Meanings
-
1
noun
a gun dog trained to find and bring back shot game, or a dog belonging to one of the breeds developed for that work
The retriever swam across the lake and returned with the fallen bird.
-
2
noun
a person, device, or software component that finds and brings something back
The archive's retriever located the requested document within seconds.
-
3
noun
a surgical instrument used to recover material or an object from inside the body
The surgeon used a small retriever to remove the stone through the catheter.
Thesaurus
Etymology
Formed from retrieve + the agent suffix -er, literally 'one that retrieves.' Retrieve entered English through Old French retrouver, 'to find again,' from re- ('again') + trouver ('to find'). The dog sense became established as specialized hunting breeds were developed.