retirement

American  

[ri-tahyuhr-muhnt] / rɪˈtaɪər mənt /

noun

retirements plural

1. 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.

2. the portion of a person's life during which a person is retired.

   What will you do in retirement?

3. a pension or other income on which a retired person lives.

   His retirement is barely enough to pay the rent.

4. 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.

5. removal of something from service or use.

   retirement of the space shuttle fleet.

6. withdrawal of a jury from a courtroom to deliberate in private on a verdict.

7. orderly withdrawal of a military force, according to plan, without pressure from the enemy.

8. withdrawal of securities from the market by a corporation, as through payment at maturity, repurchase, or exchange.

9. withdrawal into privacy or seclusion.

10. privacy or seclusion.

11. a private or secluded place.

12. 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.

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adjective

1. noting or pertaining to retirement.

   retirement pay.

retirement British  

/ rɪˈtaɪəmənt /

noun

1. 1. the act of retiring from one's work, office, etc

   2. ( as modifier )

      retirement age

2. the period of being retired from work

   she had many plans for her retirement

3. seclusion from the world; privacy

4. the act of going away or retreating

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonretirement
  noun
• semiretirement
  noun
• postretirement
  adjective
• preretirement
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• retirements
  plural

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."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

retirement retirements

By selling inside his retirement account, he avoided a federal capital-gains tax of as much as 20% of his profits, saving himself around $9 million in federal taxes that he could reinvest in other securities.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026

Over the years, he has sold $237 million of those shares tax-free inside his retirement accounts, saving more than $40 million in taxes he would have paid in a taxable account.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026

The effect is to reduce the size of future retirement payments.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 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

We had to wait to be seated at the restaurant because Sunday brunch is a major social custom in Florida retirement communities.

From "The View From Saturday" by E.L. Konigsburg

If this benefit cut occurs, workers will need longer, not shorter, careers to shore up their retirements.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 17, 2026

In a victim impact statement read to the court, her partner said that the couple were looking forward to spending their retirements together.

From BBC ● May 22, 2026

It has taken on renewed importance in the past year as an indicator that highlights both worker demand from employers and the labor supply as curtailed immigration and retirements restrict available workers.

From Barron's ● May 22, 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

Do their secret retirements witness the earnestness of their prayers and the warmth of their thanksgivings, their diligence and impartiality in the necessary work of self-examination, their mindfulness of the benevolent duty of intercession?

From A Practical View of the Prevailing Religious System of Professed Christians, in the Middle and Higher Classes in this Country, Contrasted with Real Christianity. by Wilberforce, William

Related Words

• evacuation
• pullout
• withdrawal