the claim was featured on an Iranian TV show, and was recirculated on Arabic, English and Indonesian media sites and spread by users on TikTok, Reddit and Instagram. —Pranshu Verma, Washington Post, 17 Dec. 2023

This comparison, picked up and recirculated by world leaders, including President Biden, serves to bolster Israel’s case for inflicting collective punishment on the residents of Gaza. —Masha Gessen, The New Yorker, 9 Dec. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

1716, in the meaning defined at sense 1