RETREAT • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Retreat

Add this Dictionary
to your website!
See more options...

/ritrˈit/ Listen

noun

Retreat n.

1.

The act of retiring or withdrawing one's self, especially from what is dangerous or disagreeable.

2.

The place to which anyone retires; a place or privacy or safety; a refuge; an asylum. "He built his son a house of pleasure, and spared no cost to make a delicious retreat." "That pleasing shade they sought, a soft retreat From sudden April showers, a shelter from the heat."

3.

(Mil. & Naval.)

(a)

The retiring of an army or body of men from the face of an enemy, or from any ground occupied to a greater distance from the enemy, or from an advanced position.

(b)

The withdrawing of a ship or fleet from an enemy for the purpose of avoiding an engagement or escaping after defeat.

(c)

A signal given in the army or navy, by the beat of a drum or the sounding of trumpet or bugle, at sunset (when the roll is called), or for retiring from action. Note: A retreat is properly an orderly march, in which circumstance it differs from a flight.

4.

(Eccl.)

(a)

A special season of solitude and silence to engage in religious exercises.

(b)

A period of several days of withdrawal from society to a religious house for exclusive occupation in the duties of devotion; as, to appoint or observe a retreat.

Synonyms: Retirement; departure; withdrawment; seclusion; solitude; privacy; asylum; shelter; refuge.

verb

Retreat v. i. (past & past part. retreated; pres. part. retreating) To make a retreat; to retire from any position or place; to withdraw; as, the defeated army retreated from the field. "The rapid currents drive Towards the retreating sea their furious tide."

See images of 'Retreat'

Etymology of 'Retreat'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

Share |

Add this dictionary
to your browser search bar

"Retreat" Quotes from Famous Books

... increased forces which have come to me, and the fact that I have your line of retreat securely within my hands, the time seems fitting that I should again demand of your Excellency the surrender of Santiago and your Excellency's army. I am authorized to state that should your Excellency so desire, the Government ...

— The Colored Regulars in the United States Army • T. G. Steward

... increasing in their power over the lives of men; if business methods are becoming less rapacious; if employers and employed are more and more inclined to be friends rather than foes; if politicians are growing conscientious and unselfish; if the enemies of society are in retreat before the forces of decency and order; if amusements are becoming purer and more rational; if polite society is getting to be simpler in its tastes and less ostentatious in its manners and less extravagant in its expenditures; if poverty and crime ...

— The Church and Modern Life • Washington Gladden

... adieu, but he had none to offer. He saw no more clearly now into the truth than he had done at the beginning of the interview, but he had in a measure hardened himself by the spoken definition of his own attitude, and, partly because he could not as yet retreat from it, he permitted her to go without another word She floated away in the alternate soft splendour of the moon and the deep shadow of the overhanging boughs, and he watched her gloomily until her figure disappeared at the end of the avenue. He stood ...

— Despair's Last Journey • David Christie Murray

... late to retreat. I promised myself I would not return without a fight, and I intend to keep that promise. We will carry out the plan ourselves, as much of it at least as we can. I trust Putnam got Griffin off, and that his skirmishers may draw out Von Donop. But be that as it may, ...

— For Love of Country - A Story of Land and Sea in the Days of the Revolution • Cyrus Townsend Brady

... chance whatever for Yearlings Pratt and Judson to retreat unseen. The door across the hall had been left open, and the tac. would be sure to detect ...

— Dick Prescott's First Year at West Point • H. Irving Hancock

Copyright © 2025 Dictionary One.com