restore
verb
Simple meaning
To bring something back to how it was before.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
rihstawrSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ɹɪsˈtɔɹ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
Bring back into original existence, use, function, or position
transitive
To give or bring back (that which has been lost or taken); to bring back to the owner; to replace.
“Restore the stolen painting to its rightful owner.”
Return to its original or usable and functioning condition
“Restore the forest to its original pristine condition.”
transitive
To give in place of, or as restitution for.
transitive
To bring back to good condition from a state of decay or ruin.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Bring back into original existence, use, function, or position
Used this way, restore is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Nearby words
- regenerate , a specialist term, precise but narrower
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use restore
- “Restore the stolen painting to its rightful owner.”verb
- “Restore the forest to its original pristine condition.”verb
- “The week at the spa restored me.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
The reign of Charles II in England.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: bring back into original existence or use or function
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.