retreat
noun
the forced or strategic withdrawal of an army or an armed force before an enemy, or the withdrawing of a naval force from action.
were retreating
-
past progressiveof retreat.past progressive
Used to describe an ongoing action or continuous state that was happening at a specific time in the past.
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.
U.S. stock futures were retreating, led by tech-focused Nasdaq-100 contracts, and global markets were mostly lower.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 28, 2026
But investors were retreating from risky assets and shifting into bonds.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 20, 2025
Those worries were retreating by midday on Thursday.
From Reuters ● Oct. 26, 2023
Later, in the last weeks of the war, the German invaders were retreating, and, the soldiers apparently decided to bury the treasure.
From BBC ● Jan. 13, 2023
We were retreating not simply from Great-Bridge, but from Norfolk itself.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
