recall

recall — verb

1. To deliberately bring a past experience, event, or piece of information back int

1.verbtransitiveB1
Definition

To deliberately bring a past experience, event, or piece of information back into your conscious mind — for example, recalling the name of a song or what someone said at a meeting.

Example

Leo recalled every detail of his first trip to Japan ten years later.

recall + noun phrase for remembering details

The retired teacher could still recall the names of all her students from the 1990s.

recall + noun phrase (ability to remember specific facts)

Common collocations
  • recall clearly
  • recall vividly
  • recall exactly
  • struggle to recall
  • fail to recall
  • recall from memory
Synonyms
  • remember

    More common and less formal than recall; used for effortless memory.

  • recollect

    More formal and suggests carefully gathering details from memory.

  • reminisce

    Focuses on enjoying past memories, often shared with others.

Antonyms
  • forget

    To fail to remember or bring to mind.

Grammar Patterns

recall + noun phrase

recall + that-clause

recall + wh-clause

recall + V-ing

Usage Note

Often used with a that-clause, a wh-clause, or a gerund (V-ing). The subject is usually a person making an effort to remember. With a that-clause, the fact being remembered is stated as a full idea: 'I recall that the doors were locked.' This sense is slightly more formal than 'remember'.

Common Mistakes

I recall to meet her at the café.
I recall meeting her at the café.
recall is followed by a gerund (V-ing), not a to-infinitive.
I recall her name.
I remember her name.
For effortless, automatic memory, 'remember' is more natural than 'recall', which implies effort.

2. To make someone think of something else through a shared quality or resemblance,

2.verbtransitiveB2
Definition

To make someone think of something else through a shared quality or resemblance, without the person actively trying to remember — for example, a smell recalling a childhood kitchen or a building recalling a foreign style.

Example

The smell of fresh bread recalled the mornings Nikhil spent with his grandmother.

subject = sensory trigger (smell, sound, sight)

The new film's style recalls the black-and-white movies of the 1950s.

recall + noun phrase for resemblance

Common collocations
  • recall a time
  • recall a style
  • recall an era
  • strongly recall
  • vaguely recall
Synonyms
  • remind of

    More common and conversational; 'recall' is slightly more formal.

  • resemble

    Focuses on physical similarity rather than triggering memory.

  • evoke

    Suggests a stronger emotional or artistic response.

Grammar Patterns

recall + noun phrase (subject = thing that reminds)

Usage Note

The subject is the thing that triggers the memory, not the person remembering. This sense is never used with a human subject who actively tries to remember. Unlike sense 1, there is no deliberate effort involved — the resemblance simply strikes you.

Common Mistakes

I recall my grandmother when I smell bread.
The smell of bread recalls my grandmother.
In this sense, the trigger (smell, sight, sound) is the subject, not the person.

3. To officially demand that a product be sent back because it has a fault or safet

3.verbtransitiveB1
Definition

To officially demand that a product be sent back because it has a fault or safety problem, or to order a person — usually a diplomat or official — to come back from a place.

Example

The car company recalled 50,000 vehicles because of a brake problem.

product recall: company + number + fault reason

The ambassador was recalled to Washington after the crisis began.

passive: be recalled + to [location] for a person

Common collocations
  • recall a product
  • recall a vehicle
  • recall an ambassador
  • recall all units
  • recall from a post
Synonyms
  • call back

    More general and less formal; can mean simply asking someone to return.

  • summon back

    More formal; used for officials or representatives.

Grammar Patterns

recall + noun phrase (product or person)

be recalled + to [location]

Usage Note

Commonly used in the passive form ('were recalled'). When referring to products, the subject is usually a company or manufacturer. When referring to people, the subject is typically a government or organization calling back its representative.

Common Mistakes

The company recalled back the product.
The company recalled the product.
'Recall' already contains the meaning of 'call back', so 'back' is redundant.
The company recalled the product for improvement.
The company recalled the product because of a safety problem.
Recall typically implies a fault or danger, not routine improvement.

recall — noun

Word family

  • unrecalled
    adjectiveC2
  • recallable
    adjectiveC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

Remember is the most general and common word — use it for any fact or event that stays in your mind naturally ('I remember her name'). Recall is slightly more formal and emphasises the act of deliberately bringing a memory back ('He tried to recall the exact words'). Recollect is even more formal and suggests carefully gathering scattered details ('She recollected the events of that afternoon with great clarity'). Reminisce is about enjoying past experiences, often shared with others ('The old friends reminisced about their college days'). Remind is different — it means causing someone else to remember, not remembering yourself ('You remind me of my sister'). Choose recall when you want to sound precise about the mental effort of retrieving a memory; choose remember for casual, effortless recollection.

remember ↗recollectreminisce ↗remind ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • beyond recall

Prepositions

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

Recall comes from the Latin 're-' (meaning 'again' or 'back') combined with 'callare' (to call), so the original sense was 'to call back'. It entered English in the late 1500s, first used for summoning a person back. By the 1600s it had developed the sense of 'bringing something back to mind'. The meaning of asking for the return of faulty products only appeared in the early 1900s with the rise of industrial manufacturing.