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retract
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  • Shay twisted the handle again, and the ribs retracted.†   (source)
  • As he retracted the wrench, the engineers broke into applause.†   (source)
  • It was shrinking very fast, growing balder and balder, the black hair and stubble retracting into his skull; his cheeks becoming smooth, his skull round and covered with a peachlike fuzz...A baby's head now sat grotesquely on top of the thick, muscled neck of the Death Eater as he struggled to get up again; but even as they watched, their mouths open, the head began to swell to its previous proportions again; thick black hair was sprouting from the pate and chin...'It's Time,' said Hermione in an awestruck voice.†   (source)
  • You wish to retract the story of complete ignorance you told Sheriff Moran in the wake of your arrest and replace it with this new one you've just now told us?†   (source)
  • Then he'd find the nerves and cut them, causing them to retract and reduce the potential for the phenomenon called phantom pain—the sharp feeling of ache in a portion of a limb that no longer exists in reality but still sends signals to the brain.†   (source)
  • Barb Wiggin, trying to prevent the angel from swinging, turned Harold Crosby away from the shepherds and the congregation—so that he continued to swing, but with his back toward everyone, as if he had decided to spurn the world, or retract his message.†   (source)
  • There are chairs and couches to sit on, but what's wonderful is that the back windows retract into the ceiling so you're riding outside, in the fresh air, and you can see a wide sweep of the landscape.†   (source)
  • If they mentioned it aloud, she might retract it.†   (source)
  • A curtain of dark camouflage material retracted, and Leo could see the guy who'd been invisible a second before.†   (source)
  • In it you'll say what you did wrong, and how you're retracting your evidence.†   (source)
  • "Mrs. Buckman," he said, "perhaps you would like to retract those last words?†   (source)
  • Cinder retracted her hand.†   (source)
  • And as theories go this was all very fine and pleasant until Veet Voojagig suddenly claimed to have found this planet, and to have worked there for a while driving a limousine for a family of cheap green retractables, whereupon he was taken away, locked up, wrote a book and was finally sent into tax exile, which is the usual fate reserved for those who are determined to make fools of themselves in public.†   (source)
  • The bay edges farther from us, and as always I have the same fantasy I did as a child: that maybe it won't come back, maybe the whole ocean will disappear forever, drawn back across the surface of the earth like lips retracting over teeth, revealing the cool, white hardness underneath, the bleached bone.†   (source)
  • I informed Rhonda Boney that I was going to be a father and so could no longer assist in any investigation—that I was, in fact, planning to retract any statement I'd made concerning my misplaced belief that my wife had framed me, and I was also ready to admit my role in the credit cards.†   (source)
  • The sabers on Hatter's belt retracted.†   (source)
  • Breakfast had been set out on a long sideboard near a weathered table which could be retracted into the deck planking.†   (source)
  • When she had put down the bucket near me, Pumpkin retracted her tongue, and then brushed a strand of hair behind her ear while she looked me up and down.†   (source)
  • The wheels retract and the cabin shakes as they struggle upward, through the first layer of clouds.†   (source)
  • I honestly believe that if D. H. Lawrence could see the sorry state of sex scenes that developed within a generation of his death, he would retract Lady Chatterley's Lover.†   (source)
  • I asked, as soon as we were out of earshot, climbing down an emergency access ladder well, my armor retracted.†   (source)
  • It was like grasping a lion's paw, and her retracted claws suddenly appeared dangerously close to his fingers.†   (source)
  • Burnham retracted his order.†   (source)
  • He turns his back, and can feel his neck retracting down into his collar like a turtle's into its shell.†   (source)
  • During the second interview, Nathan even retracted baptism as a specific program, and suggested we might organize some kind of sprinkling.†   (source)
  • At the third floor Ullman brought them to a bumpy stop, retracted the gate, and opened the door.†   (source)
  • The swollen organ burst just as he was retracting tissue to get at it.†   (source)
  • The smartwheels of her skateboard, many, many spokes extending and retracting to fit the shape of the ground, take her.†   (source)
  • OK, I'll retract that question.†   (source)
  • I retract my head, blushing.†   (source)
  • I half expected Hilda to turn on me and say, "You sound sick," but she only extended and then retracted her swanny neck.†   (source)
  • The arm retracted and she looked at what it had watered: a fern tree.†   (source)
  • I have no wish, let me make clear, to retract any of my ideas on 'dignity' and its crucial link with 'greatness'.†   (source)
  • Normally the lids would be retracted so that you could see the entire iris.†   (source)
