I. re ‧ call 1 S3 W2 /rɪˈkɔːl $ ˈriːkɒːl/ BrE AmE verb
1 . REMEMBER SOMETHING [intransitive, transitive not in progressive] to remember a particular fact, event, or situation from the past:
You don’t happen to recall his name, do you?
recall (that)
I seem to recall I’ve met him before somewhere.
recall doing something
I don’t recall seeing any cars parked outside.
recall what/how/where etc
I can’t recall who gave me the information.
As I recall, it was you who suggested this idea in the first place.
2 . PERSON [transitive] to officially tell someone to come back to a place or group
recall somebody to something
Cole was recalled to the squad to replace the injured Quinn.
recall somebody from something
The Ambassador was recalled from Washington.
3 . PRODUCT [transitive] if a company recalls one of its products, it asks people who have bought it to return it because there may be something wrong with it:
The cars had to be recalled due to an engine fault.
4 . COMPUTER [transitive] to bring information back onto the screen of a computer
5 . BE SIMILAR TO SOMETHING [transitive] if something recalls something else, it makes you think of it because it is very similar:
The furnishings recall the 1960s.
6 . POLITICS [transitive] American English to vote to remove someone from their political position
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THESAURUS
▪ remember to form an idea in your mind of people, events, places etc from the past:
I remember Janine – she lived in that house on the corner.
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I can’t remember how the film ends.
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He remembered meeting her at a party once.
▪ recall to remember a particular fact, event, or situation, especially in order to tell someone about it:
Can you recall where your husband was that night?
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She recalled that he had seemed a strange, lonely man.
▪ recollect formal to remember an event or situation:
Harry smiled as he recollected the scene.
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She tried to recollect what had happened next in her dream.
▪ memorize to learn facts, a piece of writing or music etc, so that you can remember them later:
He’s trying to memorize his speech.
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Don’t write down your PIN number, memorize it.
▪ think back/look back to think about something that happened in the past:
I thought back to when I was his age.
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Looking back, I should have been more patient with her.
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We need to stop looking back and start thinking about the future.
▪ reminisce /ˌreməˈnɪs, ˌremɪˈnɪs/ to talk about pleasant events, people, experiences etc from the past, because you want to remember them or enjoy talking about them:
They were reminiscing about old times.
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I used to spend hours listening to my grandfather reminisce.
▪ bear something in mind to remember something important when you are doing something, because it could affect what you do:
Bear in mind that this is the first time he’s done this.
▪ something is on the tip of your tongue used to say that you know a word or a name but that you have difficulty remembering it at this exact moment:
His name’s on the tip of my tongue. I’ll think of it in a minute.
▪ remind somebody of something to make you think of another person, thing, or time, because they are similar:
It reminds me of the time when I first started teaching.
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The taste reminded him of school dinners.
II. re ‧ call 2 /rɪˈkɔːl, ˈriːkɔːl $ -ɒːl/ BrE AmE noun
1 . MEMORY [uncountable] the ability to remember something that you have learned or experienced:
A child’s recall is usually accurate.
He had total recall (=remembered everything) of every play in the game.
2 . ORDER TO RETURN [singular, uncountable] an official order telling someone to return to a place, especially before they expected to
recall of
the recall of their ambassador
3 . beyond recall impossible to bring back or remember
4 . PRODUCT [countable] when a company asks people to return a product they have bought because there may be something wrong with it
5 . POLITICS [singular, uncountable] American English a vote to remove someone from their political position, or the act of being removed by a vote
recall of
the recall of four city council members