recall

To bring something from the past back into your mind.

• I can't recall his name.
• She recalled walking home in the rain.
• Do you recall what he said?

How to use it: recall doing something (I recall meeting her at a party.); recall that… (She recalled that the door had been open.); recall what/how/where… (Can you recall where you put the keys?)

Similar words: remember, recollect

Opposites: forget

Common phrases: recall someone's name, recall the details, clearly recall

To ask customers or shops to return a product because it has a fault or may be unsafe.

• The company recalled the toys.
• Thousands of cars were recalled because of faulty brakes.
• Will the manufacturer recall this batch of medicine?

Similar words: call back

Common phrases: recall a product, recall faulty cars, recall a batch

To officially tell someone to return to a place or job.

• The government recalled its ambassador.
• Workers were recalled after the factory reopened.
• They recalled her from leave to deal with the emergency.

How to use it: recall someone from something (The government recalled its ambassador from the country.); recall someone to something (Several officers were recalled to duty.)

Similar words: call back, summon back

Common phrases: recall an ambassador, recall someone home, recall someone from

To call someone another time.

• He recalled her, but she did not answer.
• The guard recalled my name more loudly.
• When nobody responded, she recalled the children.

Similar words: call again

Common phrases: recall someone, recall someone's name

An official request to return a product because it has a fault or may be unsafe.

• The recall affects five thousand cars.
• Customers received a product recall notice.
• A fault in the brakes led to a nationwide recall.

How to use it: recall of something (The company announced a recall of its baby chairs.)

Common phrases: product recall, safety recall, issue a recall, recall of something

The ability to remember information or past experiences.

• She has excellent recall.
• Sleep can improve your recall of new information.
• The test measured children's recall of a short story.

How to use it: recall of something (His recall of small details is impressive.)

Similar words: memory, recollection

Common phrases: good recall, poor recall, total recall, recall of something

A process in which voters can remove an elected official before their time in office ends.

• Voters signed a recall petition.
• The mayor faces a recall election next month.
• The recall failed because too few signatures were collected.

Common phrases: recall election, recall petition, recall vote

The share of all relevant results that a search or computer system successfully finds.

• The search system has high recall.
• Adding more search terms may improve recall.
• We measured precision and recall on the same dataset.

Similar words: sensitivity, true positive rate

Common phrases: high recall, low recall, precision and recall