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
Etymology
Origin of retriever
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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.
The world’s largest type of rodent, actually; a capybara can easily rival a golden retriever in size.
From Slate • May 27, 2026
A 12-year-old Labrador retriever named Sugar was sprawled on a hardwood floor of a Brooklyn apartment.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 17, 2026
And, of course, a cute-as-a-button golden retriever who can shoot hoops as well as he can act is always going to hit the mark, he said.
From Barron's • May 10, 2026
He wasn’t sure when he’d be able to move back home to Altadena with Daisy May, his 13½-year-old golden retriever.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 27, 2025
I’m still wearing my golden retriever pajama pants.
From "Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda" by Becky Albertalli
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.
