RETRACT
abjure, recant, forswear, retract, resile
(verb) formally reject or disavow a formerly held belief, usually under pressure; “He retracted his earlier statements about his religion”; “She abjured her beliefs”
retract, pull back, draw back
(verb) use a surgical instrument to hold open (the edges of a wound or an organ)
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Verb
retract (third-person singular simple present retracts, present participle retracting, simple past and past participle retracted)
(transitive) To pull back inside.
(ambitransitive) To draw back; to draw up.
(transitive) To take back or withdraw something one has said.
To take back, as a grant or favour previously bestowed; to revoke.
Synonyms
• (to take back or withdraw something one has said): take back, withcall, withdraw; See also recant
Source: Wiktionary
Re*tract", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Retracted; p. pr. & vb. n.
Retracting.] Etym: [F. rétracter, L. retractare, retractatum, to
handle again, reconsider, retract, fr. retrahere, retractum, to draw
back. See Retreat.]
1. To draw back; to draw up or shorten; as, the cat can retract its
claws; to retract a muscle.
2. Ti withdraw; to recall; to disavow; to recant; to take back; as,
to retract an accusation or an assertion.
I would as freely have retracted this charge of idolatry as I ever
made it. Bp. Stillingfleet.
3. To take back,, as a grant or favor previously bestowed; to revoke.
[Obs.] Woodward.
Syn.
– To recal; withdraw; rescind; revoke; unsay; disavow; recant;
abjure; disown.
Re*tract", v. i.
1. To draw back; to draw up; as, muscles retract after amputation.
2. To take back what has been said; to withdraw a concession or a
declaration.
She will, and she will not; she grants, denies, Consents, retracts,
advances, and then files. Granville.
Re*tract", n. (Far.)
Definition: The pricking of a horse's foot in nailing on a shoe.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition