Word.ws English Dictionary

retractable

/ɹiˈtɹæk.tɪ.bəl/

retractable adjective: capable of being retracted; retractile.

Adjective

retractable (not comparable)

  1. Capable of being retracted; retractile.
    • Retractable steps and handrails are provided on each side of the cars. The steps, which are under the control of the guard, are operated by hand levers in the entrance vestibule.1952 September, “Modernised Pull-and-Push Trains”, in Railway Magazine, page 617
    • Features such as trackless doors, mercury-type door interlocks, roof-mounted door fault indicator lights, rubber window glazing, improved retractable shoegear and a modified electro-pneumatic brake system designed to facilitate maintenance and improve reliability, which have proved their worth on...1960 February, “The first of London's new Piccadilly Line trains is delivered”, in Trains Illustrated, page 94

Noun

retractable (plural retractables)

  1. A retractable pen.
    • Somewhere in the cosmos, he said, […] there was also a planet entirely given over to Biro life forms. […] Veet Voogajig suddenly claimed to have found this planet, and to have worked there for a while driving a limousine for a family of cheap green retractables […]1979 October 12, Douglas Adams, chapter 21, in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, London: Pan Books, →ISBN

Forms of retractable

pluralretractables

Origin of retractable

From retract + -able.

Words formed from retractable

Phrases with retractable

Questions about retractable

What does retractable mean?
Retractable means capable of being retracted; retractile.
What part of speech is retractable?
Retractable can be an adjective or a noun.
How do you pronounce retractable?
Retractable is pronounced /ɹiˈtɹæk.tɪ.bəl/.

Words near retractable in the dictionary

  1. retrackers
  2. retracking
  3. retracks
  4. retract
  5. retractability
  6. retractable
  7. retractable bridge
  8. retractable bridges
  9. retractable pencil
  10. retractable pencils
  11. retractable rooftop

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: retractable (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “retractable.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/retractable. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.