Synonyms for retract
rɪˈtræktre·tract

WiktionaryRate these synonyms:5.0 / 1 vote

1. retractverb

   Synonyms:
   withcall, withdraw, take back

2. retractverb

   To pull back inside (for example, an airplane retracting its wheels while flying).

   Synonyms:
   withcall, take back, withdraw

3. retractverb

   To take back or withdraw something one has said.

   I retract all the accusations I made about the senator and sincerely hope he won't sue me.

   Synonyms:
   withdraw, take back, withcall

English Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. retract

   Abandon is a word of wide signification, applying to persons or things of any kind; abdicate and resign apply to office, authority, or power; cede to territorial possessions; surrender especially to military force, and more generally to any demand, claim, passion, etc. Quit carries an idea of suddenness or abruptness not necessarily implied in abandon, and may not have the same suggestion of finality. The king abdicates his throne, cedes his territory, deserts his followers, renounces his religion, relinquishes his titles, abandons his designs. A cowardly officer deserts his ship; the helpless passengers abandon it. We quit business, give up property, resign office, abandon a habit or a trust. Relinquish commonly implies reluctance; the fainting hand relinquishes its grasp; the creditor relinquishes his claim. Abandon implies previous association with responsibility for or control of; forsake implies previous association with inclination or attachment, real or assumed; a man may abandon or forsake house or friends; he abandons an enterprise; forsakes God. Abandon is applied to both good and evil action; a thief abandons his designs, a man his principles. Forsake, like abandon, may be used either in the favorable or unfavorable sense; desert is always unfavorable, involving a breach of duty, except when used of mere localities; as, "the Deserted Village." While a monarch abdicates, a president or other elected or appointed officer resigns. It was held that James II. abdicated his throne by deserting it.

   Synonyms:
   abandon, abdicate, abjure, cast off, cease, cede, depart from, desert, discontinue, forego, forsake, forswear, give up, leave, quit, recant, relinquish, renounce, repudiate, resign, retire from, surrender, vacate, withdraw from

   Antonyms:
   adopt, advocate, assert, cherish, claim, court, defend, favor, haunt, hold, keep, maintain, occupy, prosecute, protect, pursue, retain, seek, support, undertake, uphold, vindicate

Complete Dictionary of Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. retract

   Synonyms:
   withdraw, recal, revoke, unsay, disavow, recant, abjure, renounce

   Antonyms:
   reiterate, repeat

Princeton's WordNetRate these synonyms:4.0 / 1 vote

1. abjure, recant, forswear, retract, resileverb

   formally reject or disavow a formerly held belief, usually under pressure

   "He retracted his earlier statements about his religion"; "She abjured her beliefs"

   Synonyms:
   rebound, draw back, recant, shrink back, spring, bound, forswear, pull back, ricochet, abjure, bounce, recoil, resile, reverberate, take a hop, draw in

2. shrink back, retractverb

   pull away from a source of disgust or fear

   Synonyms:
   draw back, resile, abjure, recant, draw in, shrink back, forswear, pull back

3. retract, pull back, draw backverb

   use a surgical instrument to hold open (the edges of a wound or an organ)

   Synonyms:
   back out, draw back, recant, withdraw, pull away, shrink back, retire, draw, forswear, pull back, abjure, crawfish, move back, crawfish out, retreat, recede, resile, pull in one's horns, back away, draw in

4. draw in, retractverb

   pull inward or towards a center

   "The pilot drew in the landing gear"; "The cat retracted his claws"

   Synonyms:
   curl, draw back, recant, curl up, shrink back, abjure, draw, forswear, pull back, move in, pull in, suck in, pull, resile, get in, attract, close in, draw in

Matched Categories

1. • Flinch

Dictionary of English SynonymesRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. retractverb

   Synonyms:
   withdraw, draw back

2. retractverb

   Synonyms:
   recall, revoke, recant, abjure, disavow, cancel, take back

3. retractverb

   Synonyms:
   take back what was said, eat one's words

Synonyms, Antonyms & Associated WordsRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. retractverb

   Synonyms:
   recant, rescind, recall, disavow

PPDB, the paraphrase databaseRate these paraphrases:0.0 / 0 votes

1. List of paraphrases for "retract":

   retraction, retractable, withdraw, backspace

How to pronounce retract?

How to say retract in sign language?

Usage in printed sourcesFrom: 

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Words popularity by usage frequency

How to use retract in a sentence?

1. Charles Krauthammer:

   He's revealing who he is. This isn't some gaffe or accident, he had ample opportunity over the weekend to retract, to soften, to move away. Instead, he doubled down.

2. Bonnie Baha:

   It's like putting your foot on the brake when there's no gas in the car to begin with, it's hard to say this would be the start of a tightening cycle, but I think the probability is not zero that (the Fed) would have to retract at some point.

3. Anthony Fauci:

   I have never lied before the Congress, and I do not retract that statement.

4. T. Lehrer:

   Disclaimer If anyone disagrees with anything I say, I am quite prepared to not only retract it, but also to deny under oath I ever said it.

5. Devin Nunes:

   They need to retract everything they did against me, but they also need to come clean with the American people.