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Technical Vocabularyretryverb|noun · /ˈriːtraɪ/

How to Say "retry" at Work

In simple English

In software engineering, retry is a critical error-handling strategy where a system automatically repeats a failed operation after a delay. This is commonly used in network requests, database operations, and distributed systems where temporary failures are expected. For example, if an API call fails due to a timeout, the system might retry the request after a few seconds. Retry logic often includes exponential backoff, meaning the wait time increases with each attempt to avoid overwhelming the system. You will hear this term frequently in discussions about resilience, reliability, and system design in modern tech companies.

Understand what retry means in programming and how retry logic works in software systems.

Part of Code Reviews & PRs in the Knowledge Base.

At a glanceCEFR B2
Commonness5/5
Versatility5/5
FormalityCasualFormalNeutral
Spoken ↔ WrittenSpokenWrittenBoth
Directness ↔ DiplomaticDirectDiplomaticDirect
RegionUS and UK
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Say it like this

✓Let us retry the request with exponential backoff
✓The system will automatically retry failed operations
✓We should implement a retry policy for this endpoint

Real examples

in a standup

"The deployment failed yesterday, but we have retry logic enabled, so it will automatically attempt again."

in a code review

"Good catch—we should add a maximum retry limit to prevent infinite loops."

in a team meeting

"Network timeouts are happening; we need to increase the retry count for the third-party API integration."

Don't say this

Handle with care. Do not confuse with try again in casual contexts; retry implies a programmatic or automatic repetition mechanism, not just human effort to repeat an action.

✕We need to retry the deployment manually five times.
✓We need to configure the deployment to retry automatically up to five times.— Retry typically refers to automatic mechanisms in code, not manual human attempts. Use try again for manual repetition.
✕The user should retry their password.
✓The user should try a different password or request a password reset.— Retry is not typically used for user-facing actions like password entry; it is reserved for system-level operations.
✕I will retry fixing this bug tomorrow.
✓I will try to fix this bug tomorrow or attempt to fix this bug again tomorrow.— Retry in tech specifically means automatic repetition of a failed operation, not a future human attempt to resolve something.

Other forms

verb

retry

"The system will retry the connection in 10 seconds."

verb

retries

"The API retries failed requests automatically."

verb

retried

"The payment was retried after the network issue was resolved."

noun

retry

"We implemented a retry mechanism with exponential backoff."

noun

retries

"The system allows three retries before giving up."

Often used with

retry logicThe programming mechanism or strategy that defines how and when retries occur
retry attemptA single repetition of a failed operation
retry countThe number of times a system will retry before failing permanently
retry delayThe time waited between retry attempts
exponential backoff retryA retry strategy where the delay increases exponentially with each attempt
automatic retryA retry that happens without manual intervention

Similar words

reattemptMore formal alternative; less common in everyday tech conversations
retry attemptEmphasizes the single action rather than the mechanism

Opposites

failabortgive up

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Practice

Try it

4 quick exercises

Pick the most natural phrasing

1. Your database connection times out. What would a tech professional most likely say?

Complete the sentence

2. Our API gateway is configured to _______ failed requests up to three times before returning an error.

Spot the mistake

3. Which sentence uses retry incorrectly?

Rewrite naturally

4. Rewrite this in natural tech English using retry: 'When the server does not respond, the program will try the request again several times.'

Questions

Quick poll

Have you said "retry" in a standup this week?

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