retire
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ɹəˈtaɪə(ɹ)/
ipa: /ɹəˈtaɪɹ/
rhymes: -aɪə(ɹ)
Forms: form: retires
form: retiring
form: retired
form: retired
Etymology: From Middle French retirer (“draw back”), from Old French retirer, built from re- (“back”) + tirer (“draw, pull”), the latter from Vulgar Latin *tīrāre, of highly uncertain origin.
Senses: examples: text: Having made a large fortune, he retired.
text: He wants to retire at 55.
text: She decided to retire from her banking job due to stress.
text: Green will never forget "that was the day I retired - the absolute crowning event of my life and I was very proud of that.
ref: 2022 September 21, Chris Green tells Nick Brodrick, “It's absolutely my favourite train”, in RAIL, number 966, page 37:
glosses: To stop working on a permanent basis, usually because of old age or illness.
examples: text: I have decided to retire from football at the end of the season after the World Cup.
text: I have decided to retire from test cricket at 45.
topics: hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: To stop playing their sport and in competitions a sports player.
examples: text: He […] retired himself, his wife, and children into a forest.
ref: 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:
english: The New Arcadia
translation: The New Arcadia
text: As when the sun is present all the year, / And never doth retire his golden ray.
ref: 1592, John Davies, The Original, Nature, and Immortality of the Soul:
glosses: To withdraw; to take away.
examples: text: The steamship made thousands of trips over several decades before it was retired by the shipping company.
text: When a hurricane becomes so deadly or destructive that future use would be insensitive, officials may retire the name of the hurricane.
text: 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.
ref: 2020 May 20, John Crosse, “Soon to be gone... but never forgotten”, in Rail, page 63:
glosses: To cease use or production of something.
examples: text: The central bank retired those notes five years ago.
glosses: To withdraw from circulation, or from the market; to take up and pay.
examples: text: The board retired the old major.
text: 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.”
ref: 1988 November 27, “How Richard Gere Learned To Reach Out”, in Parade (The Spokesman-Review), page 10, column 3:
text: 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.
ref: 2023 October 19, Brendan I. Koerner, “Watch This Guy Work, and You’ll Finally Understand the TikTok Era”, in Wired, →ISSN:
glosses: To cause to retire; specifically, to designate as no longer qualified for active service; to place on the retired list.
examples: text: Jones retired in favour of Smith.
topics: ball-games
cricket
games
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: To voluntarily stop batting before being dismissed so that the next batsman can bat.
raw_tags: of a batsman
examples: text: Jones retired Smith 6-3.
text: Jones makes the catch for the third out, and that retires the side.
topics: ball-games
baseball
games
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: To 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.
raw_tags: of a fielder
examples: text: I will retire to the study.
text: to retire from the world
text: to retire from the public eye
glosses: To go back or return; to withdraw or retreat, especially from public view; to go into privacy.
examples: text: to retire from battle
text: The regiment retired from the fray after the Major was killed.
glosses: To retreat from action or danger; to withdraw for safety or pleasure.
examples: text: Past the point, the shore retires into a sequence of coves.
glosses: To recede; to fall or bend back.
examples: text: I will retire for the night.
text: 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.
ref: 1944 November and December, “"Duplex Roomette" Sleeping Cars”, in Railway Magazine, page 324:
glosses: To go to bed.
Derived terms: topics: cricket
ball-games
games
sports
hobbies
lifestyle
word: retire hurt
word: retiree
word: retirer
word: retire the side
Related terms: retirement
tirer