The retrieval of information from a computer is the process of getting it back.
...electronic storage and retrieval systems.
2. uncountable noun
The retrieval of something is the process of getting it back from a particular place, especially from a place where it should not be.
Its real purpose is the launching and retrieval of small aeroplanes in flight. [+ of]
retrieval in British English
(rɪˈtriːvəl)
noun
1.
the act or process of retrieving
2.
the possibility of recovery, restoration, or rectification (esp in the phrase beyond retrieval)
3.
a computer filing operation that recalls records or other data from a file
retrieval in American English
(rɪˈtrivəl)
noun
1.
the act or process of retrieving
2.
possibility of recovery or restoration
Examples of 'retrieval' in a sentence
retrieval
The egg retrieval was quite scary.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
Rather, the process of retrieval itself has the effect of physically destabilising the system.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
Frequently, this becomes the unhappy process of body retrieval.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
Thus terms such as "information processing" and "information retrieval" are really "data processing" and " data retrieval".
Samways, B. & Byrne-Jones, T. Computers Basic Facts (1983)
In fact, it's much more likely to be a deficiency in the retrieval process.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
He is, of course, helped by the information retrieval systems whose origins and evolution he recounts.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
While this lengthy retrieval process was being effected, the batsmen were trotting up and down at their leisure to compile the 47 runs necessary for victory.
Tibballs, Geoff Great Sporting Failures (1993)
It is not easy to keep this conviction in focus, for the society in which I live sees education primarily as information retrieval.
Christianity Today (2000)
In other languages
retrieval
British English: retrieval NOUN
The retrieval of information from a computer is the process of getting it back.