recall

American  

[ri-kawl, ri-kawl, ree-kawl, ree-kawl] / rɪˈkɔl, rɪˈkɔl, ˈri kɔl, ˈri kɔl /

verb (used with object)

• recalls,
  present (3rd person singular)
• recalled,
  past participle,  past
• recalling
  present participle

1. to bring back from memory; recollect; remember.

   Can you recall what she said?

   Antonyms:

   forget

2. to call back; summon to return.

   The army recalled many veterans.

3. to bring (one's thoughts, attention, etc.) back to matters previously considered.

   He recalled his mind from pleasant daydreams to the dull task at hand.

4. International Law. to summon back and withdraw the office from (a diplomat).

5. to revoke or withdraw.

   to recall a promise.

   Synonyms:

   annul, repeal, recant, retract, rescind

6. to revive.

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noun

• recalls
  plural

1. an act of recalling.

   Synonyms:

   memory

2. the ability to remember or act of remembering; recollection; remembrance.

   This is the way it has been done for ages beyond recall.

3. Psychology. the act or process of retrieving information previously encoded and stored in memory, without being cued by the targeted information itself.

   Music is often used in education to improve recall of text and factual information.

   In the interview, careful, open questions are essential to encourage and sustain the child's free recall of events.

4. the act or possibility of revoking something.

   Synonyms:

   nullification, recantation, withdrawal, repeal, retraction, revocation

5. the removal or the right of removal of a public official from office by a vote of the people taken upon petition of a specified number of the qualified electors.

6. Also called callback.  a summons by a manufacturer or other agency for the return of goods or a product already shipped to market or sold to consumers but discovered to be defective, contaminated, unsafe, or the like.

7. a signal made by a vessel to recall one of its boats.

8. a signal displayed to direct a racing yacht to sail across the starting line again.

recall British  

/ rɪˈkɔːl /

verb

1. (may take a clause as object) to bring back to mind; recollect; remember

2. to order to return; call back permanently or temporarily

   to recall an ambassador

3. to revoke or take back

4. to cause (one's thoughts, attention, etc) to return from a reverie or digression

5. poetic to restore or revive

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noun

1. the act of recalling or state of being recalled

2. revocation or cancellation

3. the ability to remember things; recollection

4. military (esp formerly) a signal to call back troops, etc, usually a bugle call

   to sound the recall

5. the process by which elected officials may be deprived of office by popular vote

recall Idioms  

1. see beyond recall.

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Usage

What is a basic definition of recall? The verb recall means to remember something. Recall is also used as a verb to mean to request a person to return somewhere. It is used as a noun to refer to an order by a company or manufacturer for a product to be returned for some reason, especially a defect. Recall has several other senses as both a verb and a noun. The word recall is used as a synonym of remember and recollect. In this sense, to recall is to retrieve old information from your memory.

• Real-life example: A friend might ask you what you did over the weekend, and you might take a minute to recall all of the fun things you did. When asked to explain what they were doing on a certain date, a defendant in a trial might say that they do not recall.
• Used in a sentence: I am trying to recall the name of an actor, but I can’t even remember the name of the movie that they’re in!

Recall also means to tell a person to return from somewhere. This sense is often used in the context of a person of authority commanding those under them to return to headquarters or their base.

• Real-life example: You are likely to hear this use of recall in reference to politics or the military. A country may decide to recall its ambassador from a country it is having a disagreement with, for example. Similarly, a country may recall troops from the place they had been dispatched to. A recall election is one in which voters decide whether to recall an elected official from office.
• Used in a sentence: After the negotiations fell through, the country decided to recall its diplomat. 

The word recall is used as a noun to mean a manufacturer requesting that products be returned to them because they are defective, unsafe, or for some other reason. In this context, recall can also be used as a verb meaning to issue such a recall.

• Real-life example: Recalls are common practice, especially by car manufacturers when a part is found to be defective. The car company may send you a letter in the mail to tell you your brakes have a chance of failing. Often, the manufacturer will pay to have the defective part replaced.
• Used in a sentence: The toy company issued a recall for the toy cars because they were found to be a choking hazard.

