retirement
Americannoun
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the act of retiring or of leaving one's job, career, or occupation permanently, usually because of age.
I'm looking forward to my retirement from teaching.
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the portion of a person's life during which a person is retired.
What will you do in retirement?
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a pension or other income on which a retired person lives.
His retirement is barely enough to pay the rent.
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the act of retiring, withdrawing, or leaving; the state of being retired.
After a competitive day on the golf course, she enjoys a quiet retirement to the residents' lounge.
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removal of something from service or use.
retirement of the space shuttle fleet.
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withdrawal of a jury from a courtroom to deliberate in private on a verdict.
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orderly withdrawal of a military force, according to plan, without pressure from the enemy.
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withdrawal of securities from the market by a corporation, as through payment at maturity, repurchase, or exchange.
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withdrawal into privacy or seclusion.
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privacy or seclusion.
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a private or secluded place.
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Baseball, Cricket. the act or instance of the defense putting out or ending the offensive play of a batter, runner, side, etc.
The retirement of the Brewers in the third inning came only after they scored six more runs.
adjective
noun
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the act of retiring from one's work, office, etc
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( as modifier )
retirement age
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the period of being retired from work
she had many plans for her retirement
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seclusion from the world; privacy
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the act of going away or retreating
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of retirement
First recorded in 1530–40; retire + -ment ( def. )
Explanation
Retirement is when someone stops working, usually after many years, to take a break or start a new occupation. In order to consider retirement, a worker must usually have saved enough money to stop working. This most commonly happens after years at a job, and retirement is often a cause of celebration. Sometimes, as in "early retirement," a much younger person is able to stop working for pay — in some cases, because she's become wealthy from a business venture. The Middle French root word is retirer, "to withdraw."
Vocabulary lists containing retirement
Talk Like Shakespeare Day, List 5
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This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for November 13–November 19, 2021
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"Principles of Business," Vocabulary from Chapter 16
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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.
See Examples For:
IRAs and workplace retirement accounts were created to help working Americans save for old age by providing tax incentives for doing so.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
The Journal used those documents to identify insiders who held large numbers of shares in IRAs or workplace retirement plans and to calculate values for these holdings.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
You may have read that Fidelity says a 65-year-old retiring this year can expect to spend an average of $185,500 on health expenses through retirement, not including long-term-care or dental costs.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026
A 2024 Vanguard analysis underscored that while most Australians saw superannuation as crucial to their retirement, they were unaware of how much super funds were charging.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
In return, IOI gave you a bimonthly paycheck, food, lodging, health-care benefits, and a retirement plan.
From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline
If this benefit cut occurs, workers will need longer, not shorter, careers to shore up their retirements.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 17, 2026
He's one point behind Piastri in the championship, but then he's had three retirements to the Australian's two.
From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026
Four years ago, amid soaring postpandemic inflation, WM decided to let 5,000 to 7,000 jobs companywide go unfilled after resignations and retirements.
From Barron's ● Jun. 17, 2026
The council voted 12 to 1 to approve Bass’s spending plan, which called for the hiring of 510 Los Angeles Police Department officers to offset resignations and retirements.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 21, 2026
All my slighted duties, cold retirements, and small returns for love unselfish even unto death, I cast into the abyss of His mercy.
From All the Days of My Life: An Autobiography The Red Leaves of a Human Heart by Barr, Amelia Edith Huddleston
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.
