retract
re·tract/ɹɪˈtɹækt/verb
retract is spelled R-E-T-R-A-C-T: 7 letters and 2 syllables (re·tract). It appears 1.1 times per million words in written English, the 27,820th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, retract means “To pull (something) back or back inside” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in retract?
| Letters | 7: R-E-T-R-A-C-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: re·tract |
| In writing | 1.1 times per million words; the 27,820th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is retract?
Retract appears 1.1 times per million words in written English, the 27,820th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce retract?
- UK /ɹɪˈtɹækt/
- US /ɹɪˈtɹækt/
- US /ɹiˈtɹækt/
Retract has 2 syllables, split re·tract in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-retract.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with retract?
5 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as retract from its last stressed vowel (/ækt/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of retract
- retracts present, singular, he/she/it
- retracting participle, present
- retracted participle, past, singular, he/she/it, plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does retract mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To pull (something) back or back inside.
An airplane retracts its wheels for flight.
- 2
To draw (an extended body part) back into the body.
A cat can retract its claws.
- 3
rareTo avert (one's eyes or a gaze).
- 4
To pronounce (a sound, especially a vowel) farther to the back of the vocal tract.
- 5
obsoleteTo hold back (something); to restrain.
- 6
To draw back; to draw up; to withdraw.
The bus was stuck at the stop as its wheelchair ramp wouldn’t retract after use.
- 7
obsoleteTo cancel or take back (something, such as an edict or a favour or grant previously bestowed); to rescind, to revoke.
- 8
obsoleteTo break or fail to keep (a promise, etc.); to renege.
- 9
obsoleteTo take back or withdraw (something that has been said or written); to disavow, to repudiate.
I retract all the accusations I made about the senator and sincerely hope he won’t sue me.
- 10
obsoleteOriginally in chess and now in other games as well: to take back or undo (a move); specifically (card games) to take back or withdraw (a card which has been played).
- 11
obsoleteTo decline or fail to do something promised; to break one's word.
- 12
obsoleteOf something said or written (such as published academic work): to take back or withdraw.
- 13
archaicobsoleteTo change one's mind after declaring an intention to make a certain move.
noun
- 1
obsoleteAn act of retracting or withdrawing (a mistake, a statement, etc.); a retraction.
- 2
obsoleteA pulling back, especially (military) of an army or military troops; a pull-back, a retreat; also, a signal for this to be done.
- 3
obsoleteA subgroup of a given group such that there is a surjective endomorphism from the ambient group to the subgroup which is constant on the subgroup; in this case the subgroup is a retract of the ambient group. In symbols: H in G is a retract of G if there exists a surjective homomorphism σ from G to H with σ|_H= operatorname id.
- 4
obsoleteThe target of a retraction.
- 5
obsoleteSynonym of retreat (“an act of accidentally injuring a horse's foot by incorrectly nailing it during shoeing”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Retract in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| Portuguese | retrair , retirar |
| Spanish | retraer , retractar, desdecirse de, cantar la palinodia , retraerse, remanir |
| French | rétracter |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does retract come from?
From Late Middle English retracten, retract (“to absorb, draw in”), from Latin retractus (“withdrawn”), the perfect passive participle of Latin retrahō (“to draw or pull back, withdraw; to bring back; to compel to turn back; to recall; to get back, recover; to hold back, restrain, withhold; to remove, take away; to bring to light again; (Late Latin) to delay”), from re- (prefix meaning ‘again’) + trahō (“to drag, pull; to extract, withdraw”). Doublet of retreat.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).