retreat

retreat
    n 1: (military) withdrawal of troops to a more favorable
         position to escape the enemy's superior forces or after a
         defeat; "the disorderly retreat of French troops"
    2: a place of privacy; a place affording peace and quiet
    3: (military) a signal to begin a withdrawal from a dangerous
       position
    4: (military) a bugle call signaling the lowering of the flag at
       sunset
    5: an area where you can be alone [syn: {hideaway}, {retreat}]
    6: withdrawal for prayer and study and meditation; "the
       religious retreat is a form of vacation activity" [syn:
       {retirement}, {retreat}]
    7: the act of withdrawing or going backward (especially to
       escape something hazardous or unpleasant) [ant: {advance},
       {advancement}, {forward motion}, {onward motion},
       {procession}, {progress}, {progression}]
    v 1: pull back or move away or backward; "The enemy withdrew";
         "The limo pulled away from the curb" [syn: {withdraw},
         {retreat}, {pull away}, {draw back}, {recede}, {pull back},
         {retire}, {move back}] [ant: {advance}, {go on}, {march
         on}, {move on}, {pass on}, {progress}]
    2: move away, as for privacy; "The Pope retreats to
       Castelgondolfo every summer"
    3: move back; "The glacier retrogrades" [syn: {retrograde},
       {retreat}]
    4: make a retreat from an earlier commitment or activity; "We'll
       have to crawfish out from meeting with him"; "He backed out
       of his earlier promise"; "The aggressive investment company
       pulled in its horns" [syn: {retreat}, {pull back}, {back
       out}, {back away}, {crawfish}, {crawfish out}, {pull in one's
       horns}, {withdraw}]
    

Retreat \Re*treat"\, n. [F. retraite, fr. retraire to withdraw,
   L. retrahere; pref. re- re- + trahere to draw. See {Trace},
   and cf. {Retract}, {Retrace}.]
   1. The act of retiring or withdrawing one's self, especially
      from what is dangerous or disagreeable.
      [1913 Webster]

            In a retreat he o?truns any lackey.   --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. The place to which anyone retires; a place or privacy or
      safety; a refuge; an asylum.
      [1913 Webster]

            He built his son a house of pleasure, and spared no
            cost to make a delicious retreat.     --L'Estrange.
      [1913 Webster]

            That pleasing shade they sought, a soft retreat
            From sudden April showers, a shelter from the heat.
                                                  --Dryden.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. (Mil. & Naval.)
      (a) The retiring of an army or body of men from the face
          of an enemy, or from any ground occupied to a greater
          distance from the enemy, or from an advanced position.
      (b) The withdrawing of a ship or fleet from an enemy for
          the purpose of avoiding an engagement or escaping
          after defeat.
      (c) A signal given in the army or navy, by the beat of a
          drum or the sounding of trumpet or bugle, at sunset
          (when the roll is called), or for retiring from
          action.
          [1913 Webster]

   Note: A retreat is properly an orderly march, in which
         circumstance it differs from a flight.
         [1913 Webster]

   4. (Eccl.)
      (a) A special season of solitude and silence to engage in
          religious exercises.
      (b) A period of several days of withdrawal from society to
          a religious house for exclusive occupation in the
          duties of devotion; as, to appoint or observe a
          retreat.
          [1913 Webster]

   Syn: Retirement; departure; withdrawment; seclusion;
        solitude; privacy; asylum; shelter; refuge.
        [1913 Webster]
    

Retreat \Re*treat"\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Retreated}; p. pr. &
   vb. n. {Retreating}.]
   To make a retreat; to retire from any position or place; to
   withdraw; as, the defeated army retreated from the field.
   [1913 Webster]

         The rapid currents drive
         Towards the retreating sea their furious tide.
                                                  --Milton.
   [1913 Webster]
    

Retreat, TX (town, FIPS 61616)
  Location: 32.05130 N, 96.47709 W
  Population (1990): 334 (131 housing units)
  Area: 12.9 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
    

