regain

Etymology

From Middle French regaigner (French regagner). Surface etymology is re- + gain.

verb

1. (transitive) To get back; to recover possession of.
   Sarkozy's total will be seen as a personal failure. It is the first time an outgoing president has failed to win a first-round vote in the past 50 years and makes it harder for Sarkozy to regain momentum. April 23, 2012, Angelique Chrisafis, “François Hollande on top but far right scores record result in French election”, in The Guardian

noun

1. The act or process of regaining something.
   Patients who plateau after weight loss are more likely to blame the regain on something that they are responsible for – the wrong course of action they took or a specic oversight that they kept repeating–rather than who they are. 2019, Sameera Khan, Regain Be Gone
   By beginning deeper, this allows the opposition to start and build much higher, naturally luring them away from their own goal. As long as the actions after a regain are then quick, forward, and performed with quality, counter-attacks can prove a particularly useful attacking strategy to win football matches. 2021, Sam Hudson, Football in a Pandemic
   The samples with SAPs showed a regain in strength when stored in an RH of more than 90%. 2021, Sandra Van Vlierberghe, Arn Mignon, Superabsorbent Polymers, page 155
   Negative collective memories are effective, as much as positive memories, in choosing a regain for lost heritage building associated with them. 2022, Antonella Versaci, Hocine Bougdah, Natsuko Akagawa, Conservation of Architectural Heritage, page 375
2. (textiles) The amount of width a woven cloth grows by when the fibers swell, used to determine the width of the reed to use in weaving.
   The number of ends per inch may vary to some slight extent at different places in the width of the cloth and in different pieces woven to the same particulars , but if the regain is correctly estimated , the calculated reed to be used will be the same, unless a special reed has been used in weaving the cloth. 1912, National Association of Cotton Manufacturers, Transactions of the National Association of Cotton Manufacturers, page 105
   In particular, at high humidities the regain of wool is lower. 2008, J. W. S. Hearle, W E Morton, Physical Properties of Textile Fibres, page 190
   Because of the fiber price per pound, and the size of the lots, the regain must be determined accurately. 2017, Sabit Adanur, Wellington Sears Handbook of Industrial Textiles, page 590