retreat
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Dictionary.com Unabridged
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.
3.
a place of refuge, seclusion, or privacy: The library was his retreat.
4.
an asylum, as for the insane.
5.
a retirement or a period of retirement for religious exercises and meditation.
6.
Military.
a.
a flag-lowering ceremony held at sunset on a military post.
b.
the bugle call or drumbeat played at this ceremony.
7.
the recession of a surface, as a wall or panel, from another surface beside it.
verb (used without object)
Idioms 8.
to withdraw, retire, or draw back, especially for shelter or seclusion.
9.
to make a retreat: The army retreated.
10.
to slope backward; recede: a retreating chin.
11.
to draw or lead back.
12.
beat a retreat, to withdraw or retreat, especially hurriedly or in disgrace.
Origin:
1300–50; (noun) Middle English retret < Old French, variant of retrait, noun use of past participle of retraire to draw back < Latin retrahere (re- re- + trahere to draw; see retract1); (v.) late Middle English retreten < Middle French retraitier < Latin retractāre to retract2
1300–50; (noun) Middle English retret < Old French, variant of retrait, noun use of past participle of retraire to draw back < Latin retrahere (re- re- + trahere to draw; see retract1); (v.) late Middle English retreten < Middle French retraitier < Latin retractāre to retract2
Related forms
re·treat·al, adjective
re·treat·er, noun
re·treat·ive, adjective
Antonyms
1, 8, 9. advance.
1, 8, 9. advance.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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|
Link To retreat
00:10
Retreat
is one of our favorite verbs.
So is absquatulate. Does it mean:
| to steal or take dishonestly (money, esp. public funds, or property entrusted to one's care); embezzle. |
| to flee; abscond: |
Collins
World English Dictionary
retreat (rɪˈtriːt) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —vb | |
| 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 |
| 3. | (of a person's features) to slope back; recede |
| 4. | (tr) chess to move (a piece) back |
| —n | |
| 5. | the act of retreating or withdrawing |
| 6. | military |
| a. a withdrawal or retirement in the face of the enemy | |
| b. a bugle call signifying withdrawal or retirement, esp (formerly) to within a defended fortification | |
| 7. | retirement or seclusion |
| 8. | a place, such as a sanatorium or monastery, to which one may retire for refuge, quiet, etc |
| 9. | a period of seclusion, esp for religious contemplation |
| 10. | an institution, esp a private one, for the care and treatment of people who are mentally ill, infirm, elderly, etc |
| [C14: from Old French retret, from retraire to withdraw, from Latin retrahere to pull back; see | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
retreat
c.1300, from O.Fr. retret, noun use of pp. of retrere "draw back," from L. retrahere "draw back," from re- "back" + trahere "to draw" (see tract (1)). Meaning "place of seclusion" is from 1423; sense of "establishment for mentally ill persons" is from 1797. The verb is first attested 1422.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Example sentences
Geologists had predicted the plunge for weeks, citing the retreat of an underlying glacier that had held the rock in place.
The retreat into irrelevance is visible all across the humanities curriculum.
But the successes of the green revolution are in retreat.
Some years afterward a warming trend forced it into retreat.
Idioms & Phrases
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