retract
/ɹɪˈtɹækt/ verb, noun
Forms retracts retracting retracted retractest retractedst retracteth
- verb To pull (something) back or back inside. “An airplane retracts its wheels for flight.”
- verb (specifically, zoology) To draw (an extended body part) back into the body. “A cat can retract its claws.”
- verb (rare) To avert (one's eyes or a gaze).
- verb (phonetics) To pronounce (a sound, especially a vowel) farther to the back of the vocal tract.
- verb (obsolete) To hold back (something); to restrain.
- verb (intransitive) To draw back; to draw up; to withdraw. “The bus was stuck at the stop as its wheelchair ramp wouldn’t retract after use.”
- noun An act of retracting or withdrawing (a mistake, a statement, etc.); a retraction.
- noun A pulling back, especially (military) of an army or military troops; a pull-back, a retreat; also, a signal for this to be done.
- noun (group theory) A subgroup of a given group such that there is a surjective endomorphism from the ambient group to the subgroup which is constant on the subgroup; in this case the subgroup is a retract of the ambient group. In symbols: H in G is a retract of G if there exists a surjective homomorphism σ from G to H with σ|_H= operatorname id.
- noun (topology) The target of a retraction.
- noun Synonym of retreat (“an act of accidentally injuring a horse's foot by incorrectly nailing it during shoeing”).
- verb To cancel or take back (something, such as an edict or a favour or grant previously bestowed); to rescind, to revoke.
- verb To break or fail to keep (a promise, etc.); to renege.
- verb To take back or withdraw (something that has been said or written); to disavow, to repudiate. “I retract all the accusations I made about the senator and sincerely hope he won’t sue me.”
- verb (games) Originally in chess and now in other games as well: to take back or undo (a move); specifically (card games) to take back or withdraw (a card which has been played).
- verb To decline or fail to do something promised; to break one's word.
- verb Of something said or written (such as published academic work): to take back or withdraw.
- verb (card games, archaic) To change one's mind after declaring an intention to make a certain move.
Synonyms
pull back retreat unsay unspeak walk back withcall withdraw abjure backpedal disavow disown eat one's words recall recant revoke swallow take back forswear resile shrink back draw back draw in
Antonyms
Etymology
From Late Middle English retracten, retract (“to absorb, draw in”), from Latin retractus (“withdrawn”), the perfect passive participle of Latin retrahō (“to draw or pull back, withdraw; to bring back; to compel to turn back; to recall; to get back, recover; to hold back, restrain, withhold; to remove, take away; to bring to light again; (Late Latin) to delay”), from re- (prefix meaning ‘again’) + trahō (“to drag, pull; to extract, withdraw”). Doublet of retreat.
* from retract (verb) (see etymology 1); and
* from Late Latin retractus (“a pulling back, retreat; refuge”), from Latin retractus (“withdrawn”), the perfect passive participle of Latin retrahō (“to draw or pull back, withdraw; to bring back; to compel to turn back; to recall; to get back, recover; to hold back, restrain, withhold; to remove, take away; to bring to light again; (Late Latin) to delay”) (see etymology 1) + -tus (suffix forming action nouns from verbs). Doublet of retrait, retreat, and ritratto.
From Middle French rétracter (“to annul; to reconsider; to withdraw”) (modern French rétracter (“to retract; to contract”)), and from its etymon Latin retractāre, the present active infinitive of retractō (“to retract, withdraw; to annul, revoke; to detract from; to undertake again; to reconsider; to remember; to decline, refuse”), from re- (prefix meaning ‘again’) + tractō (“to drag, haul, tug”) (from trahō (“to drag, pull; to extract, withdraw”) + -tō (frequentative suffix forming verbs)).
Webster’s 1913
- verb To draw back; to draw up or shorten; as, the cat can retract its claws; to retract a muscle.
- verb Ti withdraw; to recall; to disavow; to recant; to take back; as, to retract an accusation or an assertion.
- verb To draw back; to draw up; as, muscles retract after amputation.
- verb To take back what has been said; to withdraw a concession or a declaration.
Etymology [F. rétracter, L. retractare, retractatum, to handle again, reconsider, retract, fr. retrahere, retractum, to draw back. See Retreat.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “retract”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details