Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use retire in a sentence

40 example sentences · verb, noun

Retire means to stop working on a permanent basis, usually because of old age or illness. Example: “Having made a large fortune, he retired.”

Examples of retire by meaning

verbTo 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.
  • She decided to retire from her banking job due to stress.

verbTo 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.

verbTo 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.2020 May 20, John Crosse, “Soon to be gone... but never forgotten”, in Rail, page 63

verbTo withdraw from circulation, or from the market; to take up and pay.

  • The central bank retired those notes five years ago.

verbTo 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.
  • I’m going to retire my father.1988 November 27, “How Richard Gere Learned To Reach Out”, in Parade (The Spokesman-Review), page 10, column 3
  • “The truth is that I just retired my parents,” he told me two days after Christmas.2023 October 19, Brendan I. Koerner, “Watch This Guy Work, and You’ll Finally Understand the TikTok Era”, in Wired, →ISSN

verbTo voluntarily stop batting before being dismissed so that the next batsman can bat.

  • Jones retired in favour of Smith.

verbTo make a play which results in a runner or the batter being out, either by means of a put out, fly out or strikeout....

  • Jones retired Smith 6-3.
  • Jones makes the catch for the third out, and that retires the side.

verbTo 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
  • to retire from the public eye

More sentences with retire

  • He will take over the job permanently when the accountant retires.From the entry take over
  • The old pastor found his pastorate wearying, and longed to retire.From the entry pastorate
  • The old pastor found his pastorage wearying, and longed to retire.From the entry pastorage
  • When I retire, I'm going to write my memoirs.From the entry memoir
  • As soon as he has the money to retire, he plans to leave the daily grind and travel more.From the entry daily grind
  • The reigning world heavyweight champion said he'd defend his title once more and then retire even if he won.From the entry reigning
  • Jones steps on first to retire the side.From the entry retire the side
  • The owners long resisted buyout offers, but when they were ready to retire, they finally sold out to a competitor.From the entry sell out
  • Actuarially, we can't really afford to retire.From the entry actuarially
  • I was 19 when I joined the Guard. The Guard provides a small pension to members who retire with enough years of service.From the entry guard
  • Do you think I could retire after I steal it?" the man said.2011, Mahtab Narsimhan, The Tiffin, Toronto, Ont.: Dancing Cat Books, →ISBN. From the entry tiffin
  • I hope I don’t have to work this hard right up until I do retire.2005, Jay Gilbertson, chapter 1, in Moon over Madeline Island, page 14. From the entry hairburner
  • They retire and get put up on a pedal-stool by there fans.1996, Bill Crider, A Dangerous Thing, page 52. From the entry pedal stool
  • We eventually retire to an icecream parlour on the corner of the plaza.1993, Richard Gott, Land Without Evil: Utopian Journeys Across the South American Watershed, London; New York, N.Y.: Verso, →ISBN, page 265. From the entry icecream parlour
  • Nevertheless, some job openings will arise as experienced workers retire, die, or change occupations.1980, United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Bookbinders and bindery workers”, in Occupational Outlook Handbook (Bulletin of the…. From the entry bookbinder
  • When New York pitcher Vernon Gomez retires as a smokeballer he wants to become a smoke eater.1914, Daily Kennebec Journal, Augusta, Maine, USA. From the entry back-seat driver
  • Unlike those flamboyant bowerbirds, a worm might simply decide that it is better off without us, and retire from public life.2007 April 22, Amy Stewart, “How the Worm Turns”, in New York Times. From the entry bowerbird
  • That's the town to which most freaks retire.2005, Brian M. Wiprud, Stuffed, →ISBN, page 262. From the entry blockhead
  • Once again, Mario Cipollini has announced his definite, absolute, unswerving and irrevocable decision to retire, and this time he means it.2005 April 28, Samuel Abt, “Cycling: Cipo retires. Definitely. Absolutely. Yes. Probably”, in New York Times, retrieved 27 Apr 2014. From the entry irrevocable
  • Because of Uncle Sugar I have a good education and the opportunity to retire when I'm thirty-five years old."2004, Shane Russell, Living Hell, page 25. From the entry Uncle Sugar
  • Guests unaccustomed to black pepper may retire to the sneezery.2002 June 5, LoRe, “Housing vibes (was Re: [OT] Mmm, books...)”, in alt.polyamory (Usenet), archived from the original on 13 Apr 2026. From the entry sneezery
  • Perhaps, given the current economy, Merrill Lynch should retire its legendary bull and hire that old ’toon favorite, Bullwinkle.1991 January 13, Lisa J[oan] Moore, “Buy, Buy, Baby: The Littlest Consumers”, in This World (San Francisco Chronicle), San Franscisco…. From the entry 'toon

Meaning of retire

  1. verb To stop working on a permanent basis, usually because of old age or illness.
  2. verb To stop playing their sport and in competitions a sports player.
  3. verb To withdraw; to take away.

Full definition of retire

Questions about retire in a sentence

How do you use retire in a sentence?
Retire is used as a verb and noun. For example: “Having made a large fortune, he retired.”
What is a short sentence with retire?
“Jones retired Smith 6-3.”
What does retire mean?
Retire means to stop working on a permanent basis, usually because of old age or illness.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: retire (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use retire in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/retire. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.