re ‧ triev ‧ al /rɪˈtriːv ə l/ BrE AmE noun [uncountable]
1 . technical the process of getting back information stored on a computer system:
a new system that should speed up information retrieval
2 . the act of getting back something you have lost or left somewhere
3 . be beyond/past retrieval if a situation is beyond retrieval, it has become so bad that it cannot be made right again