1. To return to good health after some illness or injury. Often used in the continuous tense to indicate an ongoing recovery. My brother is still recovering from malaria after coming back from his trip to Kenya. I'm still recovering from a broken ankle, so I'm afraid I won't be coming on the ski trip in December.

2. To return to stable, competitive, or composed position or status after some difficult, troublesome, or threatening situation. Things are better on the whole, but many businesses haven't yet recovered from the economic crisis. The team managed to recover from a disastrous start to the game, and they're now in a position where they could possibly win the whole thing. Georgina always finds it hard to recover from her in-laws' visits.

3. To get something back that had been taken or possessed by someone or something. In this usage, a noun or pronoun is used between "recover" and "from." I haven't been able to recover my money from the company I invested in yet. They recovered the ball from the other team within range of a field goal.