• n. 撤退；休息寓所；撤退
• vi. 撤退；退避；向后倾
• vt. 退（棋）；使后退

re-,向后，往回，treat,拉，处理，词源同 tract.即回拉，引申词义撤退，退离。

retreat

retreat: [14] Retreat and retract [15] are ultimately the same word. Both go back to Latin retrahere ‘draw back’, a compound verb formed from the prefix re- ‘back’ and trahere ‘draw, pull’ (source of English tractor). This passed into Old French as retraire, and its past participle retrait came to be used as a noun meaning ‘withdrawal’ – whence English retreat. Meanwhile the past participle of retrahere, retractus, had been used as the basis of a new Latin verb, retractāre, which passed into English via Old French retracter as retract.
=> contract, distract, retract, tractor

retreat (n.)

c. 1300, "a step backward;" late 14c., "act of retiring or withdrawing; military signal for retiring from action or exercise," from Old French retret, noun use of past participle of retrere "draw back," from Latin retrahere "draw back, withdraw, call back," from re- "back" (see re-) + trahere "to draw" (see tract (n.1)). Meaning "place of seclusion" is from early 15c.; sense of "establishment for mentally ill persons" is from 1797. Meaning "period of retirement for religious self-examination" is from 1756.

retreat (v.)

early 15c., "to draw in, draw back, leave the extremities," from retreat (n.) and in part from Old French retret, past participle of retrere. Meaning "to fall back from battle" is mid-15c. Related: Retreated; retreating.

1. In June 1942, the British 8th Army was in full retreat.

1942年6月,英国第八军全面撤退.

来自柯林斯例句

2. It's a retreat into the adolescence they never really had.

这是对他们从不曾真正拥有的青春时代的回归.

来自柯林斯例句

3. Their soldiers had to retreat ignominiously after losing hundreds of lives.

损失数百人之后，他们的士兵被迫灰溜溜地撤退。

来自柯林斯例句

4. Yesterday'svote itself was a retreat from an earlier fallback position.

昨天的投票本身就是放弃先前所留退路的做法。

来自柯林斯例句

5. Cockburn decided it was time to beat a hasty retreat.

科伯恩认为到了该紧急撤退的时候了。

来自柯林斯例句