  • I could feel the slither as they retracted, feel the slight swelling of the body as it absorbed them.†   (source)
  • He was fumbling with an oozing vessel when she needed him to retract.†   (source)
  • Apparently, with the EZ-Key, you could color code each of your keys, then attach them to a retracting cord, so that you only had to pull them out, unlock whatever needed unlocking, and zip!†   (source)
  • Its legs elongated, its spine straightening, its jaw retracting.†   (source)
  • The screen retracts.†   (source)
  • Then I put it back, taking care to keep my lips retracted.†   (source)
  • I know I am doing my duty and therefore can never wish to retract.†   (source)
  • But you've got to retract that article you wrote about Oedipus.†   (source)
  • He retracted the piston with the C-clamp, removed the old pad, checked the rotors for damage, and reinstalled a new pad before replacing the wheel and repeating the process with the other wheels.†   (source)
  • I never let up willing its size smaller, its hairs to retract, until by dawn the Sitting Ghost temporarily disappeared.†   (source)
  • Max looked at Nick, who had flattened his quills and retracted his claws.†   (source)
  • His skin has a bluish pallor, and his chest wall is retracted.†   (source)
  • I retract my thanks.†   (source)
  • He retracted his talons and allowed a gentle smile to form on his snout.†   (source)
  • Emma laid a hand on my knee, then retracted it.†   (source)
  • As the car rolled away, the shiny metal rod that was the vehicle's antenna became shorter and shorter, retracting into its base.†   (source)
  • Unfortunately, the paper never identified this statement as rumor and never bothered to retract it either.†   (source)
  • I retract; you were not indiscreet.†   (source)
  • As he spoke his warning, the snail slowed and retracted its eyes several inches.†   (source)
  • It retracted and smacked against the door, making us both jump.†   (source)
  • That Lord Stannis give up his claim to the Iron Throne and retract all he said of Joffrey's bastardy, on the condition that he be accepted back into the king's peace and confirmed as Lord of Dragonstone and Storm's End.†   (source)
  • Before this, he'd known only two kinds of drivers — the kind who hunched up, both arms bent, pulling on the wheel as though to keep it from retracting into the dashboard; and the kind who sat so far back that in order to drape one casual wrist over the top of the wheel, they had to stiffen their elbows and curve their spines.†   (source)
  • Just hold the compliments, buddy—you may live to retract them.†   (source)
  • The sun has come out from a break in the clouds, and Liv has retracted the convertible top to her brilliantine emerald car.†   (source)
  • The fangs retracted until it was just his lips pressing against my neck.†   (source)
  • Ingvall couldn't prove otherwise and Alan could always retract.†   (source)
  • How long this went on I do not know, but when at last it occurred to me to reciprocate or try to, and began to unlimber my own tongue with a gargling sound, I felt hers retract like a deflated bladder, and she pulled her mouth away from mine, then pressed her face against my cheek.†   (source)
  • When she nodded her shadow would extend itself on the wall, then quickly retract.†   (source)
  • That great burning column is still there, but it's constricting, narrowing-it looks like the funnel of a tornado, about to retract into the clouds.†   (source)
  • Now, in a single moment, I had to retract my sweeping indictment of TV: it had not failed completely, only partially.†   (source)
  • She seldom used the other expression because it was not often necessary for her to retract a statement, but when she did, her face came to a complete stop, there was an almost imperceptible movement of her black eyes, during which they seemed to be receding, and then the observer would see that Mrs. Freeman, though she might stand there as real as several grain sacks thrown on top of each other, was no longer there in spirit.†   (source)
  • But she was secretly pleased, and when she saw him slowly look down in his old manner, she reached over, as if to retract what she had said, and laid her hand on his, touching the key for herself, softness making her worn hand limp.†   (source)
  • "Retract chair," I said as I stepped out of the bathroom.   (source)
    retract = move back
  • The ramp retracted, and there was a sharp hum as the ship's security system activated.   (source)
    retracted = moved back
  • The ramp retracted and we launched out of the bay.   (source)
  • I felt a sharp pain as the eargear clamps retracted and pulled free of the cartilage on my left ear.   (source)
    retracted = pulled back
  • We heard an electric hum behind us as the jet's staircase retracted and the hatch closed.   (source)
  • When I climbed inside the capsule, the platform retracted and the hatch irised shut at my feet.   (source)
  • The haptic chair instantly flattened itself again, then retracted so that it was flush against the wall, clearing a large empty space in the center of the room.   (source)
    retracted = moved back
  • She retracted her earlier statements after getting to know him better.
