to withdraw from one's career, occupation, or office, usually because of age.
to retire at the age of sixty.
to withdraw, or go away or apart, to a place of privacy, shelter, or seclusion.
He retired to his study.
to go to bed.
He retired at midnight.
to fall back or retreat in an orderly fashion and according to plan, as from battle, an untenable position, danger, etc.
to withdraw or remove oneself.
After announcing the guests, the butler retired.
to withdraw from circulation by taking up and paying, as bonds, bills, etc.; redeem.
to withdraw or lead back (troops, ships, etc.), as from battle or danger; retreat.
to remove from active service or the usual field of activity, as an army officer or business executive.
to withdraw (a machine, ship, etc.) permanently from its normal service, usually for scrapping; take out of use.
Baseball, Cricket. to put out or end the offensive play of (a batter, runner, side, etc.).
The pitcher’s on fire, retiring the last five hitters with strikeouts.
With two runners stranded on base, the side is retired.
a place of withdrawal; retreat.
a cool retire from summer's heat.
retirement or withdrawal, as from worldly matters or the company of others.
(also tr) to give up or to cause (a person) to give up his work, a post, etc, esp on reaching pensionable age (in Britain and Australia usually 65 for men, 60 for women)
to go away, as into seclusion, for recuperation, etc
to go to bed
to recede or disappear
the sun retired behind the clouds
to withdraw from a sporting contest, esp because of injury
(also tr) to pull back (troops, etc) from battle or an exposed position or (of troops, etc) to fall back
(tr)
to remove (bills, bonds, shares, etc) from circulation by taking them up and paying for them
to remove (money) from circulation
See depart.
First recorded in 1525–35; from Middle French retirer “to withdraw, pull back,” equivalent to re- re- + tirer “to draw”
< French, past participle of retirer to retire
If you stop working by choice and leave your position or occupation, you retire. If you are lucky, you can retire early in order to sail around the world, but most people can't retire until they are old enough to collect retirement benefits. If you go to bed in the evening, you retire. If your younger siblings are being loud and obnoxious, you can retire to the basement to get some privacy and quiet. If something is withdrawn from circulation, it can also be retired. When a beloved player leaves a sports team, often the number assigned to him or her is retired and no one else can use that number.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“I put $125,000 into my house, and now a nuclear reactor is coming to town,” said Jerel Johnson, an IT professional who planned to retire in Parsons.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
He told us he was contacted twice by text and offered a massive bribe - "enough money to retire on".
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
I’ll bet everyone except Rich Paul is hoping he’ll retire and free everyone else from the never-ending guessing game.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2026
Bowls great Alex "Tattie" Marshall will be making his eighth Games appearance and para-cycling star Neil Fachie will retire after riding both men's tandem events.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
She had not been sorry to retire when she did.
From "The View From Saturday" by E.L. Konigsburg
For added strength, use might be made of a linen thread at the back, as in the point couché rentré ou retiré method that is discussed later.
From Embroidery and Tapestry Weaving by Christie, Grace
He retires with seven wins, three seconds and three thirds from 14 starts, with earnings of $4,770,755.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
Weiner is set to become executive chairman-designate in October and fully assume the role after Domino’s current executive chairman, David Brandon, retires next year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026
Bazer is still working as a full professor at Texas A&M University College of Agriculture & Life Sciences and tax law doesn’t require him to take RMDs until he retires later this year.
From Barron's ● Jun. 13, 2026
After 10 years, 86 caps and 20 goals, there is a scenario in which this man of the people retires as Scotland's men's leading scorer and most-capped player.
From BBC ● Jun. 11, 2026
Sometimes you have an old real science teacher who retires or quits and leaves you without a replacement.
From "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie
The report also found that households containing one or more retired adults was the HCI with the highest overall increase, at 5.2%.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
And facts so clean that a satirist would reject them as too on the nose: one six-pack, one dry village, one retired pilot, one $95,000 plane.
From Slate ● Jul. 28, 2026
But the retired Lebanese army general said it would be tough to replicate "in broader and more complex areas", particularly if Hezbollah sticks to its stance.
From Barron's ● Jul. 28, 2026
Cracker Barrel’s decision to select a 69-year-old former restaurant executive to lead the chain highlights the emerging practice of boards calling in retired chief executives from the sidelines to help engineer high-profile turnarounds.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
Millers, who was the other nurse, retired into the house, and by degrees the child’s wailing was hushed and stopped, as if it were a young ventriloquist with something in its mouth.
From "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens
But if you revisit interviews Donald did after retiring, you’ll notice how often and how quickly he’d get choked up.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 26, 2026
Republican Jon Bonck, in retiring Rep. Wesley Hunt’s seat, is worth about $2.3 million to $8.7 million.
From Salon ● Jul. 24, 2026
Separately, Albertsons said its number-two executive, Sharon McCollam, is retiring later this year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
Ben Stokes grabbed the headlines once again with a typically gutsy century on his return to competitive action for the first time since retiring from Test cricket three weeks ago.
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026
“I am not retiring now because I feel unable, mentally or physically, to do the necessary work,” she told the delegates at the meeting.
From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling
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.
