recapture

American  

[ree-kap-cher] / riˈkæp tʃər /

verb (used with object)

recaptured, recapturing

1. to capture again; recover by capture; retake.

2. (of a government) to take by recapture.

3. to recollect or reexperience (something past).

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noun

1. the recovery or retaking by capture.

2. 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.

3. International Law. the lawful reacquisition of a former possession.

4. the state or fact of being recaptured.

recapture British  

/ riːˈkæptʃə /

verb

1. to capture or take again

2. to recover, renew, or repeat (a lost or former ability, sensation, etc)

   she soon recaptured her high spirits

3. (of the government) to take lawfully (a proportion of the profits of a public-service undertaking)

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noun

1. the act of recapturing or fact of being recaptured

2. the seizure by the government of a proportion of the profits of a public-service undertaking

Other Word Forms

• recapturable
  adjective
• unrecaptured
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of recapture

First recorded in 1745–55; re- + capture

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."

Example Sentences

Recapture the relentlessness from earlier in the season.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 27, 2023

First: Recapture fugitive methane, amounting to more than a billion tons of carbon dioxide a year.

From Salon • Aug. 18, 2022

There was a headline like two weeks ago in the New York Times that said, “Syrian Troops Said to Recapture Historic Palmyra From ISIS.”

From Slate • Apr. 25, 2016

The ride took place in May 2014 in an idyllic spot called Recapture Canyon in the Four Corners region, about 300 miles southeast of Salt Lake City.

From US News • Dec. 18, 2015

Passy, September 10th, 1778,435 Recapture of a French vessel.

From The Diplomatic Correspondence of the American Revolution, Vol. I by Sparks, Jared

Related Words

• reclaim
• recover
• retake
• take back