RETRACT
Dictionary entry overview: What does retract mean?
• RETRACT (verb)
The verb RETRACT has 4 senses:
1. formally reject or disavow a formerly held belief, usually under pressure
2. pull away from a source of disgust or fear
3. use a surgical instrument to hold open (the edges of a wound or an organ)
4. pull inward or towards a center
Familiarity information: RETRACT used as a verb is uncommon.
Dictionary entry details
• RETRACT (verb)
Meaning:
Formally reject or disavow a formerly held belief, usually under pressure
Classified under:
Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing
Synonyms:
abjure; forswear; recant; retract; resile
Context examples:
He retracted his earlier statements about his religion / She abjured her beliefs
Hypernyms (to "retract" is one way to...):
renounce; repudiate (cast off or disown)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something
Meaning:
Pull away from a source of disgust or fear
Classified under:
Verbs of walking, flying, swimming
Synonyms:
shrink back; retract
Hypernyms (to "retract" is one way to...):
cringe; flinch; funk; quail; recoil; shrink; squinch; wince (draw back, as with fear or pain)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP
Meaning:
Use a surgical instrument to hold open (the edges of a wound or an organ)
Classified under:
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging
Synonyms:
draw back; pull back; retract
Hypernyms (to "retract" is one way to...):
pull (apply force so as to cause motion towards the source of the motion)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
Meaning:
Pull inward or towards a center
Classified under:
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging
Synonyms:
draw in; retract
Context examples:
The pilot drew in the landing gear / The cat retracted his claws
Hypernyms (to "retract" is one way to...):
attract; draw; draw in; pull; pull in (direct toward itself or oneself by means of some psychological power or physical attributes)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "retract"):
introvert; invaginate (fold inwards)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
