ENGLISH
REFERENCE

recover

v.
B2 Upper Intermediate Oxford US //ɹɪˈkəvɝ// re·cov·er Academic Archaic General-service

v. to get back to a normal state of health or strength after being sick or injured. You can also use it when you find something that was lost or stolen.

v. to return to a normal state of health, mind, or strength; to regain possession of something lost or stolen. Intransitive when referring to health; transitive when referring to the retrieval of objects.


SIMPLE

She needs time to recover from her surgery.

CONTEXTUAL

The police managed to recover the stolen paintings just two days after the museum break-in.

COMPLEX

Economists predict the market will take several years to fully recover from the recent downturn, despite the aggressive stimulus packages introduced by the central bank.

Synonyms
Antonyms
Etymology 1

From Middle English recoveren, rekeveren, from Anglo-Norman recoverer and Old French recovrer, from Latin recuperāre, alternative form of reciperāre. Doublet of recuperate. The noun is from Middle English recover, from the verb.

Etymology 2

From re- + cover.

Usage

When referring to health or improvement, it is often followed by the preposition 'from'. When used to mean 'regain', it is transitive and takes a direct object.

Pitfall

He recovered his health very fast.He recovered from his illness very fast.While you can recover an object, you usually recover 'from' a condition or illness rather than recovering the health itself.

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