recede

¹ American  

[ri-seed] / rɪˈsid /

verb (used without object)

receded, receding

1. to go or move away; retreat; go to or toward a more distant point; withdraw.

2. to become more distant.

3. (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.

4. to slope backward.

   a chin that recedes.

5. to draw back or withdraw from a conclusion, viewpoint, undertaking, promise, etc.

   Synonyms:

   retreat, retire

---

recede ² American  

[ree-seed] / riˈsid /

verb (used with object)

receded, receding

1. to cede back; yield or grant to a former possessor.

---

recede British  

/ rɪˈsiːd /

verb

1. to withdraw from a point or limit; go back

   the tide receded

2. to become more distant

   hopes of rescue receded

3. to slope backwards

   apes have receding foreheads

4. 1. (of a man's hair) to cease to grow at the temples and above the forehead

   2. (of a man) to start to go bald in this way

5. to decline in value or character

6. (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

First recorded in 1765–75; re- + cede

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."

Example Sentences

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

As the waves after ebb drawing seaward, When their hollows are full of the night, So the birds that flew singing to me-ward Recede out of sight.

From Poems & Ballads (First Series) by Swinburne, Algernon Charles

Audierat diabolus a Domino, Recede Sathanas, scandalum mihi es.

From The Traditional Text of the Holy Gospels by Burgon, John William

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

Now swift on either side the gathered clouds, As by a sudden touch of magic, wide Recede, and the fair face of heaven and earth Appears. 

From The Cambrian Sketch-Book Tales, Scenes, and Legends of Wild Wales by Davies, R. Rice

Related Words

• abate
• decrease
• diminish
• dwindle
• ebb
• fade
• fall back
• lessen
• reduce
• retreat
• shrink
• sink
• subside
• taper
• wane