Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use retreat in a sentence

40 example sentences · noun, verb

Retreat means the act of pulling back or withdrawing, as from something dangerous, or unpleasant. Example: “The general opted for a swift retreat because he saw his troops were vastly outnumbered.”

Examples of retreat by meaning

nounWithdrawal by a military force from a dangerous position or from enemy attack.

  • The general opted for a swift retreat because he saw his troops were vastly outnumbered.

nounA peaceful, quiet place affording privacy or security.

  • a mountain retreat

nounA period of retirement, seclusion, or solitude, especially for meditation, prayer, or study.

  • We both need a week retreat after those two stressful years working in the city.
  • a Buddhist retreat
  • a company retreat

verbTo withdraw military forces.

  • The general refused to order his soldiers to retreat, despite being vastly outnumbered.

verbTo slope back.

  • a retreating forehead

More sentences with retreat

  • After we broke up, I retreated to my room for a good cry.From the entry cry
  • She felt perfectly at one with nature during her retreat to the lake.From the entry at one
  • The king retreated to his privy chamber.From the entry privy
  • The truth behind their weekend retreat was shrouded in obscurity.From the entry shroud
  • He proclaimed himself a born-again Christian during a church retreat.From the entry born-again
  • The dorm offered students the choice of retreating to the privacy of their rooms, or mingling in the common area.From the entry common area
  • I went on the retreat to the monastery, thinking I would be sleeping in a spartan cell, only to discover a simple but comfortable bedroom.From the entry spartan
  • Potholes or sloughs formed by a glacier’s retreat from the central plains of North America, are now known to be some of the world’s most productive ecosystems.From the entry slough
  • He wolves down his food and retreats to his room, shutting the door behind him.2023, Kylie Gilmore, chapter 6, in The Kissing Part (Happy Endings in Clover Park; 1), Extra Fancy Books, →ISBN. From the entry wolve down
  • While his fingers retreated, the ache she felt in her apex had only grown, wanting more.2021 December 9, Catherine Edward, Husband Undercover: A Phantom Agent Novel, Catherine Edward, →ISBN. From the entry apex
  • She noted that the report stated the Kargu-2 and “other loitering munitions” attacked convoys and retreating fighters.2021 June 3, Maria Cramer, quoting Ulrike Franke, “A.I. Drone May Have Acted on Its Own in Attacking Fighters, U.N. Says”, in The New York…. From the entry loitering munition
  • Perhaps by organizing company retreats, firms can make up for some of the lost watercooler effects.2021 spring, Joel Mokyr, “The Great Fake”, in City Journal, archived from the original on 29 May 2023. From the entry watercooler effect
  • He pushes some buttons, entering coordinates, and then retreats far down the road.29 February 2020, qntm, “Blood/Brain”, in There Is No Antimemetics Division, →ISBN, page 204. From the entry brick phone
  • Even modern Bishkekers come to kumis-drinking retreats in Song Köl Lake or Suusamyr Valley.2020 January 19, Karolina Wiercigroch, “Photo gallery: dining with nomads in Kyrgyzstan”, in National Geographic. From the entry Bishkeker
  • Anti-American sentiment will grow, and Europe risks a retreat to protectionism.2019 February 21, Guy Verhofstadt, “A Trump trade war with Europe would hurt the trans-Atlantic relationship”, in CNN. From the entry nationalist
  • Barron immediately retreated, and later sprayed hornet killer on the nest with his son.2019 June 30, Mariel Padilla, “Officials Warn of Wasp ‘Super Nests’ in Alabama”, in The New York Times. From the entry yellow jacket
  • I retreated into myself and allowed myself to be swallowed into a typically autistic shutdown.2018, Laura James, Odd Girl Out: My Extraordinary Autistic Life, unnumbered page. From the entry shutdown
  • She was beating a fighting retreat when the Shāh caught up to her with sixty men.2018, “Solṭān Salim Comes to Iran”, in Barry Wood, editor, transl., The Adventures of Shāh Esmāʿil: A Seventeenth-Century Persian Popular…. From the entry shāh
