Re*claim" (rē*klām"), v. t.
To claim back; to demand the return of as a right; to attempt to
recover possession of.
A tract of land [Holland] snatched from an element
perpetually reclaiming its prior occupancy.
W.
Coxe.
Re*claim" (r&esl;*klām"), v. t.
[imp. & p. p. Reclaimed (-klāmd");
p. pr. & vb. n. Reclaiming.] [F.
réclamer, 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.
2. To call back from flight or disorderly
action; to call to, for the purpose of subduing or quieting.
The headstrong horses hurried Octavius . . . along, and
were deaf to his reclaiming them.
Dryden.
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.
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.
5. To call back to rectitude from moral
wandering or transgression; to draw back to correct deportment or
course of life; to reform.
It is the intention of Providence, in all the various
expressions of his goodness, to reclaim mankind.
Rogers.
6. To correct; to reform; -- said of
things. [Obs.]
Your error, in time reclaimed, will be
venial.
Sir E. Hoby.
7. To exclaim against; to gainsay.
[Obs.] Fuller.
Syn. -- To reform; recover; restore; amend; correct.
Re*claim" (r&esl;*klām"), v. i.
1. To cry out in opposition or contradiction; to
exclaim against anything; to contradict; to take exceptions.
Scripture reclaims, and the whole Catholic
church reclaims, and Christian ears would not hear
it.
Waterland.
At a later period Grote reclaimed strongly
against Mill's setting Whately above Hamilton.
Bain.
2. To bring anyone back from evil courses; to
reform.
They, hardened more by what might most
reclaim,
Grieving to see his glory, . . . took envy.
Milton.
3. To draw back; to give way. [R. &
Obs.] Spenser.
Re*claim", n. The act of
reclaiming, or the state of being reclaimed; reclamation;
recovery. [Obs.]
