regain

verb

re·​gain ri-ˈgān 

regained; regaining

transitive verb

1

: to gain (something) anew : to get (something) again : recover

She regained her health/strength.

I regained my footing/balance.

struggling to regain his composure

pulled ahead to regain the lead

Some of them regained the weight they had lost.

… was still alive and slowly regaining consciousness.

—Walter Isaacson

… managed to regain control of the airplane and execute a successful landing …

—Peter Katz

2

: to get back to (something) : to reach (something) again

After a prolonged struggle to regain the ridge, during which the only assistance my partners could offer was a tight rope, I crawled back along the path I had so recently chiseled …

—Jeff Lowe

… one of them was unhorsed and then, when out of view, regained his saddle.

—Daniel J. Boorstin

Synonyms of regain

• recapture
• retrieve
• recover
• reclaim

Examples of regain in a Sentence

our team regained the ball with just two minutes left on the clock

Recent Examples on the Web

Cooke — who has the backing of House Democrats' campaign arm, which considers the seat a top target as the party seeks to regain the majority — beat progressive Emily Berge to win the Democratic nomination. — Caitlin Yilek, CBS News, 12 Aug. 2026

The shift and refocus on open-source may also reflect an attempt by Meta to try to regain momentum after recent models have fallen short of systems from OpenAI and Anthropic. — Beatrice Nolan, Fortune, 10 Aug. 2026

While spit-shining his boots one day in the fall of 1958, Simeon declared to a local reporter his thirst to regain power abroad. — Literary Hub, 10 Aug. 2026

To bring all this about, and to counter the allure of Communism, European economies first had to emerge from the rubble of war and regain their strength as quickly as possible. — Ian Buruma, New Yorker, 10 Aug. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1569, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing regain

• regain consciousness

Rhymes for regain

• abstain
• airplane
• alkane
• arcane
• arraign
• attain
• backplane
• betaine
• biplane
• blockchain
• butane
• campaign

Kids Definition

regain

verb

re·​gain

ri-ˈgān

1

: to gain or get again

regained my health

2

: to get back to : reach again

regain the shore