Synonym Usage

See remember.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• recallable
  adjective
• unrecallable
  adjective
• unrecalled
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• recalls
  plural

Participles

• recalling
  present
• recalled
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• recall
  simple
• recalls
  simple
• have recalled
  perfect
• has recalled
  perfect
• am recalling
  progressive
• are recalling
  progressive
• is recalling
  progressive
• have been recalling
  perfect progressive
• has been recalling
  perfect progressive

Past

• recalled
  simple
• had recalled
  perfect
• was recalling
  progressive
• were recalling
  progressive
• had been recalling
  perfect progressive

Future

• will recall
  simple
• will have recalled
  perfect
• will be recalling
  progressive
• will have been recalling
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of recall

First recorded in 1575–85; re- + call

Explanation

When you recall something, you remember it, like telling your friend, "As I recall, you said you'd buy my lunch the next time we got together." The verb recall means "remember," like an older person who recalls her school days, or "call to mind," like a painter's use of colors and shapes that recall early Pablo Picasso. Recall can also be a noun — you may know someone who has great recall, or memory, of events that everyone else has forgotten. If an automaker issues a recall on your car, this is a request to temporarily "take it back" to fix something. Don't forget about this kind of recall!

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

recall recalls recalled recalling

“I did not ask or authorize my mother to give such consent on my behalf, and I do not recall signing or being asked to sign any document giving that consent.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026

In all, 1,589,577 dozen eggs were covered by the recall, and included both white shell eggs and brown cage free shell eggs under a variety of brand names.

From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026

But information arrives in fragments: a barcode result here, a recall notice there, a corrected FDA finding, a corporate statement, a congressional inquiry.

From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2026

By the end of that year, associates said they recall seeing what looked like an engagement ring on Clark’s hand, and not long afterward, the couple wed in Italy.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

I seem to recall he had a flame for someone else.

From "How to Disappear Completely" by Ali Standish

Referee Iván Barton recalls how he was assigned to officiate a World Cup semifinal between France and Spain and his view of changes that have shaped modern refereeing.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026

Designed by renowned architect Eero Saarinen and opened in 1962, the terminal has a dramatic, glass-walled facade with a sloping roofline that recalls a wingspan.

From Slate ● Aug. 18, 2026

He recalls a time when he played a couple of villains in a row and similar offers poured in.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026

The driver recalls being raised in a "very normal, working family", and at one stage they had to re-mortgage their house so Barnard could continue his racing career.

From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026

“For a minute there was a lot of anger toward Oakland High School at Maybeck,” Michael recalls.

From "The 57 Bus" by Dashka Slater

He recalled being thrown "a metre-and-a-half into the air", along with his rowing partner, when the blade of their oar hit a wave head-on.

From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026

"It went from there and progressed into 50 commercials by the time I was five... It just never stopped," she recalled.

From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026

Weatherby later recalled that Monroe’s entourage had all been reading “Justine.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026

The Dodgers placed left-handed starter Justin Wrobleski on the 15-day injured list with left forearm inflammation and recalled right-handed reliever Kyle Hurt from triple-A Oklahoma City.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026

And Dr. Michael Burry was dumbstruck: He recalled Asperger’s from med school, but vaguely.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis

Physiological reactions to memories of criticism decreased, indicating that recalling distressing experiences no longer triggered the same level of intense stress.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 18, 2026

This kid is what I feel like our team should be like on a day-to-day basis,’ and he’s done a really good job of that,” Chesney said Monday while recalling his first impression of Martin.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026

Mosengo‑Omba assured Infantino of Fecofa's "full support" would continue beyond 2027, recalling mandates renewed in Paris in 2019 and Kigali in 2023.

From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026

He still gets emotional recalling the remarkable reception he received landing on “Pluribus,” his first American set, to play one of 13 individuals in the world immune to an invading hive mind.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2026

“Yeah, I get that,” I reply, recalling the time the judge wouldn’t shake my hand at the Monroe Competition.

From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold

Related Words

• call up
• cite
• evoke
• remind
• summon
• think of