Recall means to remember something or to bring it back to mind. When your teacher asks you to recall what happened in yesterday's science lesson, she wants you to search your memory and pull out those facts about photosynthesis. When you recall a friend's birthday just in time, you've retrieved that information from wherever your brain stored it.

The word also means officially bringing something back. A company might recall a product when they discover a safety problem: they ask stores to send back all those items and tell customers to return what they bought. When voters recall an elected official, they use a special process to remove that person from office before their term ends, essentially taking back the power they gave them.

You might hear someone say they have total recall of an event, meaning they remember every detail perfectly. A recall election lets citizens vote to remove a politician. Libraries send recall notices when they need a book back sooner than expected. The past tense and past participle are recalled: “She recalled reading that book last summer” or “The toy was recalled after reports of broken parts.”