withdrawal
[with-draw-uh l, -drawl, with-]
- Also with·draw·ment. the act or condition of withdrawing.
- Pharmacology. the act or process of ceasing to use an addictive drug.
- coitus interruptus.
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Origin of withdrawal
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for withdrawal
Contemporary Examples
It announced a withdrawal from the French shore due to invincible enemy resistance.
Firsthand accounts from Sinjar paint a picture of withdrawal without a fight and without warning the local population.
How the U.S.-favored Kurds Abandoned the Yazidis when ISIS AttackedChristine van den Toorn
August 17, 2014
The withdrawal from Sector D leaves several other border crossings open.
Ukrainian Troops Retreat From Russian Border, Leaving 100 Kilometers Open to InvasionPierre Vaux
August 12, 2014
“We are paying the price for inaction and we are paying the price for withdrawal,” said McCain.
McCain Calls Obama's 'Pinprick' Iraq Strikes 'Meaningless' and 'Almost Worse Than Nothing'Josh Rogin
August 8, 2014
Yet while sanctions like these can be painful, they can also make Putin more adamantly resistant to withdrawal from Ukraine.
Historical Examples
At length the withdrawal was completed, and the brigade returned to camp.
The Story of the Malakand Field ForceSir Winston S. Churchill
Let me have your note of withdrawal before you leave town this afternoon.
The Gentleman From IndianaBooth Tarkington
This firm was dissolved in 1865, by the withdrawal of Mr. Thatcher.
Cleveland Past and PresentMaurice Joblin
Her withdrawal had hinted at other things besides disease and pain.
Howards EndE. M. Forster
The case had been dropped: the Honorable Heman had announced its withdrawal.
Cy Whittaker's PlaceJoseph C. Lincoln
withdrawal
- an act or process of withdrawing; retreat, removal, or detachment
- the period a drug addict goes through following abrupt termination in the use of narcotics, usually characterized by physical and mental symptoms (withdrawal symptoms)
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for withdrawal
n.
1820s, "act of taking back," also "retraction of a statement," from withdraw + -al (2). Earlier words in the same sense were withdrawment (1640s); withdraught (mid-14c.). Meaning "removal of money from a bank, etc." is from 1861; psychological sense is from 1916; meaning "physical reaction to the cessation of an addictive substance" is from 1929 (with an isolated use from 1897; withdrawal symptoms is from 1924). As a synonym for coitus interruptus from 1889.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
withdrawal
(wĭð-drô′əl, wĭth-)- Detachment, as from social or emotional involvement.
- Discontinuation of the use of an addictive substance.
- The physiological and mental readjustment that accompanies such discontinuation.
- A pattern of behavior, observed in schizophrenia and depression, that is characterized by a pathological retreat from interpersonal contact and social involvement and that leads to self-preoccupation.
- Coitus interruptus.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
withdrawal
[wĭð-drô′əl, wĭth-]
- Discontinuation of the use of an addictive substance. The symptoms of withdrawal include headache, diarrhea, and tremors and can range from mild to life threatening, depending on the extent of the body's reliance on the addictive substance.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.