retrieve

American  

[ri-treev] / rɪˈtriv /

verb (used with object)

• retrieves,
  present (3rd person singular)
• retrieved,
  past participle,  past
• retrieving
  present participle

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.

---

verb (used without object)

• retrieves,
  present (3rd person singular)
• retrieved,
  past participle,  past
• retrieving
  present participle

1. Hunting. to retrieve game.

2. to retrieve a fishing line.

noun

1. an act of retrieving; recovery.

2. the possibility of recovery.

retrieve British  

/ rɪˈtriːv /

verb

1. to get or fetch back again; recover

   he 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

---

noun

1. the act of retrieving

2. the chance of being retrieved

Synonym Usage

See recover.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• retrievability
  noun
• nonretrievable
  adjective
• retrievable
  adjective
• unretrievable
  adjective
• unretrieved
  adjective
• retrievably
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Participles

• retrieving
  present
• retrieved
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• retrieve
  simple
• retrieves
  simple
• have retrieved
  perfect
• has retrieved
  perfect
• am retrieving
  progressive
• are retrieving
  progressive
• is retrieving
  progressive
• have been retrieving
  perfect progressive
• has been retrieving
  perfect progressive

Past

• retrieved
  simple
• had retrieved
  perfect
• was retrieving
  progressive
• were retrieving
  progressive
• had been retrieving
  perfect progressive

Future

• will retrieve
  simple
• will have retrieved
  perfect
• will be retrieving
  progressive
• will have been retrieving
  perfect progressive

---

Etymology

Origin of retrieve

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English retreven, from Middle French retroev-, retreuv-, tonic stem of retrouver “to find again,” equivalent to re- re- + trouver “to find”; see trover

---

Explanation

When you retrieve something, you bring it back. Lots of dogs love to retrieve tennis balls, bringing them back to you over and over again. You might retrieve your cell phone from the car, or the toys a baby throws repeatedly on the floor. You can also retrieve a memory from the recesses of your mind, or struggle to remember someone's name and then suddenly retrieve it. A retriever is a dog that's bred to bring things back — in fact, this is the word's earliest use, from the fifteenth century. The Old French root is retreuver, "find again," from re-, "again," and trouver, "to find."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

retrieve retrieves retrieved retrieving

The real Bambino, meanwhile, didn’t require chauffeuring; he eventually returned home of his own accord, unaware of the lengths to which humans had gone to retrieve him.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

A cancer survivor said he was screamed at by airport security staff and "made to feel like a criminal" after trying to retrieve his stoma supplies from his luggage.

From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026

"My friend and neighbours live in this building. I came to help my friend retrieve some clothes and mattresses. He currently has no shelter or home," Mohannad al-Mashharawi told AFP.

From Barron's ● Sep. 16, 2026

"In some cases, the robots can also pick up items, retrieve them from the sea and neutralize them. That could be one viable solution for the future."

From Science Daily ● Sep. 14, 2026

He could retrieve years’ worth of memories of eating it—making it, he came up blank.

From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Apple needs to “evolve Siri into an agent that understands intent, retrieves context, calls apps and completes workflows,” Bank of America analyst Wamsi Mohan wrote in a note last week.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 6, 2026

OpenAI, meanwhile, says it has shipped an update for Plus and Pro users that improves how memory finds and retrieves details.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 25, 2026

Researchers have developed a new holographic data storage method that records and retrieves information in three dimensions by combining three key properties of light -- amplitude, phase and polarization.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 29, 2026

It is also a gesture of trust; the person holding the mic treats the responsibility as sacred and does not move until Cave retrieves the microphone a few bars later.

From Salon ● May 13, 2025

“We’ll stay here with you, Annabelle, until we get past what you’re feeling right now. We aren’t going anywhere,” Gina says as she retrieves a wad of TP from the bathroom and blows her nose.

From "A Heart in a Body in the World" by Deb Caletti

That is, it’s low if you go through the full process of having your eggs retrieved at 44, fertilized, and then an embryo implanted.

From Slate ● Oct. 16, 2026

Indeed, I had blocked out most memories of that 2004 Fox reality train wreck until Carr’s documentary reached into my mind’s cobwebby attic and retrieved its cabinet of horrors.

From Salon ● Oct. 1, 2026

Much of what’s inside was retrieved from a dumpster, or scavenged before it landed in one.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2026

Asking, “When was my son’s dentist appointment?” pulled the date from a text reminder, while “What’s my passport number?” retrieved the data from Photos.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026

Mr. Stokely retrieved the ball and told me to shoot one more.

From "The Million Dollar Shot" by Dan Gutman

The bots appear to have been tasked with looking up publicly available information, but resorted to extreme techniques when presented with obstacles in retrieving that data, Howard-Jones found.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 27, 2026

Some ship owners may be reluctant to let their vessels return to such a volatile region after finally retrieving them, experts say.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 1, 2026

The danger arises when people believe that the model is retrieving truth rather than generating likelihoods.

From Salon ● May 12, 2026

In a video provided to the BBC by rescue officials, workers could be seen digging through a thick layer of black volcanic ash beneath a large rock and retrieving bone fragments.

From BBC ● May 11, 2026

What mattered now was retrieving Agent Chris, and I could shut everything out and focus on just that.

From "Glitch" by Laura Martin

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---

Related Words

• bring back
• fetch
• recapture
• reclaim
• recover
• repair
• rescue
• restore
• salvage
• save

---