Meaning of retreat in English

retreat

verb

/rɪˈtriːt/ uk

/rɪˈtriːt/

retreat verb (POSITION)

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C2 [ I often + adv/prep ]

to go away from a place or person in order to escape from fighting or danger:

Attacks by enemy aircraft forced the tanks to retreat (from the city).

When she came toward me shouting, I retreated (behind my desk).

Thesaurus: synonyms, antonyms, and examples

to go backward

reverseThe road ahead was blocked by a tree so I had to reverse.
backI backed into the driveway.
back upI backed up into an empty parking space.
retreatShe retreated hastily back up the stairs.
pull backUN peacekeepers have pulled back from the border.
withdrawThe British army withdrew from Dunkirk in 1940.

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C2 [ I ]

to go to a quiet safe place in order to avoid a difficult situation:

When he's done something wrong, he retreats to his bedroom.

More examplesFewer examples

Fire fighters had to retreat from the fierce heat.
On seeing us, the deer stood stock-still for a moment, then turned and retreated into the forest.
The army was forced to retreat.
I saw her coming and retreated.
They retreated to the relative safety of the forest.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Responding to an attack

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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Running away and escaping

retreat verb (DECISION)

[ I often + adv/prep ]

to decide not to do something, or to stop believing something, because it causes too many problems:

The government is retreating from its promises.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Changing your mind

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retreat verb (PRICE)

[ I ]

If a price retreats, it goes down after it has gone up:

Wheat prices retreated after a two-day increase.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Becoming and making smaller or less

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retreat

noun

/rɪˈtriːt/ uk

/rɪˈtriːt/

retreat noun (POSITION)

C2 [ C usually singular, U ]

a move back by soldiers or an army, either because they have been defeated or in order to avoid fighting:

the retreat from Dunkirk

Enemy soldiers are now in (full) retreat.

C2 [ C ]

a private and safe place:

a country/mountain/lakeside retreat

[ C or U ]

a period of time used to pray and study quietly, or to think carefully, away from normal activities and duties:

We went on (a) retreat at/to a monastery in Wales.

More examplesFewer examples

We saw the rain and made a hasty retreat into the bar.
The battle ended in an ignominious retreat from the front line.
The luxury resort is used as a retreat by the rich and famous.
The book discusses 10 famous military retreats.
Thousands of soldiers died during the retreat.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Responding to an attack

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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Safe & enclosed spaces

Time off

retreat noun (DECISION)

[ C ]

a change from previous beliefs or behavior:

The professor's speech marked/signaled a retreat from his usual extreme views.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Changing your mind

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retreat noun (PRICE)

[ S or U ]

a situation in which the price of something goes down:

Over the past few weeks we have seen the currency's big retreat from its historic high.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Becoming and making smaller or less

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(Definition of retreat from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

retreat | Intermediate English

retreat

verb [ I ]

/rɪˈtrit/

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to move back and away from someone or something, esp. because you are frightened or want to be alone:

She burst into tears and retreated to the bedroom.

To retreat is also to go away from a person or place because you are unwilling to fight any more:

Under heavy fire, the soldiers retreated.

retreat

noun [ C/U ]

/rɪˈtrit/

the act of going away from a person or place because you are unwilling to fight any more or are frightened:

[ U ] Rebel soldiers were in (full) retreat.

A retreat is also a private and safe place where you can be alone.

(Definition of retreat from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

retreat | Business English

retreat

verb [ I ]

/rɪˈtriːt/ us

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FINANCE, STOCK MARKET

to become lower in value or amount, especially after getting higher:

Wheat prices retreated after a two-day increase.

By the end of business, the dollar had retreated by a full percentage point against the euro.

retreat to sth Share prices retreated 28p to 721p.

retreat from sth Other high-tech stocks retreated from strong gains earlier in the week.

to stop doing something, because it causes too many problems:

retreat from sth The company retreated from the US market in the late 1990s.

retreat

noun [ S or U ]

/rɪˈtriːt/ us

FINANCE, STOCK MARKET

a fall in the price, amount, etc. of something, especially after having been high:

a retreat from sth Over the past few weeks we have seen the currency's big retreat from its historic high.

The FTSE 100 was also in retreat as London traders responded to falls on Wall Street.

a decision not to do something you had planned to do, because it causes too many problems

(Definition of retreat from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of retreat

retreat

Take a day off and do a personal retreat.

From CNN

It sounds great when it rolls off your tongue in board meetings and on company retreats.

