ret
verb (used with object)
to soak in water or expose to moisture, as flax or hemp, to facilitate the removal of the fiber from the woody tissue by partial rotting.
ret
1 American
[ret]
/ rɛt /
verb (used with object)
retted,
retting
ret.
2
American
abbreviation
-
retain.
-
retired.
-
return.
-
returned.
ret
British
/ rɛt /
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of ret
1400–50; late Middle English reten, retten; cognate with Dutch reten (compare Dutch roten, German rössen, Swedish röta ); akin to rot
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The energy provider used to be able to source equipment from within Ukraine, but now it has to scour the ret of Europe for replacement parts.
From BBC ● Dec. 16, 2025
The priests removed the image and Anei Kur was ret.
From Time Magazine Archive
Nearer the end I picked out the following: "I promised his maj ... e will find me here when he ret ... alone."
From The Lost Continent by Burroughs, Edgar Rice
Got uh brother libin' ret on dis here street; one den toof doctors, yuh know, what pulls yer teef.
From Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery in the United States, From Interviews with Former Slaves Virginia Narratives by Work Projects Administration
Uster go down dere, an' dem Yankees be sittin' all 'long de road wid dey blue coats; ret pretty site; 'twas.
From Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery in the United States, From Interviews with Former Slaves Virginia Narratives by Work Projects Administration
Breaking removes the woody center from the retted and dried flax by being passed through a series of fluted rollers.
From Textiles and Clothing by Watson, Kate Heintz
That which was retted at Millisle was pronounced superior to the other” ...
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 4 "Finland" to "Fleury, Andre" by Various
Both lots when retted and scutched were examined by an inspector of the department and by several flax spinners.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 4 "Finland" to "Fleury, Andre" by Various
He first hoped to ret his flax in the Bride river, as he had seen it retted on the Lys, but was dissuaded from making this trial and, instead, built a hot water rettery.
From The Spinners by Phillpotts, Eden
A considerable amount of flax grown elsewhere in Europe is sent to this part of Belgium to be retted.
From Commercial Geography A Book for High Schools, Commercial Courses, and Business Colleges by Redway, Jacques W. (Jacques Wardlaw)
The stalks are sometimes set up in shocks to cure before retting, and after retting they are set up in shocks to dry.
From Hemp Hurds as Paper-Making Material United States Department of Agriculture, Bulletin No. 404 by Dewey, Lyster H. (Lyster Hoxie)
The bacillus which produces the "retting" is known now, however, and it has been shown that the "retting" is a process of decomposition of the pectin cement.
From The Story of Germ Life by Conn, H. W. (Herbert William)
To a large extent retting continues to be conducted in the primitive fashions above described, although numerous and persistent attempts have been made to improve upon it, or to avoid the process altogether.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 4 "Finland" to "Fleury, Andre" by Various
Warm water retting and chemical retting have met with limited success.
From Textiles and Clothing by Watson, Kate Heintz
From the earliest times two leading processes of retting have been practised, termed respectively water-retting and dew-retting; and as no method has yet been introduced which satisfactorily supersedes these operations, they will first be described.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 4 "Finland" to "Fleury, Andre" by Various
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.
