Library / English Dictionary

REGAIN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Get or find back; recover the use of

Example:

She found her voice and replied quickly

Synonyms:

find; recover; regain; retrieve

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Hypernyms (to "regain" is one way to...):

acquire; get (come into the possession of something concrete or abstract)

Verb group:

find; regain (come upon after searching; find the location of something that was missed or lost)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "regain"):

access (obtain or retrieve from a storage device; as of information on a computer)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something from somebody

Derivation:

regaining (getting something back again)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Come upon after searching; find the location of something that was missed or lost

Example:

I cannot find my gloves!

Synonyms:

find; regain

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Hypernyms (to "regain" is one way to...):

acquire; get (come into the possession of something concrete or abstract)

Verb group:

find (obtain through effort or management)

find; recover; regain; retrieve (get or find back; recover the use of)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "regain"):

feel (find by testing or cautious exploration)

locate; turn up (discover the location of; determine the place of; find by searching or examining)

attain; chance on; chance upon; come across; come upon; discover; fall upon; happen upon; light upon; strike (find unexpectedly)

rout out; rout up (get or find by searching)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Sentence example:

They regain the money in the closet

Credits

 Context examples: 

These last I broke through with a sudden jerk, and then regained the deck by the starboard shrouds.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

There was comfort also in Tom, who gradually regained his health, without regaining the thoughtlessness and selfishness of his previous habits.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

“This is indeed an unexpected development,” said my friend when we had regained the cab.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

She might in time regain tranquillity; but HE, what had he to look forward to?

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

When we had regained our places the Lades were round the curve of the hill and out of sight.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

And off they went, to regain their former place.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

I had been so confident of regaining the treaty at once that I had not dared to think of what would be the consequence if I failed to do so.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Half an hour later he managed to regain the bed, where he was content to lie with closed eyes and analyze his various pains and weaknesses.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

One participant regained the ability to pick up and drink from a cup.

(Spinal cord stimulation helps paralyzed people move hands, NIH)

Parted with; no longer held or possessed; incapable of being recovered or regained.

(Lost, NCI Thesaurus)