retire
//ɹɪˈtaɪə//
Forms
- present (v1)
- retire
- past (v2)
- retired
- past participle (v3)
- retired
- present participle
- retiring
- 3rd person singular
- retires
- Plural
- retires
Definitions
1.To stop working on a permanent basis, usually because of old age or illness.
- Having made a large fortune, he retired.
- She decided to retire from her banking job due to stress.
- He wants to retire at 55.
2.To stop playing their sport and in competitions a sports player.
- I have decided to retire from test cricket at 45.
- I have decided to retire from football at the end of the season after the World Cup.
3.To withdraw; to take away.
- He […] retired himself, his wife, and children into a forest.
4.To cease use or production of something.
- The steamship made thousands of trips over several decades before it was retired by the shipping company.
- When a hurricane becomes so deadly or destructive that future use would be insensitive, officials may retire the name of the hurricane.
- Only now, due to the COVID-19-associated drop in traffic, are they being retired with 12 of the 30 trains moved to Landore (Swansea) for warm storage.
1.A place to which one retires.
Frequency
Overall
Uncommon· #2533
By learning goal
- Everyday conversation
- Rare
- General reading & writing
- Uncommon
- Academic
- Rare
- Literature
- Rare
Related words
Etymology
From Middle French retirer (“draw back”)
From Old French retirer, built from re- (“back”) + tirer (“draw, pull”), the latter from Vulgar Latin *tīrāre, of highly uncertain origin.