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

Well, to look back at that infamous Twitter takeover is to recall that it involved roping in Musk’s most trusted yes-men—David Sacks, Steve Davis, Joe Lonsdale—who are also advising Trump at this very moment on how he should regulate the industries they work in.

From Slate

I want to recall what’s been washed away by the pull of adulthood, what age and responsibility demand that we compromise, that we let go of.

From Los Angeles Times

The FDA has recommended that the individual companies voluntarily recall their products.

From Salon

“I just didn’t recall seeing any Democrats running on woke s**t.”

From Salon

I recall marching down Fifth Avenue in 1968 in a Veterans Day parade wearing my cadet dress uniform.

From Salon

Related Words

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