retreat

American  

[ri-treet] / rɪˈtrit /

noun

• retreats
  plural

1. the forced or strategic withdrawal of an army or an armed force before an enemy, or the withdrawing of a naval force from action.

   Antonyms:

   advance

2. the act of withdrawing, as into safety or privacy; retirement; seclusion.

   Synonyms:

   withdrawal, departure

3. a place of refuge, seclusion, or privacy.

   The library was his retreat.

   Synonyms:

   shelter

4. an asylum, as for the insane.

5. a retirement or a period of retirement for religious exercises and meditation.

6. Military.

   1. a flag-lowering ceremony held at sunset on a military post.

   2. the bugle call or drumbeat played at this ceremony.

7. the recession of a surface, as a wall or panel, from another surface beside it.

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verb (used without object)

• retreats,
  present (3rd person singular)
• retreated,
  past participle,  past
• retreating
  present participle

1. to withdraw, retire, or draw back, especially for shelter or seclusion.

   Synonyms:

   leave

   Antonyms:

   advance, engage

2. to make a retreat.

   The army retreated.

   Antonyms:

   advance, engage

3. to slope backward; recede.

   a retreating chin.

4. to draw or lead back.

idioms

1. beat a retreat, to withdraw or retreat, especially hurriedly or in disgrace.

retreat British  

/ rɪˈtriːt /

verb

1. military to withdraw or retire in the face of or from action with an enemy, either due to defeat or in order to adopt a more favourable position

2. to retire or withdraw, as to seclusion or shelter

3. (of a person's features) to slope back; recede

4. (tr) chess to move (a piece) back

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noun

1. the act of retreating or withdrawing

2. military

   1. a withdrawal or retirement in the face of the enemy

   2. a bugle call signifying withdrawal or retirement, esp (formerly) to within a defended fortification

3. retirement or seclusion

4. a place, such as a sanatorium or monastery, to which one may retire for refuge, quiet, etc

5. a period of seclusion, esp for religious contemplation

6. an institution, esp a private one, for the care and treatment of people who are mentally ill, infirm, elderly, etc

retreat More Idioms  

1. see beat a retreat.

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Synonym Usage

See depart.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• retreater
  noun
• retreatal
  adjective
• retreative
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• retreats
  plural

Participles

• retreating
  present
• retreated
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• retreat
  simple
• retreats
  simple
• have retreated
  perfect
• has retreated
  perfect
• am retreating
  progressive
• are retreating
  progressive
• is retreating
  progressive
• have been retreating
  perfect progressive
• has been retreating
  perfect progressive

Past

• retreated
  simple
• had retreated
  perfect
• was retreating
  progressive
• were retreating
  progressive
• had been retreating
  perfect progressive

Future

• will retreat
  simple
• will have retreated
  perfect
• will be retreating
  progressive
• will have been retreating
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of retreat

First recorded in 1300–50; (for the noun) Middle English retret, from Old French, variant of retrait, noun use of past participle of retraire “to draw back,” from Latin retrahere ( retract ¹ ); (for the verb) late Middle English retreten, from Middle French retraitier, from Latin retractāre “to reconsider, withdraw” ( retract ² )

Explanation

The noun retreat means a place you can go to be alone, to get away from it all. A spot under a shady tree might be your favorite retreat from the sun, or your bedroom in the basement may serve as a retreat from your siblings. In the military sense, the noun retreat means the withdrawal of troops. The British retreat after the Battles of Lexington and Concord gave the American colonists an early taste of victory during the American Revolution. As a verb, retreat means to back out of something — like a lawyer who is forced to retreat from his argument when the opposing evidence is too convincing.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

retreat retreats retreated retreating

When scientists exposed laboratory-grown neurons to blood plasma collected from participants after the retreat, the neurons developed longer branches and formed more connections.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 9, 2026

“It’s unlikely, despite the difficulties of the economic situation, that Iran will retreat from its positions,” he said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2026

Kreinbrink turned her experience into a wellness retreat business where people travel to Tuscany with her to harvest olives for olive oil, make wine and craft cheese on the farm, alongside local farmers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 8, 2026

Often, a low put-call ratio is a sign that investors are overly ebullient and can thus be seen as a contrarian indicator, presaging a market retreat.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 7, 2026

The Germans were now in full retreat as the American armies marched toward Nazi Germany.

From "Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

He began with a series of intimate dinners and group-coaching sessions, and has since expanded to executive retreats.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026

Buddhism-themed tourism is thriving and tens of thousands of locals and foreigners sign up every year for "temple stay" retreats where they eat simple monastic food, do chores and meditate.

From Barron's ● Jul. 7, 2026

For now, it's the slowest of retreats from the States, the memory of those early days in New York and New Jersey now dimmed, the hope of the 4-0 win over Bolivia crushed to bits.

From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2026

To complete the trap, the spider wraps the cone with a thinner type of silk and quickly retreats upward.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 26, 2026

Not counting Holy Week, Sundays, holy days of obligation, first Fridays, retreats, sacrifices, and cyclical impediments, her effective year was reduced to forty-two days that were spread out through a web of purple crosses.

From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

While pressures on global energy supplies remain in place, travel stocks advanced Monday, while the S&P energy sector retreated 2%.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026

She said she felt self-conscious about her appearance post-surgery and retreated further from the public.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026

On both Monday and Tuesday, SpaceX nearly retreated to its IPO price of $135 a share, which valued the company at more than $1.7 trillion.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 15, 2026

After his shock loss in Paris, Sinner retreated from competitive action and did not play a tournament leading up to Wimbledon.

From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026

Franz, who now realized that knocking Isa over was one of his poorer decisions of the year, retreated slowly to Hyacinth, who stood in the bathroom doorway, still dripping.

From "The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street" by Karina Yan Glaser

If this ice begins retreating quickly, the process can become difficult to stop or reverse.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 23, 2026

France couldn’t even score into an open net, with Desire Doue lining a low shot right at a rapidly retreating Simón, who had come well off his line and left the goal unattended.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026

You could see Gauff ramp up the aggression in set two but, instead of retreating, Muchova managed to play even more shots inside the baseline in the third set.

From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026

Australian equities briefly pared losses on release of the data before retreating back to their previous level.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026

Briony imagined that retreating footsteps in the wide polished corridors had a muffled, apologetic sound, where once they had been bright and efficient.

From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan

Related Words

• abandon
• back down
• back off
• backtrack
• depart
• escape
• evacuate
• fall back
• go
• go back
• hide
• leave
• pull out
• recede
• reel
• retire
• reverse
• shrink
• withdraw