RETRACT • FREE-TRANSLATOR.COM • Definition of Retract

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/ritrˈækt/ Listen

verb

Retract v. t. (past & past part. retracted; pres. part. retracting)

1.

To draw back; to draw up or shorten; as, the cat can retract its claws; to retract a muscle.

2.

To withdraw; to recall; to disavow; to recant; to take back; as, to retract an accusation or an assertion. "I would as freely have retracted this charge of idolatry as I ever made it."

3.

To take back,, as a grant or favor previously bestowed; to revoke. (Obs.)

Synonyms: To recall; withdraw; rescind; revoke; unsay; disavow; recant; abjure; disown.

Retract v. i.

1.

To draw back; to draw up; as, muscles retract after amputation.

2.

To take back what has been said; to withdraw a concession or a declaration. "She will, and she will not; she grants, denies, Consents, retracts, advances, and then files."

noun

Retract n. (Far.) The pricking of a horse's foot in nailing on a shoe.

See images of 'Retract'

Etymology of 'Retract'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Retract" Quotes from Famous Books

... Morton, with a smile; "that mute is a hero whose fame stands in the records of a dozen battles, and at least half as many bloody duels. Besides, he is the favorite emissary and bosom friend of Houston. If I have the good fortune to kill him, I think it will tempt the president to retract his vow against venturing any more on the field ...

— Thrilling Adventures by Land and Sea • James O. Brayman

... father," interposed Miss Haviland, with much feeling. "Do not, I beg of you, further and more inextricably involve yourself. You know how gladly I would have saved you from this; how often warned you of the consequences of persisting in your course. Perhaps it is not too late to retract, even now. Who knows but the council, who have done this but from a sense of duty to their country, and with no ill will against you personally, may yet be induced, if you will send in a pledge of neutrality, to reverse their ...

— The Rangers - [Subtitle: The Tory's Daughter] • D. P. Thompson

... recollection serves me, that nothing better was to be found there as food for the people than sheeps' heads and boiled bagpipes; to which he retorted by asserting that we west-country folks were little better than heathens and had no more manners than blackamoors. As neither of us would retract what we had said, it was decided that our dispute could alone be settled by mortal combat. Pistols, we were aware, were the most gentlemanly weapons to be employed on such occasions; but we found that it would be impossible to obtain ...

— Hurricane Hurry • W.H.G. Kingston

... men to the highest stations. Besides, it is a presumption inherent in the Parisians to believe that they never can be mistaken. To reason with them on taste is useless; it is impossible to compel them to retract when they have once said "Cela ...

— Paris As It Was and As It Is • Francis W. Blagdon

... the matter before his partner could retract this somewhat grudging consent, Morris Perlmutter stalked out of the sample-room and made resolutely for the glass-enclosed office, where Miss Cohen was busy writing in a ledger. She looked up as he entered, and surveyed him calmly ...

— Abe and Mawruss - Being Further Adventures of Potash and Perlmutter • Montague Glass

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