Meaning & use
retry
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Meanings
verbtransitive or intransitive
To try something again after it has failed.
Grammar: Takes an object, or stands alone: retry the upload, or please retry.
Patterns
- retry something
- retry doing something
The app will retry the download automatically.
If the payment fails, retry in a few minutes.
She retried the combination until the lock clicked open.
verbtransitivelegal
To hold a court trial again for someone whose first trial ended without a final decision.
Grammar: Often passive: he will be retried next year.
Patterns
- retry someone for something
- be retried
The prosecutors asked to retry the defendant after the jury was deadlocked.
He will be retried on the original charges.
The judge decided the case should be retried.
nouncountablecomputing
A further attempt made after an earlier one failed.
Grammar: A countable noun, common in computing: a retry button.
Patterns
- a retry of something
After the error, a quick retry fixed it.
The system limits you to three retries.
Click the retry button if the page does not load.
Word forms
| third person singular | retries |
|---|---|
| past tense | retried |
| past participle | retried |
| -ing form | retrying |
Common combinations
- retry the request
- The program will retry the request three times.
- retry later
- The server is busy, so please retry later.
- retry the login
- Retry the login with your new password.
- automatic retry
- An automatic retry kicked in after the outage.
- retry button
- Tap the retry button to start again.
Synonyms and how they differ
- reattempt
- Reattempt is a more formal, less common equivalent of retry.
- try again
- Try again is the everyday phrase, while retry is a single word often used in software and instructions.
- redo
- Redo means to do the whole job over, often because the first result was poor, not only because it failed.
- repeat
- Repeat means doing something again, even when the first time went fine, so it does not imply failure.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: retry or redo?
retry vs redo
Redo means doing the whole thing over; retry means attempting again after a failed attempt.
Practice
The upload failed, so the app will ___ in thirty seconds.
Choose one answer.
Retry means to attempt again after a failure. Retire, reply and return do not describe repeating a failed operation.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “retry”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.