Retread

Part of speech: noun, verb

Pronunciation: /ɹiːˈtɹɛd/

Definitions

1. A tire that has had new tread applied to extend its life ; to reuse or renovate an object or idea ; to repeat a course of action or thought already undertaken
2. A tire renewed by adding new grooves for continued use ; to restore or recycle something for further use ; to revisit or do again something previously done
3. An old tire with a refreshed surface of rubber ; the process of making something usable again ; to go over or perform again an earlier action or argument

Etymology: The most surprising thing about "retread" is how plainly it describes its own job: it is simply "re-" attached to "tread," and the noun sense for the rubber grooves on a tire came first in the compound's history. Tread itself is an ordinary English word for the act of stepping, and its "groove" sense comes from the pattern a foot leaves on a surface. Applied to tires, the grooves on the rubber face were called treads, so a tire given a fresh layer of those grooves was a retread. The verb followed the same logic. To retread a tire is to apply new tread to a worn casing, and the phrase then spread beyond tires to any object or idea that is refitted and used again, or to a course of action repeated.

Synonyms: rework, revise, recycle

Antonyms: abandon, discard