Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Retrieval \Re*triev"al\, n.
   The act retrieving.

Source : WordNet®

retrieval
     n 1: (computer science) the operation of accessing information
          from the computer's memory
     2: the cognitive operation of accessing information in memory;
        "my retrieval of people's names is very poor"
     3: the act of regaining or saving something lost (or in danger
        of becoming lost) [syn: {recovery}]