Retreat, TX -- U.S. town in Texas
   Population (2000):    339
   Housing Units (2000): 127
   Land area (2000):     4.962652 sq. miles (12.853209 sq. km)
   Water area (2000):    0.018891 sq. miles (0.048928 sq. km)
   Total area (2000):    4.981543 sq. miles (12.902137 sq. km)
   FIPS code:            61616
   Located within:       Texas (TX), FIPS 48
   Location:             32.051204 N, 96.474394 W
   ZIP Codes (1990):    
   Note: some ZIP codes may be omitted esp. for suburbs.
   Headwords:
    Retreat, TX
    Retreat
    

293 Moby Thesaurus words for "retreat":
      Jim Crow, abandon, abandonment, abscond, adytum, alcove, almshouse,
      apartheid, apartness, arbor, ascend, ashram, asylum, avoid,
      avoidance, back, back down, back out, balance, bank,
      beat a retreat, blench, blink, bolt-hole, bow out, bower, bowl,
      cabinet, cache, cant, capitulation, careen, catabasis, cell,
      cession, climb, climb down, cloister, closet, collapse,
      concealment, conservatory, corner, cover, covert, coverture,
      cranny, crash, cringe, cubby, cubbyhole, cup, dark corner, debate,
      decamp, decampment, deceleration, declension, decline,
      decline and fall, decrescendo, deliberate, demur, den, depart,
      departure, descend, detachment, die away, diminish, diminuendo,
      dip, disappear, disengage, disengagement, dish, dive, dodge,
      downtrend, downturn, draw back, draw off, drift away, drop, duck,
      dugout, dwindle, dwindling, ebb, egress, escape, evacuate,
      evacuation, evade, evasion, exit, exodus, fade, fade away, fall,
      fall away, fall back, fall off, fallback, falter, fear, flee,
      flight, flinch, fly, foster home, foxhole, funk hole, gazebo,
      getaway, give, give back, give ground, give place, giving in,
      giving over, giving up, glasshouse, go, go away, go back,
      go downhill, go uphill, going, grade, greenhouse, halfway house,
      hang back, harbor, harborage, haven, hegira, hem and haw,
      hermitage, hesitate, hideaway, hideout, hidey hole, hiding,
      hiding place, hole, hollow, holy of holies, home, hospice,
      hospitium, hover, hum and haw, incline, incurve, isolation,
      isolationism, ivory tower, jib, keel, kiosk, lair, lapse,
      lathhouse, lean, leave, leaving, list, lose ground, mew, move away,
      move back, move off, niche, nook, nursing home, orphanage, parting,
      passing, pause, pergola, pitch, plunge, ponder, poor farm,
      poorhouse, port, privacy, privatism, privatization, pull away,
      pull back, pull out, pullback, pullout, quail, quarantine, quit,
      rake, recede, recedence, receding, recess, recession, reclusion,
      recoil, reculade, reel back, refuge, relinquishment, remission,
      removal, remove, renunciation, resort, rest home, retire,
      retirement, retract, retractation, retractility, retraction,
      retrocede, retrocedence, retrograde, rise, run away, run back,
      rustication, sanctuary, sanctum, sanctum sanctorum, scruple,
      seclusion, secrecy, secret place, segregation, separation,
      sequestration, sheer off, shelter, shelve, shilly-shally, shrink,
      shrink back, shy, sidestep, sidestepping, sidle, sink, slant,
      slope, slowdown, slump, solitude, splendid isolation, stand back,
      stand off, start aside, start back, stash, stick at, stickle,
      stop to consider, straddle the fence, strain at, subsidence,
      summerhouse, surrender, swag, sway, swerve, take flight,
      think twice about, tilt, tip, turn aside, turn tail, undercovert,
      uprise, vacate, vanish, walkout, wane, weasel, weasel out,
      widen the distance, wince, withdraw, withdrawal, withdrawment,
      workhouse, yield