lexicow

regenerate

/rɪˈdʒɛnəreɪt//rɪˈdʒɛnəreɪt/·verb
A tree stands full until one branch snaps and falls, leaving a raw stub and a lopsided crown. Then, from that same stub, a new branch pushes out — quick at first, then slowing — lengthening until it matches the others, and at the last the leaves bloom back along it. The tree is whole again, and no one could point to which branch was new. Nothing was nailed back on; it was grown straight out of the wound.
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Definition

To regenerate is to grow back — to restore what was lost or damaged until the whole is made new again. A lizard regenerates a tail, a forest regenerates after fire, and a run-down district can be regenerated by investment. From Latin regenerare, 'to bring forth again', it implies renewal from within rather than mere repair from outside: the thing rebuilds itself out of its own living tissue. It is the counter-motion to letting something deplete or deteriorate, running the process backwards toward fullness.

Examples

  • Given a few seasons, the burned hillside will regenerate with no replanting at all.
  • Liver tissue can regenerate even after a large part of it has been removed.
  • The grant aims to regenerate a district that decades of neglect had left to deteriorate.

Collocations

regenerate naturally·regenerate tissue·urban regeneration·regenerate the economy

Synonyms

renew·restore·revive·replenish·rebuild

Antonyms

deplete·deteriorate·destroy

Word family

regeneration (noun)·regenerative (adjective)

In TOEFL & IELTS

High-value for TOEFL biology and IELTS on cities and the environment ('urban regeneration', 'forest regeneration'). The noun regeneration is the form most often tested. Stress the third syllable in the verb (re-GEN-er-ate), and read it as the positive counterpart to deplete — what is regenerated is rebuilt, not merely patched.