recall

1 a request by the manufacturer of a defective product to return the product (as for replacement or repair) [syn: callback]

2 a call to return; "the recall of our ambassador"

3 a bugle call that signals troops to return

4 the process of remembering (especially the process of recovering information by mental effort); "he has total recall of the episode" [syn: recollection, reminiscence]

5 the act of removing an official by petition

1 recall knowledge from memory; have a recollection; "I can't remember saying any such thing"; "I can't think what her last name was"; "can you remember her phone number?"; "Do you remember that he once loved you?"; "call up memories" [syn: remember, retrieve, call back, call up, recollect, think] [ant: forget]

2 go back to something earlier; "This harks back to a previous remark of his" [syn: hark back, return, come back]

3 call to mind; "His words echoed John F. Kennedy" [syn: echo]

4 summon to return; "The ambassador was recalled to his country"; "The company called back many of the workers it had laid off during the recession" [syn: call back]

5 cause one's (or someone else's) thoughts or attention to return from a reverie or digression; "She was recalled by a loud laugh"

6 make unavailable; bar from sale or distribution; "The company recalled the product when it was found to be faulty" [ant: issue]

7 cause to be returned; "recall the defective auto tires"; "The manufacturer tried to call back the spoilt yoghurt" [syn: call in, call back, withdraw]

English

Etymology

From re- + call, modelled on Latin revocare or French rappeler.

Pronunciation

/rɪˈkɔ:l/

Verb

1. To call back, bring back or summon to a specific place, station etc.

   He was recalled to service after his retirement.

   She was recalled to London for the trial.

2. To remember, recollect.

   I don't recall that story.

3. To request or order someone or something to return, especially that a product or batch of products be returned to its manufacturer for repair or replacement
4. To cancel or annul, especially of a journey undertaken by an official.

   California voters recalled Governor Gray Davis in 2003.

Usage notes

• In sense 2. this is a catenative verb that takes the gerund (-ing). See Appendix:English catenative verbs

Pronunciation

/rɪˈkɔ:l/, /ˈri:kɔ:l/

Noun

1. The action or fact of calling someone or something back.
2. Memory; the ability to remember.
3. In Information retrieval, the fraction of (all) relevant material that is returned by a search

Translations

• Greek: ανάκληση (anáklisi) , εντολή επιστροφής (entolí epistrofís)

Recall may refer to:

• Product recall
• Recall election
• Letter to recall sent to return an ambassador from a country, either as a diplomatic protest or because the diplomat is being reassigned elsewhere and is being replaced by another envoy
• Recall to employment after a layoff
• Recollection, recall from memory. By analogy, many calculators have a "recall" button
• Recall (information retrieval), a statistical measure (contrasted with precision), the fraction of (all) relevant material that is returned by the search
• In dog training, recall is the process of bringing a dog to you from a distance
• Recall (bugle call), a bugle call used to signify that an activity should end
• Recall (broadcasting), the changing of a broadcasting station's call sign, parallel to rebranding
• Recall (email), a feature in Microsoft Outlook for retracting ill-advised emails

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