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
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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
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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
"What, of This Goldfish, Would You Wish?" Vocabulary from the short story
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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:
No one was injured in the attack, Yandex said, adding that emergency services were at the site and the company was evaluating ways to restore operations.
From Barron's ● Oct. 11, 2026
Fain has had to restore powers he and the board had stripped from his rivals and part ways with his chief of staff and top strategist.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
"No court sentence can undo the suffering that has been caused or restore all that each person has lost."
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
Scientists have identified a way to restore cartilage in aging knee joints, at least in mice, by blocking a protein whose levels rise with age.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 6, 2026
There was almost nothing anyone could do for him, but Dr. McIlroy massaged the young man’s feet, trying to restore the circulation.
From "Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World" by Jennifer Armstrong
Backshall, who hosted the Wild Heligan experience to excite young people about wildlife, said: "I see every day how nature revitalises, restores and fills people with joy."
From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026
Rosales restores Ever’s multi-dimensionality, reminding the world that her cousin loved mathematics and philosophy, that he never missed a day of high school, and that he was a prankster, lover, father and brother.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
This result suggests that the approach restores the way proteins function rather than simply increasing or decreasing how much of each protein is present.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 7, 2026
Banyan Motors, a Houston-based company that restores 20th-century German cars, says its roster of female clients rose 60% in the past two years.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 29, 2026
The yin fixes the yang, the image restores the original: with DNA, as with Dorian Gray, the prototype is constantly reinvigorated by its portrait.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
“He was common and condescending. … He did as he pleased. But he restored the reputation of the Chicago Bears, made them winners and made them watchable.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026
The event was held at a music hall in Apple's headquarters building, in the restored Battersea Power Station in south west London.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
Relations were ultimately restored with Turkish mediation and the deal with Somaliland seemingly put on the back burner.
From Barron's ● Oct. 2, 2026
The state’s 2023 brownfield law offers liability protections to developers once an approved cleanup site is restored.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026
They had restored the great chandelier, the gilt columns, the finely patterned wallpapers, installing screens where there had been stages.
From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny
The government said the completion of works on Friday showed "just how serious" it was about tackling waste crime and restoring affected countryside.
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026
He said Thursday that he hoped the North would "join us now on the path of restoring trust and resuming dialogue, following a long interruption" -- a day after the military demanded an apology.
From Barron's ● Oct. 2, 2026
She’s up against similar issues now, after a federal judge ruled against restoring early voting sites on several college campuses in her state earlier this year.
From Salon ● Oct. 2, 2026
He and other farmers say there are other ways of restoring a flowing river.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
By degrees he lowered the laser beam; he sat gripping it and then he shrugged and returned it to the desk drawer, locking the drawer and restoring the key to his pocket.
From "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick
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.
