retreat
/ɹɪˈtɹiːt/ verb B2- To withdraw from a position, go back.
- To withdraw military forces. · The general refused to order his soldiers to retreat, despite being vastly outnumbered.
- To shrink back due to generally warmer temperatures. (of a glacier)
- To slope back. · a retreating forehead
He/she/it retreats · Past retreated · Past participle retreated · -ing form retreating
Verb forms
- Base form
- retreat
- He/she/it
- retreats
- Past
- retreated
- Past participle
- retreated
- -ing form
- retreating
From the library
Danglars retreated a step or two.
Darcy, she was directly retreating.
“I never in all my life saw or heard anything to equal her,” muttered Marilla, beating a retreat down to the cellar after potatoes.
Matthew Cuthbert’s father, as shy and silent as his son after him, had got as far away as he possibly could from his fellow men without actually retreating into the woods when he founded his homestead.
Other matches
Learn retreat in real texts
With a free account, hover any word in the library for its meaning, hear it read aloud, save words for review timed to your memory, and see how much of each book you already know.