recall

[ verb ri-kawl; noun ri-kawl, ree-kawl ree-kawl ]

verb (used with object)

1. to bring back from memory; recollect; remember:

   Can you recall what she said?

   Antonyms: forget

2. to call back; summon to return:

   The army recalled many veterans.

3. to bring (one's thoughts, attention, etc.) back to matters previously considered:

   He recalled his mind from pleasant daydreams to the dull task at hand.

4. International Law. to summon back and withdraw the office from (a diplomat).
5. to revoke or withdraw:

   to recall a promise.

   Synonyms: annul, recant, rescind, repeal, retract

6. to revive.

noun

1. an act of recalling.

   Synonyms: memory

2. the ability to remember or act of remembering; recollection; remembrance:

   This is the way it has been done for ages beyond recall.

3. Psychology. the act or process of retrieving information previously encoded and stored in memory, without being cued by the targeted information itself: Compare recognition ( def 9 ), retrieval ( def 3 ).

   Music is often used in education to improve recall of text and factual information.

   In the interview, careful, open questions are essential to encourage and sustain the child's free recall of events.

4. the act or possibility of revoking something.

   Synonyms: recantation, nullification, withdrawal, repeal, retraction, revocation

5. the removal or the right of removal of a public official from office by a vote of the people taken upon petition of a specified number of the qualified electors.
6. Also called callback. a summons by a manufacturer or other agency for the return of goods or a product already shipped to market or sold to consumers but discovered to be defective, contaminated, unsafe, or the like.
7. a signal made by a vessel to recall one of its boats.
8. a signal displayed to direct a racing yacht to sail across the starting line again.

recall

/ rɪˈkɔːl /

verb

1. may take a clause as object to bring back to mind; recollect; remember
2. to order to return; call back permanently or temporarily

   to recall an ambassador

3. to revoke or take back
4. to cause (one's thoughts, attention, etc) to return from a reverie or digression
5. poetic.
   to restore or revive

noun

1. the act of recalling or state of being recalled
2. revocation or cancellation
3. the ability to remember things; recollection
4. military (esp formerly) a signal to call back troops, etc, usually a bugle call

   to sound the recall

5. the process by which elected officials may be deprived of office by popular vote

Derived Forms

• reˈcallable, adjective

Other Words From

• re·call·a·ble adjective
• un·re·call·a·ble adjective
• un·re·called adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of recall¹

First recorded in 1575–85; re- + call

Idioms and Phrases

see beyond recall .

Synonym Study

See remember.

Example Sentences

The erroneous batch has been recalled by Bayer, in consultation with South Africa Health Products Regulatory Agency, with the company stressing the "root cause" of the mix-up had been identified and dealt with.

From BBC

Looking back, she laughs as she recalls explaining to her elementary school teacher that “watermelons were not just red, but yellow too.”

From Los Angeles Times

“It was a crazy couple months in my life,” she recalls.

From Los Angeles Times

“You’re accusing me of something I’m not, and we didn’t even get to talk it out,” he recalled thinking about the hate emails he received.

From Los Angeles Times

Hegseth recalled Doe displaying early signs of regret following the incident and that she said she would tell her husband she fell asleep on a couch in another hotel room, according to the report.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• call up
• cite
• evoke
• remind
• summon
• think of

More About Recall

What is a basic definition of recall?

The verb recall means to remember something. Recall is also used as a verb to mean to request a person to return somewhere. It is used as a noun to refer to an order by a company or manufacturer for a product to be returned for some reason, especially a defect. Recall has several other senses as both a verb and a noun.

The word recall is used as a synonym of remember and recollect. In this sense, to recall is to retrieve old information from your memory.

• Real-life example: A friend might ask you what you did over the weekend, and you might take a minute to recall all of the fun things you did. When asked to explain what they were doing on a certain date, a defendant in a trial might say that they do not recall.
• Used in a sentence: I am trying to recall the name of an actor, but I can’t even remember the name of the movie that they’re in!

Recall also means to tell a person to return from somewhere. This sense is often used in the context of a person of authority commanding those under them to return to headquarters or their base.

• Real-life example: You are likely to hear this use of recall in reference to politics or the military. A country may decide to recall its ambassador from a country it is having a disagreement with, for example. Similarly, a country may recall troops from the place they had been dispatched to. A recall election is one in which voters decide whether to recall an elected official from office.
• Used in a sentence: After the negotiations fell through, the country decided to recall its diplomat. 

The word recall is used as a noun to mean a manufacturer requesting that products be returned to them because they are defective, unsafe, or for some other reason. In this context, recall can also be used as a verb meaning to issue such a recall.

• Real-life example: Recalls are common practice, especially by car manufacturers when a part is found to be defective. The car company may send you a letter in the mail to tell you your brakes have a chance of failing. Often, the manufacturer will pay to have the defective part replaced.
• Used in a sentence: The toy company issued a recall for the toy cars because they were found to be a choking hazard.

Where does recall come from?

The first records of the word recall come from the 1500s. It is a combination of the word call, meaning “to summon,” and the prefix re-, meaning “again.” In several of its senses, recall refers to summoning something. A person who is recalling a memory is summoning it to the front of their mind, perhaps by picturing what it was like when it happened.

Did you know ... ?

What are some other forms related to recall?

• recallable (adjective)
• unrecallable (adjective)
• unrecalled (adjective)

What are some synonyms for recall?

• remember
• recollect
• withdraw

What are some words that share a root or word element with recall? 

• call
• return

What are some words that often get used in discussing recall?

• memory
• manufacturer
• defect
• product
• factory
• election

How is recall used in real life?

Recall is commonly used as a synonym of remember. It also commonly means to withdraw or summon someone or something back.

I can't recall when was the last time I saw an Ad that was anywhere near what I was doing on Youtube.

— SingularRandal (@RandalSingular) November 15, 2020

Always wonderful to come home after a long day to find out Ford have issued a recall on their cars 😬🙈

— Josh Anderson (@coachanderson12) November 20, 2018

Israeli MFA: We regret the Jordanian decision to recall their ambassador. This decision doesn't help the efforts to calm the situation

— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) November 5, 2014

 

 

Try using recall!

Is recall used correctly in the following sentence?

My memory isn’t the best and I often have trouble recalling things I did just yesterday.