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Retract   /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.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Retract" Quotes from Famous Books



... sinners, and break all the commands, yet come to particulars, and I know not one of twenty that will cordially or seriously take with almost any sin. Yea, what you have granted in a general, you retract and deny it in all the particulars, which declares both that even that which you seem to know, you are altogether strangers to the real truth of it, and that you are over blinded with a fond love of yourselves. I know not to ...
— The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning • Hugh Binning
... to Sir Red Cap in the wall, "I know not why you stick your ugly head out of the mud, but retract it, I pray you! For do you not see that it alarms the lady and ...
— Red Axe • Samuel Rutherford Crockett
... straightforward and peremptory warning was justified by its effects; that Bismarck was taken aback and discomfited by the resolute attitude of the French ministry, supported enthusiastically by the Chamber of Deputies; and that Prince Antoine was thereby so intimidated as to compel his son Leopold to retract his acceptance of the Spanish crown. On the other hand, this stern language alarmed cautious deputies, and though it stirred Paris to a pitch of wild excitement it was read with uneasiness in the cooler air of ...
— Studies in Literature and History • Sir Alfred Comyn Lyall
... pass the worm at all. If you don't retract it wholly I shall put you down at the first tram, and let you get back ...
— Winding Paths • Gertrude Page
... chisel, with words, ideas, theories, systems. Civilization is atrocious! It denies bread to the men who give it luxury. It starves them on sneers and curses, the beggarly rascal! My words may be strong, but I shall not retract them. Well, this great but neglected man comes to us; we recognize his greatness; we salute him with respect; we listen to him. He says to us: 'Gentlemen, my life and talents are worth so much; on my productions I will pay you such or such percentage.' Very good; what do we do? Instantly, ...
— The Illustrious Gaudissart • Honore de Balzac


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