retire

present singular third person retires · participle present retiring · participle past retired · past retired

1. intransitiveTo stop working on a permanent basis, usually because of old age or illness.

   He wants to retire at 55.

   3 more examples

   Having made a large fortune, he retired.

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

   Green will never forget "that was the day I retired - the absolute crowning event of my life and I was very proud of that.

   2022 September 21, Chris Green tells Nick Brodrick, “It's absolutely my favourite train”, in RAIL, number 966, page 37

2. intransitivehobbiesTo stop playing their sport and in competitions a sports player.

   I have decided to retire from test cricket at 45.

   1 more example

   I have decided to retire from football at the end of the season after the World Cup.

3. reflexivesometimestransitiveTo withdraw; to take away.

   He […] retired himself, his wife, and children into a forest.

   The New Arcadia

   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: […] [John Windet] for William Ponsonbie, published 1590, →OCLC

   1 more example

   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. transitiveTo cease use or production of something.

   The steamship made thousands of trips over several decades before it was retired by the shipping company.

   2 more examples

   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

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

   The central bank retired those notes five years ago.

6. transitiveTo 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.

   2 more examples

   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 euphorious. All of a sudden the rehearsal period of your life is over, and your future has arrived. It’s liberating.”

   1988 November 27, “How Richard Gere Learned To Reach Out”, in Parade (The Spokesman-Review), page 10, column 3

   By the time I first spoke to Magana in late 2022, 25/7 Media’s success had given him some measure of financial security. “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

7. intransitiveball gamesTo voluntarily stop batting before being dismissed so that the next batsman can bat.

   Jones retired in favour of Smith.

8. transitiveball gamesTo 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.

   1 more example

   Jones makes the catch for the third out, and that retires the side.

9. intransitiveTo go back or return; to withdraw or retreat, especially from public view; to go into privacy.

   to retire from the world

   2 more examples

   I will retire to the study.

   to retire from the public eye

10. intransitiveTo retreat from action or danger; to withdraw for safety or pleasure.

    to retire from battle

    1 more example

    The regiment retired from the fray after the Major was killed.

11. intransitiveTo recede; to fall or bend back.

    Past the point, the shore retires into a sequence of coves.

    1 more example

    The fat alluvial soil left by the retiring waters was sown by the peasants and produced crops of corn, rice, and cotton.

    1918, James George Frazer, Folk-Lore In The Old Testament, volume 1, page 161

12. intransitiveTo go to bed.

    I will retire for the night.

    1 more example

    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

plural retires

1. rareThe act of retiring, or the state of being retired.
2. A place to which one retires.

   Synonyms: retreat

3. datedA call sounded on a bugle, announcing to skirmishers that they are to retire, or fall back.

   At the retire, the cavalry fell back.

present singular third person retires · participle present retiring · participle past retired · past retired · alternative retyre

1. UStransitiveTo fit (a vehicle) with new tires.