recover Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. verb get or find back; recover the use of
    regain; retrieve; find.
    • She regained control of herself
    • She found her voice and replied quickly
  2. verb get over an illness or shock
    recuperate; convalesce.
    • The patient is recuperating
  3. verb regain a former condition after a financial loss
    go back; recuperate.
    • We expect the stocks to recover to $2.90
    • The company managed to recuperate
  4. verb regain or make up for
    recuperate; recoup.
    • recuperate one's losses
  5. verb reuse (materials from waste products)
    reclaim.
  6. verb cover anew
    • recover a chair

WordNet

Re*cov"er transitive verb
Etymology
Pref. re- + cover: cf. F. recouvrir.
Definitions
  1. To cover again. Sir W. Scott.
Re*cov"er transitive verb
Etymology
OE. recoveren, OF. recovrer, F. recouvrer, from L. recuperare; pref. re- re + a word of unknown origin. Cf.Recuperate.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Recovered present participle & verbal noun Recovering
Definitions
  1. To get or obtain again; to get renewed possession of; to win back; to regain.
    David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away. 1. Sam. xxx. 18.
  2. To make good by reparation; to make up for; to retrieve; to repair the loss or injury of; as, to recover lost time. "Loss of catel may recovered be." Chaucer.
    Even good men have many failings and lapses to lament and recover. Rogers.
  3. To restore from sickness, faintness, or the like; to bring back to life or health; to cure; to heal.
    The wine in my bottle will recover him. Shak.
  4. To overcome; to get the better of, -- as a state of mind or body.
    I do hope to recover my late hurt. Cowley.
    When I had recovered a little my first surprise. De Foe.
  5. To rescue; to deliver.
    That they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him. 2. Tim. ii. 26.
  6. To gain by motion or effort; to obtain; to reach; to come to. Archaic
    The forest is not three leagues off; If we recover that, we're sure enough. Shak.
    Except he could recover one of the Cities of Refuge he was to die. Hales.
  7. (Law) To gain as a compensation; to obtain in return for injury or debt; as, to recover damages in trespass; to recover debt and costs in a suit at law; to obtain title to by judgement in a court of law; as, to recover lands in ejectment or common recovery; to gain by legal process; as, to recover judgement against a defendant. Syn. -- To regain; repossess; resume; retrieve; recruit; heal; cure.
Re*cov"er intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To regain health after sickness; to grow well; to be restored or cured; hence, to regain a former state or condition after misfortune, alarm, etc.; -- often followed by of or from; as, to recover from a state of poverty; to recover from fright.
    Go, inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I shall recover of this disease. 2 Kings i. 2.
  2. To make one's way; to come; to arrive. Obs.
    With much ado the Christians recovered to Antioch. Fuller.
  3. (Law) To obtain a judgement; to succeed in a lawsuit; as, the plaintiff has recovered in his suit.
Re*cov"er noun
Definitions
  1. Recovery. Sir T. Malory.

Webster 1913