From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishretreatre‧treat1 /rɪˈtriːt/ ●○○ verb [intransitive] 1 armyPM to move away from the enemy after being defeated in battle OPP advance The rebels retreated to the mountains. They were attacked and forced to retreat.2 move back written a) BACK/BACKWARDSto move away from someone or something He saw her and retreated, too shy to speak to her.retreat to/from/into etc Perry lit the fuse and retreated to a safe distance. It was not a conscious choice to retreat from public life. b) LESSif an area of water, snow, or land retreats, it gradually gets smaller The flood waters are slowly retreating.3 change your mindCHANGE YOUR MIND written to decide not to do something you were planning to do, because it was unpopular or too difficultretreat from The Canadian government has retreated from a plan to kill 300 wolves.4 quiet placeLEAVE A PLACE to go away to a place that is quiet or saferetreat from/into/to After the noise of the city he was glad to retreat to his hotel room.5 → retreat into yourself/your shell/fantasy etc6 finance technical if shares etc retreat, their value falls to a lower level→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
retreat• The dignity of the law has met the volatility of Nature and has been forced to retreat.• In 1443, the Hungarian army advanced into Serbia, and the Turks were forced to retreat.• Lieutenant Peterson shouted the order to retreat.• Gold prices retreated after reaching a record price yesterday.• Pretty and earthy, she can be aggressive or retreat believably, and has some nice scenes with her extended family.• Jim saw me approaching and quickly retreated down a side street.• Seven years earlier, she had retreated from marriage to protect her career; now she would marry to defend her independence.• Even then these stubborn blue lines retreated in fairly good order.• It's for throwing at them as you retreat into the living room.• As his father approached, Richard retreated steadily, never once daring to stand his ground against him.• On trembling legs, she retreated towards the door.• "You haven't heard the last of this!'' shouted Spencer, retreating up the stairs.• After the battle, Santa Anna retreated with his forces.retreat to/from/into etc• The Nasdaq Composite Index advanced as much as 7. 28 then retreated to 1001. 39, ahead 3. 09.• She had already started to retreat into eating when she felt upset.• Destiny tapped Colin Powell on the shoulder and he sold a million books before retreating to his Virginia mansion.• We accept our responsibility not to retreat from interpreting the full meaning of the covenant in light of all of our precedents.• I retreated into my shell, being painfully shy in the first place.• Why such a startling retreat from the nearly unanimous support for the free processing zone 18 months ago?• Pop art directly challenged what was increasingly seen as abstract art's esoteric retreat from the world.• A comic gives children the opportunity to retreat into their own world; it is a very private thing.retreat from• The administration is retreating from its goal of buying 75 Stealth bombers. retreat from/into/to• This caused his further retreat to a cave on Mount Kolzim.• Friends of the Earth accused the government of retreating from a firmly-stated commitment to identify contaminated land.• The watchman retreated to get on with his cooking and perhaps ponder his next step.• She wanted only to be free of this, for the lake to clear, so she could retreat to her task.• Ralph retreated upstairs to his room.• He retreated from it into callousness.• Bill and his men would retreat to the rhododendron bushes and radio to the sniper teams on the roof.retreatretreat2 ●○○ noun 1 of an army [countable, uncountable]PM a movement away from the enemy after a defeat in battle OPP advance Napoleon’s retreat from Moscow The rebel forces are in full retreat (=retreating very fast). The bugler sounded the retreat (=gave a loud signal for retreat).2 movement back [singular, uncountable]BACK/BACKWARDS a movement away from someone or somethingretreat from Ten thousand years ago the ice began its retreat from Scotland.3 → beat a retreat4 change of intention [singular, uncountable]CHANGE YOUR MIND when you change your mind about something because your idea was unpopular or too difficultretreat from a retreat from hard-line policies5 place [countable]PLACE a place you can go to that is quiet or safe a country retreat6 thought and prayer [countable, uncountable]RR a period of time that you spend praying or studying religion in a quiet placeon (a) retreat I spent three weeks on retreat in Scotland.7 finance [singular, uncountable] technical a situation in which the value of shares etc falls to a lower levelExamples from the Corpus
retreat• Stock prices turned downward today in a retreat led by IBM.• It appeared to represent a retreat in the face of international criticism.• Today's statement represents a retreat from their previous position.• a retreat for writers and artists• They were forced to beat a hasty retreat and arrived at their rendezvous with Morris's patrol on time.• An army in retreat can be even more dangerous than one that is advancing.• Thereafter, the conventional insistence on the balanced budget under all circumstances and at all levels of economic activity was in retreat.• The room was an intimate retreat from the rest of the house.• the presidential retreat at Camp David• The soldiers made a strategic retreat.• Most of the Others were too paralyzed with fright to move; but some began a slow, stumbling retreat.• But the playroom is to be absorbed into the retreat and conference centre next year.• The retreat of Marxism has been paralleled by the ascendancy of the New Right.• And the other thing I think is, you need to get out of this retreat mode.in full retreat• He informed us that our brigade was to be the rear guard of the army, which was in full retreat.• Pope interpreted this movement to mean that the enemy were in full retreat.on (a) retreat• The prayer opposite was composed last year by deacons on retreat before they were ordained priests and missionaries.• The only trouble was this: the sepoys kept on bravely coming forward, while he and his men kept on retreating.• We called another time and they said they were all out on retreat.• Rain beats on the canvas tent in which she is staying on a retreat with other Innu.• He hung up his sword and went on a retreat to Manresa, where he authored Spiritual Exercises in 1522.From Longman Business Dictionaryretreatre‧treat1 /rɪˈtriːt/ verb [intransitive]1journalismFINANCE if shares etc retreat, their value falls to a lower levelIn Frankfurt, share prices retreated as the market consolidated recent gains.The Dow Jones Industrial Average retreated 10.07 points to 11,199.46.2to decide not to continue with a plan, idea, agreement etc because it is too difficult or no longer worth doingJapanese buyers have retreated after paying huge prices for U.S. properties in the past.retreat fromLast week it became the latest corporate raider to retreat from a takeover contest.→ See Verb tableretreatretreat2 noun1[singular, uncountable] journalismFINANCE a situation in which the value of shares etc falls to a lower levelThe stock market retreat came just as crop prices were starting to recover.2in retreatCOMMERCE if a company, industry, market etc is in retreat, its performance is less good than beforeWith the Tokyostockmarket in retreat, the central bank is likely to be even more cautious about agreeing corporate loans.3[singular, uncountable] when someone decides not to carry out a plan, idea, agreement etc because it is too difficult or no longer worth doingretreat fromThe decision to return the company to profitabilitymarks a retreat from its fast-growth strategy.Origin retreat2 (1200-1300) Old French retret, from retraire “to withdraw”, from Latin retrahere; → RETRACT 