to get back something lost, especially health, ability, possessions, etcIt took her a long while to recover (= become completely well again) from/after her heart operation.
He never really recovered from the shock of his wife dying (= He was never happy after his wife died).
She went into a coma and died without recovering consciousness.
[R] She was astonished to see me, but she soon recovered her composure/herself (= soon gave the appearance of being calm).
It took a long time for the economy to recover (= improve) after the slump.
Police only recover (= get back) a very small percentage of stolen goods.
The initial outlay of setting up a company is considerable and it takes a while to recover those costs (= get back what you have spent).