recover

verb

1)

he's recovering from a heart attack

Syn:

recuperate, get better, convalesce, regain one's strength, get stronger, get back on one's feet; be on the mend, be on the road to recovery, pick up, rally, respond to treatment, improve, heal, pull through, bounce back

Ant:

deteriorate

2)

later, shares recovered

Syn:

rally, improve, pick up, make a recovery, rebound, bounce back

3)

the stolen material has been recovered

Syn:

retrieve, regain (possession of), get back, recoup, reclaim, repossess, redeem, recuperate, find (again), track down

Ant:

lose

4)

gold coins recovered from a wreck

Syn:

salvage, save, rescue, retrieve

•

- recover oneself

••

recover, reclaim, recoup, regain, restore, retrieve

If you lose or let go of something and find it either by chance or with effort, you recover it (recover the stolen artwork). Although it is often used interchangeably with recover, regain puts more emphasis on the search or effort involved in getting back something you have been deprived of (regain one's position as chairperson; regain one's eyesight). Recoup refers to the recovery of something similar or equivalent to what has been lost, usually in the form of compensation (he tried to recoup his gambling losses). Reclaim and restore both involve bringing something back to its original condition or to a better or more useful state. Reclaim is usually associated with land (reclaim neglected farmlands), while restore is linked to buildings or objects of art (restore an eighteenth-century house). Retrieve implies that something has slipped beyond reach, and that a concerted effort or search is required to recover it (her desperate efforts to retrieve the family dog from the flooded house).