Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use retract in a sentence

29 example sentences · verb, noun

Retract means to pull (something) back or back inside. Example: “An airplane retracts its wheels for flight.”

Examples of retract by meaning

verbTo pull (something) back or back inside.

  • An airplane retracts its wheels for flight.
  • The collector shoes are automatically retracted when the electric handle is moved from "service off" to "lock off".1962 June, “The Design of the S.R. Electro-diesels”, in Modern Railways, Shepperton, Surrey: Ian Allen Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 393

verbTo draw (an extended body part) back into the body.

  • A cat can retract its claws.

verbTo draw back; to draw up; to withdraw.

  • The bus was stuck at the stop as its wheelchair ramp wouldn’t retract after use.
  • Muscles retract after amputation.

verbTo 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.
  • An official in Taipei demanded that he retract his suggestion.2022 October 26, Cade Metz, Adam Satariano, Chang Che, “How Elon Musk Became a Geopolitical Chaos Agent”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

verbOf something said or written (such as published academic work): to take back or withdraw.

  • I believe he has retracted since.1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, “‘‘Try Your Luck with Professor Challenger’’”, in The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and...

More sentences with retract

  • A cat can protract and retract its claws.From the entry protract
  • The killer retracted his confession, but later reconfessed.From the entry reconfess
  • He retracted the OTF blade into the hilt and walked away.2014, Jesse C. Pacheco, Requiem of Assassins I: Assassination of the Raven, Strategic Book Publishing Rights Agency, →ISBN, page 146. From the entry OTF
  • The rostellum can be retracted into the rostellar sac within the scolex.2012, Thomas C. Cheng, General Parasitology, page 405. From the entry rostellum
  • In the ensuing diastole, these arteries would tend to retract, thus “thinning” the systolically thickened chamber walls.2009, Ares Pasipoularides, Heart's Vortex: Intracardiac Blood Flow Phenomena. From the entry systolically
  • For example, long projections emerged from the cells and floated before they retracted, creating a starlike pattern.2007 September 16, Lawrence K. Altman, “4 Winners of Lasker Medical Prize”, in New York Times. From the entry starlike
  • And part of one cow's udder remained unmilked when the robot retracted.1990 July 25, “BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY; A Mechanical Milkmaid: Will Cows Be Content?”, in The New York Times. From the entry unmilked
  • My guess is that he substitutes a schwa sound for the retracted r in final position.1987, Rex Burns, Suicide Season, Viking, →ISBN, page 109. From the entry retracted
  • Why have they stuck stones in my kidneys, devaluated my tumulosity, retracted my hair?1964, Donald Barthelme, "A Picture History of the War", reprinted in Flying to America: 45 More Stories, Shoemaker Hoard (2007), page 259. From the entry tumulosity
  • New-type monoped landing gear is to be fitted, and wing wheels are to retract.1945, Aviation Week and Space Technology - Volume 44, page 35. From the entry monoped
  • The inferior mesenteric artery and vein are exposed by retracting the mesosigmoid to the left (by the assistant).2018, Xishan Wang, Natural Orifice Specimen Extraction Surgery, →ISBN. From the entry mesosigmoid
  • These setae are attached to intrinsic parapodial muscles which act to protrude setae, or retract them, or spread them.2012, Mandal, Invertebrate Zoology, →ISBN. From the entry parapodial
  • Sure enough, the corridor wall began to retract.1963, J. G. Ballard, Passport to Eternity. From the entry underswell
  • Ibanez suspected it would be months before the approach was considered clean, the doors retracted and active air and pedestrian circulation restored.2022 September 9, HarryBlank, “The Mausoleum at Ipperwash”, in SCP Foundation, archived from the original on 27 May 2024. From the entry remove
  • Thus, a stationary roper takes its opponents by surprise, as long as its eye is closed and its tendrils retracted until it strikes.2019, Keith Ammann, The Monsters Know What They're Doing, page 172. From the entry roper
  • The stage itself is sparse, save for a few retracting door frames and Hogwartsian lamps that hang from the ceiling, flickering luminously.2019 November 24, Tim Balk, “Audience gets into spirit of ‘Carol’”, in Daily News, page 22. From the entry Hogwartsian
  • The velar plosives are often fronted through the influence of a following front vowel, and retracted through the influence of a following back vowel.2005, Paul Skandera, Peter Burleigh, A Manual of English Phonetics and Phonology, page 48. From the entry front
  • The pulling force exerted by the arms will then cause the spring-loaded lockpin retract collar to contact two fiberglass catches in the receptacle.1970, US Bureau of Naval Personnel, Aviation Structural Mechanic E 1 & C., page 270. From the entry lockpin
  • This places the reflection under stretch and facilitates its division. (c) The reflection and underlying mesosigmoidal fascia have been retracted to the left and the mesosigmoid to the right.2017, John Calvin Coffey, Rishabh Sehgal, Dara Walsh, Mesenteric Principles of Gastrointestinal Surgery, →ISBN. From the entry mesosigmoid
  • The high back retracted tongue root vowel is always further back than its counterpart, rather than further forward, as is the case for the traditional lax back vowels.1996, Peter Ladefoged, Ian Maddieson, The Sounds of the World's Languages. From the entry retracted tongue root
  • "Better retract that," she advised, "hadn't you?" "Why should I?" "Because if you're stupid enough to remain in Bombay, I'll make you eat your words one day."1936, F.J. Thwaites, chapter II, in The Redemption, Sydney: H. John Edwards, page 16. From the entry eat one's words

Meaning of retract

  1. verb To pull (something) back or back inside.
  2. verb To draw (an extended body part) back into the body.
  3. verb To avert (one's eyes or a gaze).

Full definition of retract

Questions about retract in a sentence

How do you use retract in a sentence?
Retract is used as a verb and noun. For example: “An airplane retracts its wheels for flight.”
What is a short sentence with retract?
“Muscles retract after amputation.”
What does retract mean?
Retract means to pull (something) back or back inside.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: retract (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 retract in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/retract. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.