v., -ered, -er·ing, -ers. v.tr.
- To get back; regain.
- To restore (oneself) to a normal state: He recovered himself after a slip on the ice.
- To compensate for: She recovered her losses.
- To procure (usable substances, such as metal) from unusable substances, such as ore or waste.
- To bring under observation again: "watching the comet since it was first recovered-first spotted since its 1910 visit" (Christian Science Monitor).
- To regain a normal or usual condition, as of health.
- To receive a favorable judgment in a lawsuit.
[Middle English recoveren, from Old French recoverer, from Latin recuperāre. See recuperate.]
recoverable re·cov'er·a·ble adj.recoverer re·cov'er·er n.
SYNONYMS recover, regain, recoup, retrieve. These verbs mean to get back something lost or taken away. Recover is the least specific: The police recovered the stolen car. "In a few days Mr. Barnstaple had recovered strength of body and mind" (H.G. Wells). Regain suggests success in recovering something that has been taken from one: "hopeful to regain/Thy Love" (John Milton). To recoup is to get back the equivalent of something lost: earned enough profit to recoup her expenses. Retrieve pertains to the effortful recovery of something (retrieved the ball) or to the making good of something gone awry: "By a brilliant coup he has retrieved . . . a rather serious loss" (Samuel Butler).
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
