Antonyms 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.

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

   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

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

1. retract

   Antonyms:
   reiterate, repeat

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

Matched Categories

1. • Flinch

Princeton's WordNetRate these antonyms: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

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

1. retractverb

   Synonyms:
   recant, rescind, recall, disavow

How to use retract in a sentence?

1. Buenos Aires:

   The problem with restrictive, emergency measures is that they are easier to apply than to retract.

2. Joseph Joubert:

   Those who never retract their opinions love themselves more than they love the truth.

3. Brian Schatz:

   Jeb Bush's comments regarding the children of Asian immigrants are derogatory and offensive, he should immediately retract his statements and apologize to the Asian community for his insensitive behavior.

4. Preet Bharara:

   The idea that it is OK, separate and apart from it being a criminal offense, that we should be telling future candidates in the run-up to an election in 2020 that if an adversary, a foreign adversary, is offering information against a political opponent, that it's okay and right and proper and American and patriotic, it seems he's saying, to take that information and that's okay -- that's an extraordinary statement and I would hope he would retract it.

5. Brad Dacus:

   Founding Fathers are calling on the mayor to immediately retract these guidelines and reassure city employees that they will not be punished for being patriotic, Brad Dacus said. Founding Fathers can not allow this type of censorship and PC insanity to destroy Founding Fathers free speech.

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