restore
Americanverb (used with object)
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restores,
present (3rd person singular)
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restored,
past participle, past
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restoring
present participle
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to bring back into existence, use, or the like; reestablish.
to restore order.
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to bring back to a former, original, or normal condition, as a building, statue, or painting.
- Synonyms:
- mend
-
to bring back to a state of health, soundness, or vigor.
-
to put back to a former place, or to a former position, rank, etc..
to restore the king to his throne.
-
to give back; make return or restitution of (anything taken away or lost).
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to reproduce or reconstruct (an ancient building, extinct animal, etc.) in the original state.
- Synonyms:
- rebuild
verb
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to return (something, esp a work of art or building) to an original or former condition
-
to bring back to health, good spirits, etc
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to return (something lost, stolen, etc) to its owner
-
to reintroduce or re-enforce
to restore discipline
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to reconstruct (an extinct animal, former landscape, etc)
Synonym Usage
See renew.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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restorablenessnoun
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restorernoun
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quasi-restoredadjective
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restorableadjective
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self-restoringadjective
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unrestorableadjective
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unrestoredadjective
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well-restoredadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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restoresimple
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restoressimple
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have restoredperfect
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has restoredperfect
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am restoringprogressive
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are restoringprogressive
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is restoringprogressive
-
have been restoringperfect progressive
-
has been restoringperfect progressive
Past
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restoredsimple
-
had restoredperfect
-
was restoringprogressive
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were restoringprogressive
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had been restoringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of restore
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English restoren, from Old French restorer, from Latin restaurāre; see re-, store
Explanation
If you restore furniture for a living, you clean and repair it to bring it back to its original beauty. When you restore something, you are simply bringing it back to what it once was. You are not making it better, nor are you adding something that wasn't there. You can restore a damaged reputation, your health, or an old house, though the latter may be easiest of those three to accomplish. If the electricity goes out, you will have to sit in the dark until the power is restored.
Vocabulary lists containing restore
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“Vaccine Controversy Shows Why We Need Markets, Not Mandates” by Ron Paul
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Chapter 20: Renaissance and Reformation
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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 findings arrive as governments throughout the UK and Europe search for effective ways to restore biodiversity across large areas of former farmland.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 23, 2026
A pond covered in green algae will cost £100,000 to restore and cannot be fixed with simple measures, an environment boss has said.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
“It can sometimes be difficult to repair or restore the situation once the first move has been taken.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
"We want to restore everything, but I don't know how much we'll be able to," she added.
From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026
I prayed quietly, a single prayer—that God would restore my Togbe to health.
From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo
Refertilization occurs when magma restores chemical components to mantle rock that previously lost them during partial melting.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 18, 2026
CF Industries is the most direct loser because it mainly produces nitrogen fertilizers like urea and ammonia, whose prices would be falling as the Middle East’s supply flow restores following the reopening of Hormuz.
From Barron's ● Jun. 15, 2026
By threading Celan’s poems through the lived record, Ms. Arno restores a proud, wounded, flirtatious, multilingual man often romanticized by reverence.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026
Cristian Axle Sánchez Ruiz restores a relic at in a church in Tancitaro, which bills itself as Avocado Capital of the World.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 18, 2026
The sun’s faint warmth restores my hope, assures me that I am safe now.
From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein
When their daughter became Elizabeth I in 1558, she restored Anne’s title and Anne’s image joined the legitimating Tudor lineup that proliferated in the long galleries of Elizabethan and Jacobean England.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 22, 2026
Along the disused line from Woljeong-ri towards Baengmagoji station to the south -- the section to be restored under the peace project -- vegetation crowds both sides of the tracks, nearly swallowing a stone wall.
From Barron's ● Aug. 21, 2026
Mike Court, South East Water incident manager, said earlier supplies had been restored to homes in Herne Bay, Rough Common and Blean.
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026
Many parking spots have already been restored, and Smiley said that Bass promised parking enforcement would be suspended during the cleanup process to give residents more flexibility.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
His hostage was loose in the house, her fairy powers restored to her.
From "Artemis Fowl" by Eoin Colfer
In addition to restoring the sale of American booze, Canada is said to be considering allowing American dairy producers greater access to its market.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
"Understanding how diet, microbiota-derived metabolites and inflammation shape intestinal epithelial memory could open new directions for restoring intestinal immune tolerance in inflammatory bowel disease."
From Science Daily ● Aug. 21, 2026
“Ternus’s challenge will be to preserve the profitable machine Cook built while restoring a stronger sense of technological surprise.”
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 20, 2026
The kind of more simple aspect, especially when I was restoring the boat, was that it felt a lot purer and simpler.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026
Afterward she went about the task of restoring a semblance of order to the mess the police had created.
From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane
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.