  • You will retract this assertion, will you not, Beauchamp?   (source)
  • As Langdon tried to retract the bar, the Hassassin's hands shot out and grabbed it.†   (source)
  • The moment the last person disembarks, the equipment retracts.†   (source)
  • It had fallen in some way that was keeping the lock's tongue from retracting completely.†   (source)
  • The creature didn't move, didn't retract, didn't let out any sort of sound, human or inhuman.†   (source)
  • Meg's blades retracted, once again becoming gold rings on her middle fingers.†   (source)
  • But his face was tilted back, his lips retracted and teeth bared in a ghoulish parody of a smile.†   (source)
  • He reached out to touch the notebook, hesitated, and retracted his hand.†   (source)
  • If life doesn't cause him to retract his antennae, I think he'll be quite a man.†   (source)
  • The spokes of the smartwheels all retract so that the wheels are barely larger than their hubs.†   (source)
  • He undoes his seat belt, guiding it with his hand as it retracts, back behind his left shoulder.†   (source)
  • Gently now, the retrieval arm set down the crate and retracted.†   (source)
  • The ugly thing retracted just an inch, stopped moving its claw, as if shocked at his boldness.†   (source)
  • "It retracts into a private room below," Jake said.†   (source)
  • If you surf over a bump, the spokes retract to pass over it.†   (source)
  • She retracted her hand, but her eyes were warm.†   (source)
  • This is who you are— His fangs had retracted, slowly, but they still ached.†   (source)
  • They wished to have the nomination retracted, which Adams refused to do.†   (source)
  • She noticed he hadn't retracted the spearhead on his broom since their fight with the arai.†   (source)
  • I knew and I demanded that the albino retract his love so that she would come to her senses.†   (source)
  • Tiny hooks retracted back into the device and its small green light slowly extinguished.†   (source)
  • He said it a bit too quickly, so she wouldn't retract the word "yet."†   (source)
  • The Argo II set down in the grassy field and the oars retracted.†   (source)
  • He was still shuddering as his fangs retracted.†   (source)
  • Don't tell me what to do," she said peevishly, but her fangs retracted.†   (source)
  • Its antenna could be seen retracting down into its base.†   (source)
  • The assertion was later retracted, and the photographer tried to take it in stride.†   (source)
  • What does it mean, anyway, to 'retract' what you've said?†   (source)
  • The statues retracted their arms, uncrossing their spears from the entrance.†   (source)
  • I rolled up my pants and hopped from one craggy rock to the next, choosing one close to where the waves crashed and retracted.†   (source)
  • There were several hisses and clicks; then the wire retracted back into the device and Jorge stepped away.†   (source)
  • Every pod was equipped with a specimen bay—a giant movable wall that could be retracted for transporting oversize specimens in and out of the pods.†   (source)
  • It immediately collapsed into a ball, all its metal arms retracting to press her to its skin "Teresa!"†   (source)
  • A little more ....a little more ....In his mind he could see the rocker beginning to move in its dusty little alcove; he could see the lock's tongue begin to retract.†   (source)
  • The baiting complete, The Cat flipped a lever in the floor and a wall retracted-a wall that, from the outside, looked like part of the mountain.†   (source)
  • Now, after stretching his wings he retracts them again, stretches out his head, and waddles, making his tedious way up one branch and down another.†   (source)
  • The Hegemony spinship was incongruously streamlined with its four sets of boom arms retracted in battle readiness, its sixty-meter command probe sharp as a Clovis point, and its Hawking drive and fusion blisters set far back along the launch shaft like feathers on an arrow.†   (source)
  • The cuffs and helmet had not retracted.†   (source)
  • Dead, because her armor retracted.†   (source)
  • She couldn't retract the goddam bolt.†   (source)
  • Thomas yelled out as he watched every extended arm of the monster immediately retract and clasp onto Gally's arms and legs, making escape or rescue impossible.†   (source)
