RETIRE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does retire mean? 

• RETIRE (verb)
  The verb RETIRE has 11 senses:

1. go into retirement; stop performing one's work or withdraw from one's position

2. withdraw from active participation

3. pull back or move away or backward

4. withdraw from circulation or from the market, as of bills, shares, and bonds

5. break from a meeting or gathering

6. make (someone) retire

7. dispose of (something no longer useful or needed)

8. lose interest

9. cause to be out on a fielding play

10. cause to get out

11. prepare for sleep

  Familiarity information: RETIRE used as a verb is familiar.

 Dictionary entry details 

• RETIRE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they retire    ... he / she / it retires   
Past simple: retired   
Past participle: retired   
-ing form: retiring   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Go into retirement; stop performing one's work or withdraw from one's position

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Context example:

He retired at age 68

Hypernyms (to "retire" is one way to...):

leave office; quit; resign; step down (give up or retire from a position)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "retire"):

superannuate (retire or become ineligible because of old age or infirmity)

bow out; withdraw (retire gracefully)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

retiree (someone who has retired from active working)

retirement (withdrawal from your position or occupation)

retirement (the state of being retired from one's business or occupation)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Withdraw from active participation

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

retire; withdraw

Context example:

He retired from chess

Hypernyms (to "retire" is one way to...):

cease; discontinue; give up; lay off; quit; stop (put an end to a state or an activity)

Verb group:

retire; withdraw (lose interest)

bow out; withdraw (retire gracefully)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "retire"):

drop out (withdraw from established society, especially because of disillusion with conventional values)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

retiree (someone who has retired from active working)

retirement (withdrawal from your position or occupation)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Pull back or move away or backward

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

draw back; move back; pull away; pull back; recede; retire; retreat; withdraw

Context example:

The limo pulled away from the curb

Hypernyms (to "retire" is one way to...):

go; locomote; move; travel (change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically)

Verb group:

back away; back out; crawfish; crawfish out; pull back; pull in one's horns; retreat; withdraw (make a retreat from an earlier commitment or activity)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "retire"):

fall back (move back and away from)

retreat; retrograde (move back)

back down; back off; back up (move backwards from a certain position)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s PP

Sense 4

Meaning:

Withdraw from circulation or from the market, as of bills, shares, and bonds

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "retire" is one way to...):

recall (make unavailable; bar from sale or distribution)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 5

Meaning:

Break from a meeting or gathering

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

adjourn; retire; withdraw

Context example:

The men retired to the library

Hypernyms (to "retire" is one way to...):

close; close down; close up; fold; shut down (cease to operate or cause to cease operating)

"Retire" entails doing...:

assemble; foregather; forgather; gather; meet (collect in one place)

Verb group:

seclude; sequester; sequestrate; withdraw (keep away from others)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "retire"):

prorogue (adjourn by royal prerogative; without dissolving the legislative body)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Sense 6

Meaning:

Make (someone) retire

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Context example:

The director was retired after the scandal

Hypernyms (to "retire" is one way to...):

can; dismiss; displace; fire; force out; give notice; give the axe; give the sack; sack; send away; terminate (terminate the employment of; discharge from an office or position)

Cause:

retire (go into retirement; stop performing one's work or withdraw from one's position)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "retire"):

superannuate (retire and pension (someone) because of age or physical inability)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Sense 7

Meaning:

Dispose of (something no longer useful or needed)

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Context example:

She finally retired that old coat

Hypernyms (to "retire" is one way to...):

cast aside; cast away; cast out; chuck out; discard; dispose; fling; put away; throw away; throw out; toss; toss away; toss out (throw or cast away)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 8

Meaning:

Lose interest

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Synonyms:

retire; withdraw

Context example:

he retired from life when his wife died

Hypernyms (to "retire" is one way to...):

fatigue; jade; pall; tire; weary (lose interest or become bored with something or somebody)

Verb group:

retire; withdraw (withdraw from active participation)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "retire"):

back down; back off; bow out; chicken out; pull out (remove oneself from an obligation)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Sense 9

Meaning:

Cause to be out on a fielding play

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

put out; retire

Hypernyms (to "retire" is one way to...):

diddle; fiddle; play; toy (manipulate manually or in one's mind or imagination)

Domain category:

ball; baseball; baseball game (a ball game played with a bat and ball between two teams of nine players; teams take turns at bat trying to score runs)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Sense 10

Meaning:

Cause to get out

Classified under:

Verbs of fighting, athletic activities

Synonyms:

retire; strike out

Context example:

the runner was put out at third base

Cause:

ease up; give; give way; move over; yield (move in order to make room for someone for something)

Domain category:

ball; baseball; baseball game (a ball game played with a bat and ball between two teams of nine players; teams take turns at bat trying to score runs)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Sense 11

Meaning:

Prepare for sleep

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Synonyms:

bed; crawl in; go to bed; go to sleep; hit the hay; hit the sack; kip down; retire; sack out; turn in

Context example:

He goes to bed at the crack of dawn

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "retire"):

bed down; bunk down (go to bed)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

 Context examples 

The population of retired people, generally over 62

(Older Population, NCI Thesaurus)

"Now," said he, "go to the other side of the bed while I order his toilet; but don't leave the room: you may be wanted again." I retired as directed.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

The old term Side Effect is retired and should not be used.

(Expected Adverse Event, NCI Thesaurus)

For, when the mouse had made the fire and fetched in the water, she could retire into her little room and rest until it was time to set the table.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

But he was silent and presently retired to his cabin.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

It was quarter-past ten when she closed her book, fastened the shutters, and retired.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I waited until midnight, but there was no sign of his return, so I retired to my room.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

She went to bed soon after this, and Mrs. Steerforth retired too.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

At five o'clock the two ladies retired to dress, and at half-past six Elizabeth was summoned to dinner.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

He retired, came to London, and again acquired an evil name.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)