renewable









renewable


adjective

  1. able to be renewed: a library book that is not renewable.

noun

  1. something that is renewable.
adj.

1727, from renew + -able. In reference to energy sources, attested by 1971.

  1. Relating to a natural resource, such as solar energy, water, or wood, that is never used up or that can be replaced by new growth. Resources that are dependent on regrowth can sometimes be depleted beyond the point of renewability, as when the deforestation of land leads to desertification or when a commercially valuable species is harvested to extinction. Pollution can also make a renewable resource such as water unusable in a particular location. Compare nonrenewable.
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