From Fast Company

Our training programs, workshops, retreats, and seminars have reached over 250,000 officers and soldiers.

From The Hill

Instead, he kept to himself and retreated into his studies, she said.

From The Star-Ledger - NJ.com

If a fish swims into toxic water, it becomes uncomfortable and retreats back into a safer environment.

From Huffington Post

They also have a free retreats and give a lot of information.

From CNN

Politics is in retreat and authoritarianism is on the rise worldwide.

From The Seattle Times

Police officers are not required to retreat from danger.

From MLive.com

Investors scared by the volatility often retreated to low-yielding fixed income instruments.

From Business Insider

Then perhaps a quick retreat to get out of range is the appropriate play.

From VentureBeat

With just $6 million left, he decided to take a retreat and consider whether he should give in.

From Fast Company

But this is a movement in retreat, not advance.

From Huffington Post

While some families live in the village, some homes are luxury retreats and can cost between $500,000 and $2million.

From CNN

Fear can be a factor that motivates to action, or it can cause one to retreat.

From Washington Times

Trench warfare offered solutions of only retreat to the sea or continued stalemate.

From Washington Times

These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

Collocations with retreat

retreat

These are words often used in combination with retreat.

Click on a collocation to see more examples of it.

glacial retreat

Interglacial episodes, or at least episodes of glacial retreat, are evidenced by interdigitating strata of warm, or nonglacial, facies.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

religious retreat

The format involves a number of individuals, who are not necessarily religious, spending a period of time in a place of religious retreat.

From

Wikipedia

This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.

retreat centre

The retreat centre requested urgent medical assistance.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

See all collocations with retreat

What is the pronunciation of retreat?

C2,C2,C2,C2

Translations of retreat

in Chinese (Traditional)

位置, 退卻, 撤退…

in Chinese (Simplified)

位置, 退却, 撤退…

in Spanish

batirse en retirada, retirada, retiro…

in Portuguese

retirar-se, bater em retirada, retirada…

in more languages

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in Italian

माघार घेणे, पळ काढणे, एक खाजगी सुरक्षित जागा…

退却する, 撤退する, 退却…

geri çekilmek, cephe hattından çekilmek, mücadeleden/şavaştan vazgeçmek…

battre en retraite, se retirer, retraite [feminine]…

retirar-se, retirada…

zich terugtrekken, terugtocht, sein voor de aftocht…

சண்டை அல்லது ஆபத்திலிருந்து தப்பிக்க ஒரு இடத்திலிருந்து அல்லது நபரை விட்டு விலகிச் செல்வது, கடினமான சூழ்நிலையைத் தவிர்ப்பதற்காக அமைதியான பாதுகாப்பான இடத்திற்குச் செல்ல வேண்டும், சிப்பாய்கள் அல்லது ஒரு இராணுவம்…

(लड़ाई या खतरे से बचाव हेतु) पीछे हटना, (किसी कठिन परिस्थिति से बचने के लिए) एकांतवास या एकांत स्थान में जाना, (सैनिकों या सेना का) मोर्चा छोड़ना…

પીછેહઠ, પાછળ હટવું, જવું…

trække sig tilbage, retræte, tilbagetrækning…

retirera, dra sig tillbaka, reträtt…

berundur, mengundurkan diri, pengunduran…

sich zurückziehen, der Rückzug, zum Rückzug blasen…

trekke seg tilbake, gjøre retrett, trekke seg unna…

پسپا ہونا, پیچھے ہٹنا, پناہ لینا…

відходити, відступати, виходити…

отступать, отступление, отход…

పోరాటం లేదా ప్రమాదం నుండి తప్పించుకోవడానికి ఒక స్థలం నుండి లేదా వ్యక్తి నుండి దూరంగా వెళ్ళు, క్లిష్ట పరిస్థితిని నివారించడానికి నిశ్శబ్దంగా ఉండే సురక్షితమైన ప్రదేశానికి వెళ్ళు, తిరోగమనం / సైనికులు లేదా సైన్యం ఓడిపోయినందు వల్ల లేదా పోరాటం జరగకుండా ఉండడం కోసం తిరిగి వెనక్కు మళ్ళడం…

يَتَراجَع, يَنْسَحِب…

পিছিয়ে আসা, পিছু হটা, পশ্চাদপসরণ…

ustoupit, stáhnout se, ústup…

mundur, menyingkir, gerakan mundur…

ล่าถอย, ถอนตัว, การล่าถอย…

rút lui, lùi về, sự rút lui…