reconditionv.
/ˌriːkənˈdɪʃn/, U.S. /ˌrikənˈdɪʃ(ə)n/ 1. transitive. To restore to a proper, habitable, or usable condition; to repair or renovate (esp. a machine or piece of equipment).
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the world > action or operation > amending > restoration > restore [verb (transitive)] > renovate or renew
newOE
freshc1300
renovela1325
renewa1382
renulec1384
refreshc1425
repairc1425
anewc1440
ennew1523
renovatea1555
renove1588
regenerate1607
righta1656
reficiate1657
freshen1710
refreshen1780
to fresh up1831
recondition1857
renovize1932
1857 M. Hopkins Handbk. Average 315 Where goods are found to be damaged in an intermediate port,..competent persons..will recommend the proper steps to be taken for drying or re-conditioning them.
1890 Times 4 July 3/4 Bristol was the quickest, nearest, and most economical port wherein to repair the ship and recondition the cargo.
1920 Glasgow Herald 29 Apr. 7/1 The Agamemnon..is being reconditioned at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
1922 Flight 14 366/1 In the name of economy, the R.A.F. has had to be content with machines built during the War and ‘reconditioned’, or, at best, with designs got out during the War.
1929 Times 29 Oct. 17/3 A special grant for reconditioning schools.
1966 J. Stevens Cox Illustr. Dict. Hairdressing & Wigmaking 125/2 Recondition (Hair),..to restore hair by means of suitable substances and/or treatments to its normal condition.
1994 Canada Lutheran Aug. 30/1 (caption) A portion of the factory..where machinery has been salvaged and reconditioned.
2. transitive. Psychology. To alter a habit or response of (a person) by behavioural conditioning; to replace (an established behaviour) in this way.
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the mind > mental capacity > psychology > experimental psychology > conditioning > establish response [verb (transitive)] > alter
recondition1920
1920 Amer. Jrnl. Sociol. 25 401 Instincts..are reconditioned. The word means simply that reflexes and higher processes subjected to new experiences are in a degree or entirely detached from old stimuli and associated with new ones.
1942 Sun (Baltimore) 4 Nov. 9/5 The army has been consistently uninterested in taking the rejects into conditioning battalions and reconditioning them.
1957 W. Sargant Battle for Mind x. 220 It is very difficult indeed to condition or recondition such persons [sc. psychopaths], some of whom are criminals, until later in life when their brainwave patterns become much more normal.
2002 Mandala Mar.–May 55/2 This cognitive process must be enacted and re-enacted with enough consistency to actually recondition the way we make choices.
3. transitive. To improve the condition of (timber) by heating it in a steam-filled chamber so as to reduce warping and collapse.
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society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > constructing or working with wood > build or construct with wood [verb (transitive)] > season or preserve
beek1483
beath1496
season1545
sap1725
kyanize1843
creosote1846
Paynize1850
Burnettize1867
Powellize1913
air-season1917
pressure-treat1922
recondition1931
seal1940
1931 Times 5 Aug. 8/4 The process of reconditioning ‘collapsed’ or warped and defective timber..has been successfully tried in Australia for several years on Tasmanian oak.
1979 J. G. Wilkinson Industr. Timber Preservation vii. 198 Conventional kilns can also be used to: 1. Recondition timber which has collapsed. 2. Destroy fungal growth and insect infestations.
2007 Wood Sci. & Technol. 41 87 The main disadvantage with reconditioning boards with a moisture content of between 20 and 25% was the additional normal shrinkage that occurs.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2009; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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