retire

Verb (1)

retire (third-person singular simple present retires, present participle retiring, simple past and past participle retired)

1. (intransitive) To stop working on a permanent basis, usually because of old age or illness.
   • Having made a large fortune, he retired.
   • He wants to retire at 55.
2. (intransitive) To stop playing their sport and in competitions a sports player.
   • I have decided to retire from football at the end of the season after the World Cup.
   • I have decided to retire from test cricket at 45.
3. (reflexive, sometimes, transitive) To withdraw; to take away.
   • He […] retired himself, his wife, and children into a forest.a. 1587, Philippe Sidnei [i.e., Philip Sidney], “(please specify the folio)”, in [Fulke Greville; Matthew Gwinne; John Florio], editors, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia [The New Arcadia], London...
   • As when the sun is present all the year, / And never doth retire his golden ray.1592, John Davies, The Original, Nature, and Immortality of the Soul
4. (transitive) 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.
5. (transitive) To withdraw from circulation, or from the market; to take up and pay.
   • The central bank retired those notes five years ago.
6. (transitive) To cause to retire; specifically, to designate as no longer qualified for active service; to place on the retired list.
   • The board retired the old major.
   • How had it felt, at 28, to be the hottest young actor in town? He [Richard Gere] grinned. “It was great having the attention,” he said. “I thought: ‘This is it! I’ve done it! I’m going to retire my father. I’m putting money away for college for my sisters,’ the whole thing. It’s incredibly...1988 November 27, “How Richard Gere Learned To Reach Out”, in Parade (The Spokesman-Review), page 10, column 3
7. (intransitive) To voluntarily stop batting before being dismissed so that the next batsman can bat.
   • Jones retired in favour of Smith.
8. (transitive) To make a play which results in a runner or the batter being out, either by means of a put out, fly out or strikeout. Also, when such an event ends a team's turn at bat.
   • Jones retired Smith 6-3.
   • Jones makes the catch for the third out, and that retires the side.
9. (intransitive) To go back or return; to withdraw or retreat, especially from public view; to go into privacy.
   • I will retire to the study.
   • to retire from the world
10. (intransitive) To retreat from action or danger; to withdraw for safety or pleasure.
    • to retire from battle
    • The regiment retired from the fray after the Major was killed.
11. (intransitive) To recede; to fall or bend back.
    • Past the point, the shore retires into a sequence of coves.
12. (intransitive) To go to bed.
    • I will retire for the night.
    • In the daytime the beds are made up but completely out of sight, giving the passenger a comfortable little private room; as the time for retiring comes, after preparing for rest in the same spacious conditions, he is able, practically at a touch, to pull the bed into position ready for use.1944 November and December, “"Duplex Roomette" Sleeping Cars”, in Railway Magazine, page 324

Noun

retire (plural retires)

1. (rare) The act of retiring, or the state of being retired.
2. A place to which one retires.

   Synonyms:

   retreat

3. (dated) A call sounded on a bugle, announcing to skirmishers that they are to retire, or fall back.
   • At the retire, the cavalry fell back.

Verb (2)

US/ɹiˈtaɪɚ/

retire (third-person singular simple present retires, present participle retiring, simple past and past participle retired)

1. (US, transitive) To fit (a vehicle) with new tires.