  • Fights ensued as many England supporters attempted to retreat before some stewards moved in.2016 June 11, Phil McNulty, “England 1–1 Russia”, in BBC Sport, archived from the original on 13 Jun 2016. From the entry scuffle
  • Like Trumpism, Hefnerian values have prospered in the blue-collar vacuum created by religion’s retreat, community’s unraveling.2016 August 14, Ross Douthat, “A Playboy for President”, in The New York Times. From the entry Hefnerian
  • The blocking unit of the 62nd Army contained the retreat of these units and restored the position.2015 April 28, Jochen Hellbeck, Stalingrad: The City that Defeated the Third Reich, PublicAffairs, →ISBN, page 58. From the entry blocking unit
  • I squeezed off a few rounds until the people started retreating while aiming where I was.2014, S. E. Nelson, Nightmare Along the River Nile. From the entry squeeze off
  • While Wyatt dismounted and aimed his shotgun at Brocius, the rest of his posse retreated.2013, Andrew C. Isenberg, Wyatt Earp: A Vigilante Life, Hill and Wang, →ISBN, page 165. From the entry posse
  • A balanced life might include frequent retreats to the country to destress and dewrinkle.2012, Lillian Bridges, Face Reading in Chinese Medicine, page xxv. From the entry dewrinkle
  • "I think every woman needs a woman cave to retreat to for peace and quiet," he said.2011 August 13, Barbara J. Woerner, “Storage shed yields spiritual retreat”, in The Virginian-Pilot. From the entry woman cave
  • The groyne proposal was put forward by a group of residents opposed to managed retreat.2011 October 27, Marty Sharpe, “Residents may have to quit Haumoana homes”, in Stuff, retrieved 03 Sep 2021. From the entry managed retreat
  • A resort town of the same name hugs the lake’s south shore and offers a multiseason retreat.2008 February 29, Sam Hooper Samuels, “A Relaxed Mountain Retreat That Offers More Than Snow”, in New York Times. From the entry multiseason
  • “Where I live is called Murree; it’s a summer retreat, an hour from Islamabad.2007, Khaled Hosseini, A Thousand Splendid Suns, BLOOMSBURY PUBLISHING (2018), page 324. From the entry Murree
  • The Sui army, suffering from exhaustion and shortage of supplies, finally retreated.2006 [2003], Jae-eun Kang, “Confucianism in the Three Kingdoms Period”, in Suzanne Lee, transl., The Land of Scholars: Two Thousand Years…. From the entry Qingchuan
  • This retreat was called the Long March, during which tens of thousands of marchers died.2000, George C. Y. Wang, Taiwan (World Conflicts and Confrontations), volume 3, Salem Press, Inc., →ISBN, page 662. From the entry CCP
  • It was placed under the administration of Jinmen County after the Kuomintang Government retreated from the mainland.1996 March 21 [1996 March 18], Jixiong (0149 2623 7160) He, “There Is a Feeling of Insecurity on Jinmen, Mazu, and Other Islands”, in…. From the entry Putian
  • Analysts of morality must retreat from their subject far enough to examine the reasons for its convolutedness.1993, Matthew H. Nitecki, Evolutionary Ethics, page 192. From the entry convolutedness
  • Separation is a retreat which only a privileged few can enjoy.1983 December 24, Nancy Reiko, Midge Ward, Nellie Wong, Merle Woo, Emily Woo Yamasaki, “Lesbians Of Color”, in Gay Community News, volume…. From the entry safe space

Meaning of retreat

  1. noun The act of pulling back or withdrawing, as from something dangerous, or unpleasant.
  2. noun The act of reversing direction and receding from a forward position.
  3. noun Withdrawal by a military force from a dangerous position or from enemy attack.

Full definition of retreat

Questions about retreat in a sentence

How do you use retreat in a sentence?
Retreat is used as a noun and verb. For example: “The general opted for a swift retreat because he saw his troops were vastly outnumbered.”
What is a short sentence with retreat?
“a Buddhist retreat”
What does retreat mean?
Retreat means the act of pulling back or withdrawing, as from something dangerous, or unpleasant.

Source and license

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