Library / English Dictionary

RETRIEVE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Recall knowledge from memory; have a recollection

Example:

call up memories

Synonyms:

call back; call up; recall; recollect; remember; retrieve; think

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

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

know (perceive as familiar)

recognise; recognize (perceive to be the same)

brush up; refresh; review (refresh one's memory)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE
Somebody ----s VERB-ing

Sentence example:

They won't retrieve the story

Derivation:

retrieval (the cognitive operation of accessing information in memory)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Run after, pick up, and bring to the master

Example:

train the dog to retrieve

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

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

bring; convey; fetch; get (go or come after and bring or take back)

Verb group:

retrieve (go for and bring back)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Something ----s something

Derivation:

retriever (a dog with heavy water-resistant coat that can be trained to retrieve game)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Go for and bring back

Example:

retrieve the car from the parking garage

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

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

bring; convey; fetch; get (go or come after and bring or take back)

Verb group:

retrieve (run after, pick up, and bring to the master)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 4

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 "retrieve" 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 "retrieve"):

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:

retrieval (the act of regaining or saving something lost (or in danger of becoming lost))

Credits

 Context examples: 

A complete reference to a website (including http://) from which the document contents can be retrieved.

(Document Version Uniform Resource Locator, NCI Thesaurus)

A series of operations on data by a computer in order to retrieve or transform or classify information.

(Data Processing, NCI Thesaurus)

They retrieved water and sediment samples from a body of water that had been isolated from direct contact with the atmosphere for many thousands of years.

(Methane-eating bacteria in lake deep beneath Antarctic ice sheet may reduce greenhouse gas emissions, National Science Foundation)

Several studies have shown that when we retrieve memories the brain reactivates neural activity that happened when we first experienced an event.

(Our brains may ripple before remembering, National Institutes of Health)

Mass spectrometry-based protein sequencing will enable us to retrieve reliable and rich genetic information from mammal fossils that are millions of years old, rather than just thousands of years old.

(‘Game-changing’ research could solve evolution mysteries, University of Cambridge)

New proteins must be produced to reconsolidate retrieved memories and return them to long-term storage in the brain.

(How Our Memory Works, NIH, US)

The company hopes to reduce the cost of future space travel by developing a dependable system of retrieving and reusing launch rockets for future missions.

(SpaceX Completes Successful Rocket Launch, VOA News)

Event in which information is accessed by the healthcare provider and either the wrong patient of the wrong information is retrieved despite correct inquiry procedures.

(Incorrect Patient Data Retrieval Medical Device Problem, Food and Drug Administration)

An optical disk storage system for computers on which data can be read or from which data can be retrieved but not entered or modified.

(CD-ROM, NCI Thesaurus)

A parachute will slow the capsule down so it can be retrieved, then researchers will go about examining the precious cargo taken directly from an asteroid.

(Evening Launch Catapults OSIRIS-REx Toward Asteroid Encounter, NASA)