recover
Americanverb (used with object)
-
recovers,
present (3rd person singular)
-
recovered,
past participle, past
-
recovering
present participle
-
to get back or regain (something lost or taken away).
to recover a stolen watch.
-
to make up for or make good (loss, damage, etc., to oneself ).
-
to regain the strength, composure, balance, or the like, of (oneself ).
-
Law.
-
to obtain by judgment in a court of law, or by legal proceedings.
to recover damages for a wrong.
-
to acquire title to through judicial process.
to recover land.
-
-
to reclaim from a bad state, practice, etc.
-
to regain (a substance) in usable form, as from refuse material or from a waste product or by-product of manufacture; reclaim.
-
Military. to return (a weapon) to a previously held position in the manual of arms.
-
Football. to gain or regain possession of (a fumble).
They recovered the ball on their own 20-yard line.
verb (used without object)
-
recovers,
present (3rd person singular)
-
recovered,
past participle, past
-
recovering
present participle
-
to regain health after being sick, wounded, or the like (often followed byfrom ).
to recover from an illness.
- Synonyms:
- rally, recuperate, mend, heal
-
to regain a former and better state or condition.
The city soon recovered from the effects of the earthquake.
-
to regain one's strength, composure, balance, etc.
-
Law. to obtain a favorable judgment in a suit for something.
-
Football. to gain or regain possession of a fumble.
The Giants recovered in the end zone for a touchdown.
-
to make a recovery in fencing or rowing.
verb
-
(tr) to find again or obtain the return of (something lost)
-
to regain (loss of money, position, time, etc); recoup
-
(of a person) to regain (health, spirits, composure, etc), as after illness, a setback, or a shock, etc
-
to regain (a former and usually better condition)
industry recovered after the war
-
law
-
(tr) to gain (something) by the judgment of a court of law
to recover damages
-
(intr) to succeed in a lawsuit
-
-
(tr) to obtain (useful substances) from waste
-
(intr) (in fencing, swimming, rowing, etc) to make a recovery
Synonym Usage
Recover, reclaim, retrieve are to regain literally or figuratively something or someone. To recover is to obtain again what one has lost possession of: to recover a stolen jewel. To reclaim is to bring back from error or wrongdoing, or from a rude or undeveloped state: to reclaim desert land by irrigation. To retrieve is to bring back or restore, especially something to its former, prosperous state: to retrieve one's fortune.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
recoversimple
-
recoverssimple
-
have recoveredperfect
-
has recoveredperfect
-
am recoveringprogressive
-
are recoveringprogressive
-
is recoveringprogressive
-
have been recoveringperfect progressive
-
has been recoveringperfect progressive
Past
-
recoveredsimple
-
had recoveredperfect
-
was recoveringprogressive
-
were recoveringprogressive
-
had been recoveringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of recover
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English recoveren, from Middle French recoverer, from Latin recuperāre “to regain”; see origin at recuperate
Explanation
To recover something is to get it back. After you lose your watch, you might recover it from the wastebasket. The re- in recover is a clue that this word has "again" as part of its meaning. We can only recover things that we had before. Often, this word applies to health. Someone who is sick needs to recover — when they're totally recovered, they're all better. If the stock market crashes, it needs to recover — this happens when the market is healthier and money is flowing again. It's good to recover, but it means something bad happened in the first place.
Vocabulary lists containing recover
Stamp Act (1765)
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Essential English Vocabulary, List 5
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Word Generation Weekly - Series 1
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
Destroying the 2027 baseball season will give the team’s starting rotation a full year to recover from its numerous injuries.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2026
If an emergency occurs during a market downturn, for example, having a cash reserve can help you avoid withdrawing from your portfolio while it’s temporarily depressed, giving your investments more time to recover.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 8, 2026
At one point, while dealing with a side injury, he endured an 0-for-38 slump before eventually missing about a month to recover.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
Then I just tried to stay patient and recover from this big effort.
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
The final Stormville toad, Jessica, scrambled to recover while the Boggs Ferry toad took off at a ferocious pace.
From "Witchlings" by Claribel A. Ortega
Huckaby-Budds said having paid parental leave was a crucial benefit as well, as she recovers from an unplanned caesarean section and her husband has limited parental leave.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
“Collaboration recovers children sooner, links investigation, dismantles trafficking organizations and holds traffickers accountable. A trafficker should never escape accountability because critical information was sitting in another agency’s database.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
Museums have for a long time relied on wealthy individuals bequeathing, loaning or donating artefacts to build their science and art collections, explains Dr Smithwick, who recovers and sells fossils professionally.
From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026
"I worry less about occasional use and the slight inflammation that it might cause for a temporary period. Your body probably recovers from that very quickly, with very little damage," he says.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 10, 2026
“Hume means everything to us. Unless he recovers quickly and regains condition we won’t have much chance,” Ulbrickson had griped to the Associated Press a week before.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
It dwells on the conversations anybody would want dwelled on, like with President Trump and Chris Christie as each recovered from near-death Covid experiences.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
Genetic material recovered from internal tissues included bacteria that were part of Ötzi's original gut flora.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 7, 2026
But during a search of his vehicle, investigators said, they recovered a revolver and additional ammunition, as well as speed loaders, which allow multiple chambers of a gun to be loaded at once.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
Although the stock recovered later, it still ended the day with another thumping 10% loss.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 6, 2026
She paused, her eyes flitting over me for a moment, but she quickly recovered and charged past me.
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
Her daughter was diagnosed with cancer and endured aggressive treatment before recovering.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2026
“For people who are recovering from eating disorders, people who are trying to get better, these types of conversations around celebrities and their weight is very toxic,” Ravin said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
The publication of my crime is not what floods me with anxiety: It’s the thumbnail, taken inside Orange County jail after I’d spent close to a month recovering from a collapsed lung in the hospital.
From Slate ● Aug. 6, 2026
They fell as low as 6.5 million at the end of last year before partly recovering.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 4, 2026
Allen, like Clive Cussler, has devoted much of his life to searching for and recovering shipwrecks.
From "Shipwrecked!" by Martin W. Sandler
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.
