reinvent

present singular third person reinvents · participle present reinventing · participle past reinvented · past reinvented · alternative re-invent

1. transitiveTo invent again something that has already been invented.

   Overprocessing. The big problem in this area is a lack of standardization. A lot of time is spent reinventing the wheel. There are a lot of similar activities, and the lead time (set-up time) for reinventing the process should be eliminated.

   2012, Gerhard J[ohannes] Plenert, “How Can Lean Help IT?”, in Lean Management Principles for Information Technology (Series on Resource Management), Boca Raton, Fla.: CRC Press, →ISBN, table 5.4 (The 7 Wastes in IT), page 129

   1 more example

   A narrative circulates at Mitchell, Hall about a naive young employee who, in his eagerness to be creative, "reinvents the wheel," devoting so many hours reformulating work that has already been done that he drives himself into a nervous breakdown.

   1993, Marsha Witten, “Narrative and the Culture of Obedience at the Workplace”, in Dennis K. Mumby, editor, Narrative and Social Control: Critical Perspectives (Sage Annual Reviews of Communications Research; 21), Newbury Park, Calif.; London: SAGE Publications, →ISBN, page 108

2. transitiveTo adapt into a different form; to give a new style or image to.

   He had the ability to reinvent himself as needed.

   2 more examples

   The compulsion to expose, renegotiate, or reinvent the strengths and weaknesses of dance tradition offers little in its final outcome to attract the average dance-goer.

   2013, Deborah Hay, My Body, The Buddhist, →ISBN, page 78

   When Lew Wasserman reinvented the studio system, leadership skills grew harder to find and the number of modern studio conglomerates boiled down to six, as discussed in chapters 15 to 20.

   2019, Douglas Gomery, The Hollywood Studio System: A History, Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN