recall

- definition

What are red words?

90% of the time, speakers of English use just 7,500 words in speech and writing. These words appear in red, and are graded with stars. One-star words are frequent, two-star words are more frequent, and three-star words are the most frequent.

Thesaurus

The thesaurus of synonyms and related words is fully integrated into the dictionary entries. Click on the T button in an entry to review the synonyms and related words for that meaning.

verb

/rɪˈkɔːl/

present tense
I/you/we/they	recall
he/she/it	recalls
present participle	recalling
past tense	recalled
past participle	recalled

Other entries for this word

Related dictionary definitions

1
[intransitive/transitive] to remember something
Twenty years later he could still clearly recall the event.
recall (that):
I seem to recall that you said you would do that yesterday.
recall who/where/why etc:
Stephen frowned, trying to recall what had happened.
recall doing something:
I don't recall seeing the document.
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of recall
1. a.
  to make you feel or experience something that you have felt or experienced in the past
  The music recalls memories of childhood.
  Thesaurus entry for this meaning of recall
2
[transitive] to order someone to return to their country or the place where they work, especially someone who works for their government
He was recalled to active duty in the Royal Navy.
Spain immediately recalled its ambassador for consultations.
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of recall
3
[transitive] if a company recalls a product, it asks people who bought it to return it because there is something wrong with it
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of recall
4
[transitive] to choose a sports player to be in a team again after a period when they have not been in it
recall someone to something:
He was recalled to the team for the match against England.
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of recall

phrase

as (far as) I recall
used for telling someone what you remember about a particular event, person etc
As I recall, he was quite a good friend of Mike's.
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of recall

This is the British English definition of recall. View American English definition of recall.

Change your default dictionary and thesaurus to American English.

View the pronunciation for recall.

caxirola

a percussion instrument used by football fans which makes a rattling sound when shaken

BuzzWord Article

More BuzzWords

BuzzWord archive

Word of the Day

flat racing

horse racing on flat ground with no fences or jumping

Open Dictionary

pierce the corporate veil

… the decision to treat the rights and duties of a company as being the same as the rights and duties of its shareholders

add a word

More submissions

view entries

Blog

A must for anyone with an interest in the changing face of language. The Macmillan Dictionary blog explores English as it is spoken around the world today.

global English and language change from our blog

Did you know?