/ri kooh"peuh ray'teuhr, -kyooh"-/ , n.
1. a person or thing that recuperates.
2. (in a recuperative furnace) a system of thin-walled ducts through which incoming air and exhausted gases pass separately so that the air is heated by the gases.
[ 1700-10; recuperator regainer, equiv. to recupera ( re ) to recover (see RECUPERATE) + -tor -TOR ]