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Pronunciation

How to pronounce “recycle”

“recycle” is pronounced /ɹiˈsaɪkəl/ (ree-SY-kuhl) in American English and /ɹɪsaɪkəl/ in British English — 3 syllables, stressed on “yc”.
The sound

Say “recycle” in 3 beats

Say it like this

recycle

/ɹiˈsaɪkəl/

The voice you hear here is American; the British form is /ɹɪsaɪkəl/ (see the table below), and a British voice is available in the app's settings.

3 beats
  1. recɹi
  2. ycsaɪstress
  3. lekəl
IPA (American)
/ɹiˈsaɪkəl/
IPA (British)
/ɹɪsaɪkəl/
Respelling
ree-SY-kuhl
Syllables
3 — rec-YC-le
Stress
Stress the second syllable: rec-YC-le. “yc” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
Part of speech
verb
Difficulty
Pro — the sounds are ordinary, the rhythm is where it slips
Accents

American and British are not the same here

American

/ɹiˈsaɪkəl/

British

/ɹɪsaɪkəl/

No audio here: sayit’s voice is American, so a British button would play the American word. Read the transcription instead.

Meaning

What “recycle” means

  1. verb

    cause to repeat a cycle

  2. verb

    use again after processing

    “We must recycle the cardboard boxes”

Say it in a sentence

“We recycle almost everything except the plastic film.”
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

7 sounds, in the order you say them
ɹrilong essaɪlong ikkəschwall

Each sound has its own page: where the tongue goes, what it is usually confused with, and words to drill it on.

Questions

“recycle”, answered

How do you pronounce “recycle”?

“recycle” is pronounced /ɹiˈsaɪkəl/ (ree-SY-kuhl) in American English and /ɹɪsaɪkəl/ in British English — 3 syllables, stressed on “yc”. Build it as rec-YC-le, then run the second syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “recycle” have?

3: rec · yc · le. The beat lands on the second, “yc”.

Is “recycle” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /ɹiˈsaɪkəl/ (ree-SY-kuhl); British English says /ɹɪsaɪkəl/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “recycle” mean?

As a verb: cause to repeat a cycle For example: “We recycle almost everything except the plastic film.” It carries 1 other sense as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “recycle”?

Stress the second syllable: rec-YC-le. “yc” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.

Practise this word

Now say “recycle” and see every sound

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