noun
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one of a breed of large gun dogs that can be trained to retrieve game See golden retriever Labrador retriever Chesapeake Bay retriever curly-coated retriever flat-coated retriever
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any dog used to retrieve shot game
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a person or thing that retrieves
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of retriever
Compare meaning
How does retriever compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
If your dog brings back anything you throw for her, she's a retriever. Many retrievers are bred to work alongside hunters, fetching game birds. Even if your pup looks more like a mop than a Labrador retriever, you can still describe him as a retriever if he's intent on recovering every tennis ball you hurl across your yard. A retriever is a person or animal that retrieves things, or brings them back. So, strictly speaking, you're a retriever too, if you grab the runaway balls during your friends' tennis match! Retriever derives from the French verb trouver, "to find."
Vocabulary lists containing retriever
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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:
We’ve met so many people, and since she’s a golden retriever, she loves meeting everyone.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026
In the photos released on social media on Sunday, she is also joined by her parents, Carole and Michael Middleton, her brother James, and a golden retriever.
From BBC ● Jul. 5, 2026
Wearing her blue harness, this restless brown Labrador retriever ventures into the debris of buildings that collapsed in the earthquakes of June 24.
From Barron's ● Jul. 5, 2026
The world’s largest type of rodent, actually; a capybara can easily rival a golden retriever in size.
From Slate ● May 27, 2026
I hurried from the girls’ locker room, pleased to find that I had successfully evaded my retriever friend for the moment.
From "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer
The study also identified a connection between trainability in golden retrievers and a gene known as ROMO1.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 7, 2026
As a superficial snob who grew up with golden retrievers that deserved Pantene commercials, I had to know: Why are we so into ugly dogs now?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 28, 2025
Not done waxing poetic about the eyes on the veritable Redford of retrievers, Leonberg also pointed out another benefit of his dog’s particular coloration.
From Salon ● Oct. 3, 2025
This left the retrievers fighting over limited resources, the court was told.
From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2025
She learned that golden retrievers are not ponies, peas taste funny, dead flies on the floor are a no-no, but candy is really good.
From "Out of My Mind" by Sharon M. Draper
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.
