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retrieve

[ri-treev]
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verb (used with object), re·trieved, re·triev·ing.
  1. to recover or regain: to retrieve the stray ball.
  2. to bring back to a former and better state; restore: to retrieve one's fortunes.
  3. to make amends for: to retrieve an error.
  4. to make good; repair: to retrieve a loss.
  5. Hunting. (of hunting dogs) to fetch (killed or wounded game).
  6. to draw back or reel in (a fishing line).
  7. to rescue; save.
  8. (in tennis, squash, handball, etc.) to make an in-bounds return of (a shot requiring running with the hand extended).
  9. Computers. to locate and read (data) from storage, as for display on a monitor.
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verb (used without object), re·trieved, re·triev·ing.
  1. Hunting. to retrieve game.
  2. to retrieve a fishing line.
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noun
  1. an act of retrieving; recovery.
  2. the possibility of recovery.
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Origin of retrieve

1375–1425; late Middle English retreven < Middle French retroev-, retreuv-, tonic stem of retrouver to find again, equivalent to re- re- + trouver to find; see trover
Related formsre·triev·a·ble, adjectivere·triev·a·bil·i·ty, nounnon·re·triev·a·ble, adjectiveun·re·triev·a·ble, adjectiveun·re·trieved, adjective

Synonyms

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1. See recover.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

repair, save, rescue, restore, recapture, recover, salvage, fetch, reclaim, regain, recall, recruit, repossess, redeem, recoup, reacquire

Examples from the Web for retrieve

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • His hat floated off and he grudged the slight effort to retrieve it.

  • Even then it was not too late for Baseek to retrieve the situation.

    White Fang

    Jack London

  • He was in want of a youth whom he could trust, and who would help him to retrieve his affairs.

  • Go back to them now and retrieve what you have lost, and see that in the future you are worthier.

    Love-at-Arms

    Raphael Sabatini

  • And with that slender capital he intended that night to retrieve his lost fortune.

    The White Lie

    William Le Queux

British Dictionary definitions for retrieve

retrieve

verb (mainly tr)
  1. to get or fetch back again; recoverhe retrieved his papers from various people's drawers
  2. to bring back to a more satisfactory state; revive
  3. to extricate from trouble or danger; rescue or save
  4. to recover or make newly available (stored information) from a computer system
  5. (also intr) (of a dog) to find and fetch (shot game)
  6. tennis squash badminton to return successfully (a shot difficult to reach)
  7. to recall; remember
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noun
  1. the act of retrieving
  2. the chance of being retrieved
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Derived Formsretrievable, adjectiveretrievability, nounretrievably, adverb

Word Origin

C15: from Old French retrover, from re- + trouver to find, perhaps from Vulgar Latin tropāre (unattested) to compose; see trover, troubadour
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for retrieve

v.

early 15c., retreve, originally in reference to dogs finding lost game, from Middle French retruev-, stem of Old French retreuver (Modern French retrouver) "find again, recover, meet again, recognize," from re- "again" (see re-) + trouver "to find," probably from Vulgar Latin *tropare "to compose" (see trove). Altered 16c. to retrive; modern form is from mid-17c.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper