total recall

noun

|Updated on: 26 May 2018

Definition of total recall

: the faculty of remembering with complete clarity and in complete detail

Recent Examples of total recall from the Web

Pat will be remembered for his life-long passion for family, friends, music, writing, and collecting and his near-total recall of youthful escapades was legendary.

— hartford courant, courant.com, "Patrick F. Martin," 17 May 2018
These findings show us that total recall can be overrated.

— chicagotribune.com, "Study: Being forgetful might actually mean you're smarter," 28 Mar. 2018
In an expansive interview with Billboard, Brooks seems to have total recall of every show on the tour, and of nearly every fan.

— melinda newman, Billboard, "Garth Brooks Talks Wrapping His 3-Year Tour, His 2018 Plan, YouTube and the Fan 'Who Saved Everything For Me'," 21 Dec. 2017
Tylenol instantly initiated a total recall of the pills, the first of its kind in the United States.

— nick bilton, The Hive, "This Could Be the End of Facebook," 27 Oct. 2017
The total recall, which includes vehicles already sold and some that haven’t yet been delivered to customers, is equivalent to about 9% of the more than 235,000 vehicles Porsche sold world-wide last year.

— markus klausen and, WSJ, "Germany Recalls Porsche Models It Says Have Defeat Devices," 27 July 2017

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