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• retire
  retire

  verb (used without object)

  to withdraw from one's career, occupation, or office, usually because of age.
• retiré
  retiré

  noun

  a movement in which the dancer brings one foot to the knee of the supporting leg and then returns it to the fifth position.

retire

¹ American  

[ri-tahyuhr] / rɪˈtaɪər /

verb (used without object)

• retires,
  present (3rd person singular)
• retired,
  past participle,  past
• retiring
  present participle

1. to withdraw from one's career, occupation, or office, usually because of age.

   to retire at the age of sixty.

2. to withdraw, or go away or apart, to a place of privacy, shelter, or seclusion.

   He retired to his study.

3. to go to bed.

   He retired at midnight.

4. to fall back or retreat in an orderly fashion and according to plan, as from battle, an untenable position, danger, etc.

5. to withdraw or remove oneself.

   After announcing the guests, the butler retired.

   Synonyms:

   withdraw, leave

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verb (used with object)

• retires,
  present (3rd person singular)
• retired,
  past participle,  past
• retiring
  present participle

1. to withdraw from circulation by taking up and paying, as bonds, bills, etc.; redeem.

2. to withdraw or lead back (troops, ships, etc.), as from battle or danger; retreat.

3. to remove from active service or the usual field of activity, as an army officer or business executive.

4. to withdraw (a machine, ship, etc.) permanently from its normal service, usually for scrapping; take out of use.

5. 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.

noun

Literary.

1. a place of withdrawal; retreat.

   a cool retire from summer's heat.

2. retirement or withdrawal, as from worldly matters or the company of others.

retiré ² American  

[ruh-tee-rey] / rə tiˈreɪ /

noun

Ballet.

• retirés
  plural

1. a movement in which the dancer brings one foot to the knee of the supporting leg and then returns it to the fifth position.

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retire British  

/ rɪˈtaɪə /

verb

1. (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)

2. to go away, as into seclusion, for recuperation, etc

3. to go to bed

4. to recede or disappear

   the sun retired behind the clouds

5. to withdraw from a sporting contest, esp because of injury

6. (also tr) to pull back (troops, etc) from battle or an exposed position or (of troops, etc) to fall back

7. (tr)

   1. to remove (bills, bonds, shares, etc) from circulation by taking them up and paying for them

   2. to remove (money) from circulation

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Synonym Usage

See depart.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• retirer
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• retirés
  plural

Participles

• retiring
  present
• retired
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• retire
  simple
• retires
  simple
• have retired
  perfect
• has retired
  perfect
• am retiring
  progressive
• are retiring
  progressive
• is retiring
  progressive
• have been retiring
  perfect progressive
• has been retiring
  perfect progressive

Past

• retired
  simple
• had retired
  perfect
• was retiring
  progressive
• were retiring
  progressive
• had been retiring
  perfect progressive

Future

• will retire
  simple
• will have retired
  perfect
• will be retiring
  progressive
• will have been retiring
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of retire¹

First recorded in 1525–35; from Middle French retirer “to withdraw, pull back,” equivalent to re- re- + tirer “to draw”

Origin of retiré²

< French, past participle of retirer to retire

Explanation

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

retire retiré retires retired retiring

Add Roth contributions or a taxable brokerage account so you retire with more than one lever to pull.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 6, 2026

McConnell plans to retire at the end of the year.

From Salon ● Aug. 6, 2026

Already set to retire at the end of the year, it’s becoming clear that McConnell is never coming back to the Senate chambers.

From Salon ● Aug. 3, 2026

He has been here for 10 years and it is time to rest a little bit and retire.

From BBC ● Aug. 2, 2026

She should therefore arrive some time in the morning; but as she cannot possibly get in before then, we are all about to retire early.

From "Dracula" by Bram Stoker

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

Nysos retires after eight wins and two seconds in 10 lifetime races, with earnings of nearly $5.3 million.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2026

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

But the question everybody is thinking, and nobody wants to mention, is 'what will we do when Messi retires'?

From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026

The executive was promoted last week to co-president, marking him as one of two top contenders to succeed Dimon when he retires.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026

When he retires from Bowdoin he has taught every subject in the curriculum except mathematics.

From "The Killer Angels: The Classic Novel of the Civil War" by Michael Shaara

Before they retired, their son died, which they say also influenced their decision to make the move.

From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026

“The whole thing is just ridiculous,” said Julie Shoup, 69 years old, a retired foster parent who supports Alberta remaining in Canada.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026

Lundberg, a Swede who is now retired, quit a prominent job at AstraZeneca in London to take a position at Lilly’s headquarters in Indianapolis.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026

Skubal retired the first six batters he faced, with the help of a sliding catch by center fielder Andy Pages and a diving grab by right fielder Kyle Tucker.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026

Once we retired to our hotel room, Aunt Kitty rushed to her pen and paper and began secretively writing a new message.

From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan

Lance is retiring after 14 years as ConocoPhillips’ top executive and more than four decades with the company.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

Ryan Lance is retiring next month after 14 years leading U.S. oil giant ConocoPhillips COP 1.03%increase; green up pointing triangle and will hand the top job to Chief Financial Officer Andy O’Brien.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

Since retiring from competitive diving, Woodward has been travelling around the world making social media videos about food and culture with his girlfriend, Chika Izumi - a former artistic swimmer on Japan's national team.

From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026

Romo, a former Dallas Cowboys quarterback, has been the color analyst on CBS’ lead team since retiring in 2016.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026

“I may see you only if I fulfill my dream of retiring in Honduras. You’ll see me when I’m old,” she says.

From "Enrique's Journey" by Sonia Nazario

Related Words

• depart
• go
• pull out
• relinquish
• remove
• retreat
• separate
• surrender
• withdraw