retrieve

play

verb re·trieve \ ri-ˈtrēv \

Definition of retrieve

retrieved; retrieving

transitive verb

1 :to locate and bring in (killed or wounded game)

2 :to call to mind again

3 :to get back again :regain

4 a :rescue, salvage

b :to return (something, such as a ball or shuttlecock that is difficult to reach) successfully

5 :restore, revive

his writing retrieves the past

6 :to remedy the evil consequences of :correct

7 :to get and bring back; especially :to recover from storage

retrieve information

intransitive verb

:to bring in game

a dog that retrieves well

; also :to bring back an object thrown by a person

—

retrievability

play \-ˌtrē-və-ˈbi-lə-tē\ noun

—

retrievable

play \-ˈtrē-və-bəl\ adjective

See retrieve defined for English-language learners

See retrieve defined for kids

Examples of retrieve in a Sentence

Many archaeological relics were retrieved from the site.
Police retrieved his stolen car.
You can quickly retrieve data.
The files were retrieved from the computer.
He was able to retrieve the document.
The dog is learning how to retrieve.
The dog has been trained to retrieve birds.

Recent Examples of retrieve from the Web

Some went to her home to retrieve a case file and found her body, police have said.

— kathleen foody, The Seattle Times, "Man arrested in 1999 killing of prosecutor in Denver suburb," 30 Aug. 2017
One of several men at a residence assaulted a man who went to the residence to retrieve property.

— sarah lane, Washington Post, "Prince William County crime report," 30 Aug. 2017
Dr. Tyler-Smith and an international team of geneticists and archaeologists recovered ancient DNA from bones belonging to five Canaanites retrieved from an excavation site in Sidon, Lebanon, that were 3,650 to 3,750 years old.

— nicholas st. fleur, New York Times, "Fate of Ancient Canaanites Seen in DNA Analysis: They Survived," 27 July 2017
He was convicted in 2008 after enlisting men, including two with guns, to retrieve from two sports collectibles sellers some items that Simpson said were stolen from him a decade earlier.

— mark heim, AL.com, "O.J. Simpson parole hearing live stream: Time, TV channel, how to watch online," 20 July 2017
That's when Munising locals retrieved the heavy items from the lawn (plucking flowers the wife had planted in the commode) and re-sank them amid the ruins of the ship.

— chris mcnamara, chicagotribune.com, "A deep dive into Michigan's eerie, beautiful Shipwreck Coast," 18 July 2017
After ceilings deform, the shoring material generally cannot be retrieved from the ice subsurface, and so researchers must leave it behind.

— eli kintisch, Science | AAAS, "Massive balloons help polar scientists build underground tunnels," 13 July 2017
During renovations, Palm management had allowed about 500 local customers to retrieve their old caricatures from the walls.

— michael klein, Philly.com, "The Palm to reopen this weekend after more than a year," 11 July 2017
As part of Sammarco’s investigation, Gabriel’s body was exhumed last month so that investigators could retrieve his tablet computer, which his mother had buried with him.

— anne saker, Cincinnati.com, "Coroner: No change to finding that 8-year-old Gabriel Taye died a suicide," 6 July 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'retrieve.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of retrieve

Middle English retreven, from Anglo-French retrueve-, present stem of retrover to find again, from re- + trover to compose, invent, find, from Vulgar Latin *tropare — more at troubadour

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First Known Use: 1814

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