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retreative

 - 3 dictionary results

re⋅treat

  [ri-treet]
Use retreative in a Sentence
–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)
8. to withdraw, retire, or draw back, esp. 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.
—Idiom
12. beat a retreat, to withdraw or retreat, esp. hurriedly or in disgrace.
Origin:
1300–50; (n.) ME retret < OF, var. of retrait, n. use of ptp. of retraire to draw back < L retrahere (re- re- + trahere to draw; see retract 1 ); (v.) late ME retreten < MF retraitier < L retractāre to retract 2

Related forms:
re⋅treat⋅al, adjective
re⋅treat⋅er, noun
re⋅treat⋅ive, adjective

Synonyms:
2. departure, withdrawal. 3. shelter. 8. leave, pull back. See depart.

Antonyms:
1, 8, 9. advance.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Word Origin & History

retreat  (n.)
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, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Legal Dictionary

Main Entry: re·treat
Function: noun
: the act or process of withdrawing from a dangerous situation
NOTE: Many jurisdictions require that a person must have at least attempted a retreat, if it was possible to do so with safety, in order for a defense of self-defense to prevail. Retreat from an attack in one's own home, however, is usually not required. —retreat verb
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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