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1. Move away or backward
   "The enemy retreated";
   - withdraw, pull away, draw back, recede, pull back, retire, move back
    
2. Move away, as for privacy
   "The Pope retreats to Castelgondolfo every summer"
    
3. Move back
   "The glacier retreats";
   - retrograde
    
4. Make a retreat from an earlier commitment or activity
   - pull back, back out, back away, crawfish [N. Amer, informal], crawfish out [N. Amer, informal], pull in one's horns [informal], withdraw

1. (military) withdrawal of troops to a more favourable 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
   - hideaway
    
6. Withdrawal for prayer and study and meditation
   "the religious retreat is a form of vacation activity";
   - retirement
    
7. The act of withdrawing or going backward (especially to escape something hazardous or unpleasant)

Derived forms: retreated, retreating, retreats

Type of: area, bugle call, country, go, locomote, move, sign, signal, signaling [N. Amer], signalling [Brit, Cdn], travel, withdrawal

Antonym: forward motion

Encyclopedia: Retreat, New Jersey