Retract, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Retracted; p. pr. & vb. n. Retracting.]
Etymology: [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.
2 other Webster entries under this spelling
Retract, 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.
Retract, n. (Far.)
The pricking of a horse's foot in nailing on a shoe.
Shades of meaning
Fernald has no entry of its own for retract; he lists it under abandon, renounce.
Where he writes about it:
Abjure, discard, forswear, recall, recant, renounce, retract, and revoke, like abandon, imply some previous connection. — from renounce
Retract (L. re, back, and traho, draw) is to take back something that one has said as not true or as what one is not ready to maintain; as, to retract a charge or accusation; one recants what was especially his own, he retracts what was directed against another. — from renounce