retreat

[ ri-treet ]
See synonyms for retreat on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. the forced or strategic withdrawal of an army or an armed force before an enemy, or the withdrawing of a naval force from action.

  2. the act of withdrawing, as into safety or privacy; retirement; seclusion.

  1. a place of refuge, seclusion, or privacy: The library was his retreat.

  2. an asylum, as for the insane.

  3. a retirement or a period of retirement for religious exercises and meditation.

  4. Military.

    • a flag-lowering ceremony held at sunset on a military post.

    • the bugle call or drumbeat played at this ceremony.

  5. the recession of a surface, as a wall or panel, from another surface beside it.

verb (used without object)
  1. to withdraw, retire, or draw back, especially for shelter or seclusion.

  2. to make a retreat: The army retreated.

  1. to slope backward; recede: a retreating chin.

  2. to draw or lead back.

Idioms about retreat

  1. beat a retreat, to withdraw or retreat, especially hurriedly or in disgrace.

Origin of retreat

1
First recorded in 1300–50; (for the noun) Middle English retret, from Old French, variant of retrait, noun use of past participle of retraire “to draw back,” from Latin retrahere (see retract1); (for the verb) late Middle English retreten, from Middle French retraitier, from Latin retractāre “to reconsider, withdraw” (see retract2)

synonym study For retreat

8. See depart.

Other words for retreat

Opposites for retreat

Other words from retreat

  • re·treat·al, adjective
  • re·treat·er, noun
  • re·treat·ive, adjective

Words that may be confused with retreat

Other definitions for re-treat (2 of 2)

re-treat
[ ree-treet ]

verb (used with or without object)
  1. to treat again.

Origin of re-treat

2
First recorded in 1880–85; re- + treat

Words that may be confused with re-treat

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use retreat in a sentence

  • He never ate where he killed, and he never left a track that betrayed his re-treat.

    Wild Animals I Have Known | Ernest Thompson Seton

British Dictionary definitions for retreat

retreat

/ (rɪˈtriːt) /


verb(mainly intr)
  1. military to withdraw or retire in the face of or from action with an enemy, either due to defeat or in order to adopt a more favourable position

  2. to retire or withdraw, as to seclusion or shelter

  1. (of a person's features) to slope back; recede

  2. (tr) chess to move (a piece) back

noun
  1. the act of retreating or withdrawing

  2. military

    • a withdrawal or retirement in the face of the enemy

    • a bugle call signifying withdrawal or retirement, esp (formerly) to within a defended fortification

  1. retirement or seclusion

  2. a place, such as a sanatorium or monastery, to which one may retire for refuge, quiet, etc

  3. a period of seclusion, esp for religious contemplation

  4. an institution, esp a private one, for the care and treatment of people who are mentally ill, infirm, elderly, etc

Origin of retreat

1
C14: from Old French retret, from retraire to withdraw, from Latin retrahere to pull back; see retract

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with retreat

retreat

see beat a retreat.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.