Recovery means getting back to normal after something difficult or harmful. When you recover from the flu, your body heals and you regain your strength and energy. When a community recovers from a hurricane, people rebuild homes, repair roads, and restore what the storm damaged.

The word applies to many situations. An athlete in recovery from an injury works carefully to regain full strength before competing again. Someone recovering from a mistake learns from it and moves forward. A deleted computer file might be in a recovery folder, waiting to be restored. In each case, recovery means returning to a healthy, normal, or functional state.

Recovery often takes time and effort. A forest recovering from a wildfire doesn't bounce back overnight: new plants gradually grow, animals return, and the ecosystem slowly rebuilds itself. Similarly, when you're recovering from being sick, you might feel tired for a few days even after the worst symptoms pass.

The related word recover can also mean getting something back that was lost or taken. You might recover a stolen bicycle, or recover your confidence after a disappointing performance. Economic recovery means the economy growing again after a recession.