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

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Etymology

Origin of retirement

First recorded in 1530–40; retire + -ment ( def. )

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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

"Pensions should be sacrosanct," Pilar, who is 64 and close to retirement, told AFP, declining to give her surname.

From Barron's ● Oct. 24, 2026

Donald, who ended a two-year retirement to rejoin the Rams, is averaging just over 38 snaps a game.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 24, 2026

So this isn’t a money problem, but we can’t talk about retirement anymore without it turning into a fight.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 24, 2026

Many aging grandparents say they are fortunate that grandchildren arrived while they are enjoying their retirement years.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 24, 2026

I’m wondering if he should really be so eager to work at a school where the angry parents of the a cappella kids hounded the old music director into an early retirement.

From "Shine!" by J.J. and Chris Grabenstein

As pensions became scarce, Americans were forced to save for their own retirements — and many faltered.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 10, 2026

But with the retirements of Beaumont and Knight, two of England's finest, head coach Charlotte Edwards is building towards next summer's Ashes with places up for grabs in the top order.

From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026

If parents live into their 100s, heirs may not receive a meaningful inheritance until they are in their 60s or 70s, potentially after their own retirements have already begun.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 26, 2026

Their job is to invest assets to secure teachers’ retirements.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026

Similarly, retirements should be carried out at considerably increased intervals, by alternate batteries or sections if necessary, and care should be taken to travel quickly through the danger zone of hostile artillery fire.

From History of the War in South Africa 1899-1902 v. 1 (of 4) Compiled by Direction of His Majesty's Government by Great Britain. War Office

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Related Words

• evacuation
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