rec ‧ ol ‧ lect /ˌrekəˈlekt/ BrE AmE verb [transitive]
to be able to remember something SYN remember :
All I recollect is a grey sky.
recollect that
She recollected sadly that she and Ben used to laugh a lot.
recollect how/when/what etc
Can you recollect how your brother reacted?
recollect doing something
I recollect seeing Ryder some years ago in Bonn.
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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.