  • The cuffs had retracted into the armrest, the blue helmet had been lifted from his head, and Mr. Curtain was at his desk, making a note in his journal and speaking quietly into his unseen intercom.†   (source)
  • The waves retract, gathering force, the soft, dark sand seeming to shift away instantly beneath their feet, causing them to lose their balance.†   (source)
  • Listening to their plans, Ashima had felt a moment's panic, a protective instinct, wanting to retract her offer, wanting the house to remain as it's always been, as her husband had last seen it.†   (source)
  • The pilot has seen it coming, doesn't wait to retract the stairway before he releases the brakes and sends the jet taxiing down the runway, swinging the nose away from the Rat Thing.†   (source)
  • The thing had retracted its spikes and arms to enter—when it landed with a squishy thump, a dozen sharp and nasty objects popped back out, looking deadlier than ever.†   (source)
  • The white backup lights flash instantly as the driver shifts into D by way of R and N. Y.T. aims herself at the curb, hits it at a fast running velocity, the spokes of the smartwheels see it coming and retract in the right way so that she glides from street to lawn without a hitch.†   (source)
  • And when she opened her mouth, sideways mandibles snapped and retracted outside her regular human teeth.†   (source)
  • The oars retracted.†   (source)
  • There was a whirring sound as the rope retracted into the device, yanking him to Alec, who had a hand outstretched.†   (source)
  • Jordan gave another bubbling gasp and slid to his knees, the sword retracting, slipping back out of his body as he collapsed to the ground and revealed what was behind him.†   (source)
  • It retracted.†   (source)
  • On the ground, Brian retracted his hand and screamed while the boot on his neck pressed down even harder.†   (source)
  • His eyes started to work again, and he noticed the large hypodermic needle retracting from his forearm.†   (source)
  • Its pincers resembled retracting steel hooks while its body segments were a metallic blue-gray with two ridges of tiny green lights that ran along the length of its back.†   (source)
  • People might swarm aboard when it was fully open, for all he knew He quickly pushed the retract button and the door squealed, then started closing again.†   (source)
  • Closing her eyes, Nox retracted her claws and lay on her back, so dark and glossy she might have been a scoop of volcanic glass.†   (source)
  • And while I would not retract anything I have previously stated regarding the quality of 'dignity', I must admit there is something to the argument that whatever the degree to which a butler has attained such a quality, if he has failed to find an appropriate outlet for his accomplishments he can hardly expect his fellows to consider him 'great'.†   (source)
  • Oars won't retract.†   (source)
  • I didn't actually retract my suggestion, then or in the following days, nor did I repeat it, simply hoping instead for a gradual expiration.†   (source)
  • The hollow retracted its tongues.†   (source)
  • If you don't want the scrotum to shrivel up, and the balls to retract to the armpit, the room has to be really warm.†   (source)
  • Give it time to retract.†   (source)
  • And since to retract an idea is impossible, merely verbal, formal sorcery, I see no reason why you shouldn't do as they wish.†   (source)
  • His fangs had already begun to retract.†   (source)
  • Khufu had climbed to the top of the gangplank, which stood straight up when retracted, and cupped his hand over his eyes like a sailor in a crow's-nest.†   (source)
  • Clary's stomach churned as she drew, and by the time she was done and had retracted her stele, she was sweating and nauseated.†   (source)
  • But then the ice everywhere was melting, too—fading and retracting just as quickly as Althea's life was—the ice in the attic dripping and raining down through the ceiling just as Althea's own blood ran down her body.†   (source)
  • Retract properly, man!†   (source)
  • Now of course I fear darker chance lies ahead for her and Thomas if I don't soon retract myself from their lives, that something terrible and final will befall them as did Anne Hickey, smash them without any sign of admonition.†   (source)
  • Her claws were still out, stained with blood from tip to root; she retracted them, and the blood ran down her palms, staining her wrists.†   (source)
