Retract
Last Updated: January 2, 2026 at 12:30 PM
Scrabble:9 ptsWWF:10 pts7 letters
Definition of Retract
Verb
- To pull (something) back or back inside.
"An airplane retracts its wheels for flight."
- To pull (something) back or back inside.
"An airplane retracts its wheels for flight."
- To draw (an extended body part) back into the body.
"A cat can retract its claws."
- To avert (one's eyes or a gaze).
- To pronounce (a sound, especially a vowel) farther to the back of the vocal tract.
Noun
- An act of retracting or withdrawing (a mistake, a statement, etc.); a retraction.
- A pulling back, especially of an army or military troops; a pull-back, a retreat; also, a signal for this to be done.
- A subgroup of a given group such that there is a surjective endomorphism from the ambient group to the subgroup which is constant on the subgroup; in this case the subgroup is a retract of the ambient group. In symbols: H {\displaystyle H} in G {\displaystyle G} is a retract of G {\displaystyle G} if there exists a surjective homomorphism σ<!-- σ --> {\displaystyle \sigma } from G {\displaystyle G} to H {\displaystyle H} with σ<!-- σ --> | H = id {\displaystyle \sigma |_{H}=\operatorname {id} } .
- The target of a retraction.
- Synonym of retreat (“an act of accidentally injuring a horse's foot by incorrectly nailing it during shoeing”).
Verb
- To cancel or take back (something, such as an edict or a favour or grant previously bestowed); to rescind, to revoke. To break or fail to keep (a promise, etc.); to renege. To take back or withdraw (something that has been said or written); to disavow, to repudiate.
"I retract all the accusations I made about the senator and sincerely hope he won’t sue me."
- To cancel or take back (something, such as an edict or a favour or grant previously bestowed); to rescind, to revoke.
- To break or fail to keep (a promise, etc.); to renege.
- To take back or withdraw (something that has been said or written); to disavow, to repudiate.
"I retract all the accusations I made about the senator and sincerely hope he won’t sue me."
- Originally in chess and now in other games as well: to take back or undo (a move); specifically to take back or withdraw (a card which has been played).
Anagrams of Retract
Words You Can Make
50 words can be made from the letters in "retract":