RETRACT • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • 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

... prevent litigious suits, and conciliate differences. And no suit is to be commenced before the parties have discussed the dispute at their weekly meeting. If a reconciliation should, in consequence, take place, it is to be registered, and the parties are not allowed to retract. ...

— Letters written during a short residence in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark • Mary Wollstonecraft

... forth from the lists, and conducted Huon to Charlemagne. The Emperor, however, listening to nothing but his resentment and grief for the death of his son, refused to be satisfied; and under the plea that Huon had not succeeded in making his accuser retract his charge seemed resolved to confiscate his estates and to banish him forever from France. It was not till after long entreaties on the part of Duke Namo and the rest that he consented to grant Huon his pardon, under conditions which ...

— Bulfinch's Mythology • Thomas Bulfinch

... sure a week or two at Bourhill will do wonders for poor Lizzie Hepburn. If you saw her you would be quite sorry for her. She is such an interesting girl, so beautiful, and she has a great deal of character, quite different from Christina. I have asked them down, and of course I can't retract my invitations; they may have gone down to Miss Peck already, for aught I know. Promise to come down to Bourhill and see poor Lizzie, then I am sure you will say ...

— The Guinea Stamp - A Tale of Modern Glasgow • Annie S. Swan

... in giving you what I am about to give you, I show a high appreciation of your character. I remember now what my present is. I had an awful night in consequence of it. I felt as though one of my limbs was being severed from my body. Nevertheless, my dear, I don't retract nor go back, for that is not my way. I give you this most noble gift with a distinct object. I have lately been examining all your foreheads. Although I have appeared to take little notice of you, I have watched you as day by day I have enjoyed the excellent food provided ...

— Girls of the Forest • L. T. Meade

... for when Tigellinus bent over him and inquired once again, "Wilt thou retract?" his white lips moved slightly, and from them came the barely ...

— Quo Vadis - A Narrative of the Time of Nero • Henryk Sienkiewicz

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