a dog with heavy water-resistant coat that can be trained to retrieve game
"The golden retriever bounded through the rain, its heavy water-resistant coat keeping it dry as it happily retrieved the duck from the lake."
One who retrieves something.
"The golden retriever happily ran to fetch and bring back the thrown ball."
In plain English: A retriever is a dog bred to find and bring back things for people, usually while hunting birds.
"The golden retriever happily chased the ball across the park."
The word retriever is formed by adding the suffix "-er" to the verb retrieve. It refers to a person or animal that performs the action of retrieving something.