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 If something is withdrawn from circulation, it can also be retired.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.
“In this country, CEOs don’t really retire, they just become professional directors.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
I’ve been planning to wait until 70 to begin collecting Social Security and retire ime.
From MarketWatch ● 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
The letter is accompanied by another exorbitant amount of money, enough for Herr Thiessen to retire comfortably if he wished.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
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
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
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
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
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
He retired from international football in 2004, but was persuaded to return during qualifying for the 2006 World Cup.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
“I was extremely happily retired, I will say. And I felt like I was a role model for retirement,” Schulman, now 68 years old, said at a Wall Street Journal event.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
His aunt still worked, but his uncle had retired early because of a bad back and would be home.
From "Not Nothing" by Gayle Forman
The Sparks paid homage to DeLisha Milton-Jones by retiring her No. 8 jersey in an emotional halftime ceremony.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 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
And one in five Americans believes Social Security is all that’s necessary, even though it replaces only 40% of the average worker’s wages when retiring at age 65.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 23, 2026
Alaska also plans to replace Hawaiian Airlines’s retiring Boeing 717 fleet with Hawaiian-branded Boeing 737-800 aircraft, with an enhanced onboard experience and Honolulu-based pilots and flight attendants.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 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
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.
