recapture
Americanverb (used with object)
noun
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the recovery or retaking by capture.
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the taking by the government of a fixed part of all earnings in excess of a certain percentage of property value, as in the case of a railroad.
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International Law. the lawful reacquisition of a former possession.
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the state or fact of being recaptured.
verb
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to capture or take again
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to recover, renew, or repeat (a lost or former ability, sensation, etc)
she soon recaptured her high spirits
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(of the government) to take lawfully (a proportion of the profits of a public-service undertaking)
noun
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the act of recapturing or fact of being recaptured
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the seizure by the government of a proportion of the profits of a public-service undertaking
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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recapturesimple
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recapturessimple
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have recapturedperfect
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has recapturedperfect
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am recapturingprogressive
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are recapturingprogressive
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is recapturingprogressive
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have been recapturingperfect progressive
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has been recapturingperfect progressive
Past
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recapturedsimple
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had recapturedperfect
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was recapturingprogressive
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were recapturingprogressive
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had been recapturingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of recapture
Explanation
To recapture something is to get it back or catch it again. If you were the zookeeper at a very disorganized zoo, one of your jobs might be to recapture runaway baby pandas. The police might recapture an escaped prisoner, and when they do it they can call the act itself a recapture. You can also recapture things in a more figurative way — your dad might like to recapture his high school days by listening to 80s music, for example. The "again" prefix re- is added to capture, from Latin captura, "a taking."
Vocabulary lists containing recapture
Road Home
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"Frederick Douglass" and "Renaissance Man"
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cept, capt, ceive (take, hold, seize)
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The top-line gains, driven by higher prices and a 3.2% increase in capacity, allowed the company to recapture nearly 50% of the increase in fuel costs during the quarter.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
If he can recapture that identity down the stretch and into the postseason, his slow start will fade in the memories of Dodgers fans.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 26, 2026
He said there were safety concerns as the bull could be seen charging at players as farmers attempted to recapture it.
From BBC ● Jul. 5, 2026
To reach these conclusions, the team combined information from butterfly houses, mark, release and recapture studies, and controlled insectary experiments.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 22, 2026
He seems driven to recapture the flavors of his childhood back in Sicily.
From "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan
But the film recaptures a feeling of genuine uncertainty and awe at the outset of what would prove to be an enduring historical experiment.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 24, 2026
The S&P 500 has retreated below its 200-day moving average less than 30 times over the past 75 years, and normally recaptures it within 10 days.
From Barron's ● Mar. 24, 2026
The wooden auditorium recaptures the look and atmosphere of a venue that was originally sited where 10 Downing Street now stands.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2022
“I hope he recaptures the Lob City days,” Rivers said.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 4, 2022
“I love you,” he says again, and recaptures my face with his other hand.
From "The Sun Is Also a Star" by Nicola Yoon
Over the past year the military junta recaptured much of the territory it had lost to the hundreds of insurgent groups which formed to resist the coup.
From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026
Over the weekend, Israel announced that it had recaptured the outpost, built around 1137.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 1, 2026
A screen identified 14 promising stocks that recaptured 200-day moving averages and had 2026 sales estimates fall no more than 2%.
From Barron's ● May 14, 2026
Over time, these electrons lose energy and are gradually recaptured by the ions.
From Science Daily ● May 1, 2026
After she was recaptured, Ellen was sold to slave traders but was later repurchased by abolitionists and taken north.
From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis
The airline expects second-quarter fuel price per gallon to be $4.26 to $4.36, anticipating recapturing at least 40% of increased costs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 1, 2026
And history suggests that returning is one thing, but recapturing the same intensity of viewership and fandom is another.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 9, 2026
"RidgeAlloy offers the first technology capable of recapturing the value of a fast-approaching and historically massive wave of domestic, high-quality recycled automotive aluminum sheet alloys," Haynes said.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 10, 2026
The eventual agreement, in 2020, resulted in the sudden and dramatic recapturing of the country by the Taliban, and the chaotic withdrawal of US troops in August 2021.
From BBC ● Jan. 15, 2026
Both the Egalitarians and the Survivalists have run on platforms that involve recapturing the cities of the East and making them safe.
From "Dread Nation" by Justina Ireland
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
