restore
Americanverb (used with object)
-
restores,
present (3rd person singular)
-
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.
-
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).
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
restoredsimple
-
had restoredperfect
-
was restoringprogressive
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were restoringprogressive
-
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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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:
In 2023 Beijing brokered a deal to restore diplomatic ties between Iran and Saudi Arabia after years of hostility.
From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. estimates 417,000 to 469,000 homes are needed each year to restore pre-pandemic affordability by 2036 yet the country faces a likely gap of 187,000 to 238,000 homes annually.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026
Popular recovery techniques might have small benefits for reducing feelings of soreness, but they don’t actually tend to restore muscle function all that much.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 14, 2026
The incident ended when two other officers arrived to restore order, at which point Lopez was handcuffed, Kremer previously told The Times.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 14, 2026
Mollie welcomed the verdict, but, as White knew, there were some things that no successful investigation, no system of justice, could restore.
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
Scientists have uncovered a biological mechanism that helps explain how exercise protects aging muscles and restores their ability to repair themselves.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2026
Gemma was able to have a thrombectomy, which removes blood clots and restores blood flow to the brain, a procedure she has said is a "miracle treatment" that has enabled her to recover well.
From BBC ● Oct. 5, 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
Using NFC technology, the physical device connects with the app and restores access.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026
She climbs the ladder and restores the heavy Audubon volumes to their shelf one at a time, as though putting away something irritating.
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
But when they reduced DEAF1, the balance between protein production and removal improved, and muscle strength was restored.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2026
Output was almost fully restored by Wednesday, according to the Marine Mineral Administration.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
Two days later there had still been no update from him - but schools had reopened in Peshawar and most parts of the province, and internet services had been restored.
From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026
Four hundred years after monks transformed a patch of marshlands in northwest Italy into rice fields, farmer Alice Cerutti has restored a third to their natural state, prioritising biodiversity over crop yield.
From Barron's ● Oct. 12, 2026
As she spoke, the power was restored and the lights came back on.
From "Forged by Fire" by Sharon M. Draper
The possibility that restoring those pathways could improve memory, physical function, or longevity remains experimental.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 12, 2026
For Leverton, restoring the carousel is important in bringing a piece of history back to the city, one centered on affordable outdoor entertainment.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026
For every $1 invested in protecting or restoring nature, about $30 still goes into activities that degrade it, according to UN figures.
From Barron's ● Oct. 12, 2026
Scientists investigating that possibility found that restoring a protein called Menin in older mice improved memory, balance, bone mass, and skin thickness in just 30 days.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 12, 2026
But biophysicists were intent on restoring a rigidly mechanistic description to biology.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
