To retell means to tell a story, event, or information again, usually in your own words. When your teacher asks you to retell a folktale you've read, you're explaining what happened from beginning to end without reading directly from the book. When you retell your day to a parent at dinner, you're describing the events as you remember them.

Retelling helps you understand and remember things better. If you can retell the plot of a book chapter, it shows you really understood what you read. Teachers often use retelling to check comprehension: “Can you retell the story of the American Revolution in your own words?”

The word emphasizes that you're covering the same ground again, but not necessarily word-for-word. You might retell a joke you heard at lunch, or retell the ending of a movie to a friend who missed it. When historians retell ancient myths, they're passing down stories that have been retold countless times across generations, with each storyteller adding their own style while keeping the essential story intact.