recede
1 Americanverb (used without object)
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to go or move away; retreat; go to or toward a more distant point; withdraw.
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to become more distant.
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(of a color, form, etc., on a flat surface) to move away or be perceived as moving away from an observer, especially as giving the illusion of space.
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to slope backward.
a chin that recedes.
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to draw back or withdraw from a conclusion, viewpoint, undertaking, promise, etc.
verb (used with object)
verb
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to withdraw from a point or limit; go back
the tide receded
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to become more distant
hopes of rescue receded
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to slope backwards
apes have receding foreheads
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(of a man's hair) to cease to grow at the temples and above the forehead
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(of a man) to start to go bald in this way
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to decline in value or character
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(usually foll by from) to draw back or retreat, as from a promise
Etymology
Origin of recede1
First recorded in 1470–80; from Latin recēdere “to go back, fall back”; equivalent to re- + cede
Origin of recede2
Explanation
Recede means to pull back, retreat, or become faint or distant. Flood waters recede, as do glaciers, and even abstractions like "panic" and "hope." Think "receding hairline." (That means bald.) Cede means "to yield." Politicians, after losing an election will "cede the field" or "concede the race." Recede means to yield back. Over time, this word has taken on the sense of fading or growing faint, as in "The ghostly vision of a woman receded into the fog."
Vocabulary lists containing recede
"The Most Dangerous Game" by Richard Connell
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Hatchet
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List 8
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The fair wild fields and the circling downs, The bright sweet marshes and meads All glorious with flowerlike weeds, The great grey churches, the sea-washed towns, Recede as a dream recedes.
From Poems and Ballads (Third Series) Taken from The Collected Poetical Works of Algernon Charles Swinburne—Vol. III by Swinburne, Algernon Charles
Soon, soon, our fading forms Recede into the sea, Which, dark with all its storms, Will veil our hearts from thee.
From Soldier Songs and Love Songs by Laidlaw, A. H. (Alexander Hamilton)
Recede as far as he would from the gross foreground places, Helen's choice of him, Helen's love—for after a fashion, Helen must have loved him—gave him a final and unquestionable value.
From Franklin Kane by Sedgwick, Anne Douglas
I can not Recede now, though it shake the very walls Which frown above us.
From The Works of Lord Byron. Vol. 5 Poetry by Coleridge, Ernest Hartley
Recede not, frown not, rather let us be Deprived of being than of Liberty, Let fraud or malice blacken all our crimes, No disaffection stains these peaceful climes.
From Dealings with the Dead, Volume I (of 2) by School, A Sexton of the Old
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
