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.

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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

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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

"There was nothing else I could retrieve, but that photo also means a lot."

From Barron's ● Aug. 30, 2026

Nitin Gupta, 31, watched a “quite big” marmot steal his hiking pole—then charge his girlfriend when she tried to retrieve it.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026

"And I see this a lot in my patients, where they can only retrieve negative information from their memories."

From Science Daily ● Aug. 25, 2026

An agentic Siri will need to go beyond chatbot capabilities to retrieve personalized context on devices and execute multistep workflows.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 20, 2026

“Unfortunately, in order to retrieve our agent, you will be entering mid-inferno,” Callaway said, still looking at the papers in his hand.

From "Glitch" by Laura Martin

I asked Arora how Deep Cogito’s approach differs from other techniques such as retrieval-augmented generation, which retrieves relevant proprietary data and business context and provides it to an AI model at inference time.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026

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

Researchers found that astrocytes in this area play a direct role in how the brain learns what to fear, retrieves those memories, and importantly, learns when those fears are no longer relevant.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 4, 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

He watches as he crosses into the foyer, retrieves his grey top hat and silver cane from the butler, and leaves by the front door.

From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern

Of the 10 percent who retrieved their frozen eggs, 34 percent became pregnant, and 29 percent had a live birth.

From Slate ● Aug. 11, 2026

Detectives retrieved his license plate data and entered an alert in Flock's system.

From Barron's ● Aug. 9, 2026

On a recent day, Maurice LaFountain, Deep Fission’s senior engineering director, showed off pink-flecked granite retrieved from the company’s first test hole and joked that the billion-year-old rock would make a nice countertop.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026

Only some of the embezzled goods which formed part of the final charges admitted by the ex-SNP chief executive have been retrieved.

From BBC ● Jun. 23, 2026

It is retrieved and removed only to have the process repeated again.

From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern

RAG is useful for retrieving facts, but lacks the capacity for intuitive expertise, according to Arora.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 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

These cells are critical for storing and retrieving memories.

From Science Daily ● May 3, 2026

She wastes no time retrieving a soil sample pouch.

From "The Last Cuentista" by Donna Barba Higuera

Related Words

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