  • There were two things in the balance: his honor (which consisted in his refusing to retract what he had said) and what he had come to call the meaning of his life (his work in medicine and research).†   (source)
  • I might divide it into two basic types: The first type of reaction came from people who themselves (they or their intimates) had retracted something, who had themselves been forced to make public peace with the occupation regime or were prepared to do so (unwillingly, of courseno one wanted to do it).†   (source)
  • "You must think I lose my head easily," she said when I didn't retract.†   (source)
  • Had they been spoken to anyone save Rhett she would have shamelessly retracted them.†   (source)
  • It was a terrible thing to him to retract a word, but to retract it in shame was infinitely worse.†   (source)
  • You don't want to retract that either?†   (source)
  • Unable to retract the oath, the father delayed as long as time would allow, but was finally forced to conduct his stubborn son to the prodigious chariot: its axle of gold and the pole of gold, its wheels with golden tires and a ring of silver spokes.†   (source)
  • "I retract nothing," she said briefly.†   (source)
  • "I retract nothing," she repeated.†   (source)
  • Then he evidently retracted his favourable judgment, why I do not know.†   (source)
  • I shouldn't have said that," she retracted.†   (source)
  • Sometimes he wished that he had never known Eustacia, immediately to retract the wish as brutal.†   (source)
  • Let things take their course; perhaps you may not have to retract.†   (source)
  • You tried by the threat of exposure to make them retract?†   (source)
  • You have pledged your word, and cannot retract.'†   (source)
  • Emma was not required, by any subsequent discovery, to retract her ill opinion of Mrs. Elton.†   (source)
  • The instant is solemn; there is still time to retract if you think you have been mistaken.†   (source)
  • Madame Merle perceptibly flushed, but we know it was not her habit to retract.†   (source)
  • They were not at home, and we retracted our steps through streets delightfully clean.†   (source)
  • In all probability, this time his master would not retract.†   (source)
  • Couldn't he stop and retract it all...and not go?†   (source)
  • Yes, I have said a Turk, and I will not retract.†   (source)
  • Was it to startle her suddenly into a retractation—to take an advantage of her by dread?†   (source)
  • I hope you do not retract what you then said.†   (source)
  • I will facilitate it by repeating the question, 'Will you, or will you not, retract?'†   (source)
  • Of what he had then written, nothing was to be retracted or qualified.†   (source)
  • 'I'll not retract my word,' said Catherine.†   (source)
  • If you doubt, encourage her to retract her word, and you'll have an opportunity of judging!'†   (source)
  • "And if I refuse to retract, you wish to fight, do you?" said Beauchamp in a calm tone.†   (source)
  • Yes, if you will not consent to retract that infamous calumny.†   (source)
  • I am determined not to be content with anything short of an entire retractation.†   (source)
  • M. Verdurin, who was still casting furtive and intermittent glances at his wife, could see with regret, and could understand only too well that she was now inflamed with the passion of a Grand Inquisitor who cannot succeed in stamping out a heresy; and so, in the hope of bringing Swann round to a retractation (for the courage of one's opinions is always a form of calculating cowardice in the eyes of the 'other side'), he broke in: "Tell us frankly, now, what you think of them yourself.†   (source)
  • A caddy retracted his statement, and the only other witness admitted that he might have been mistaken.†   (source)
  • 401 My friend, blood shaking my heart The awful daring of a moment's surrender Which an age of prudence can never retract By this, and this only, we have existed Which is not to be found in our obituaries Or in memories draped by the beneficent spider 407 Or under seals broken by the lean solicitor In our empty rooms DA Dayadhvam: I have heard the key Turn in the door once and turn once only 411 We think of the key, each in his prison thinking of the key, eac†   (source)
  • Retracting her gaze, Madeline saw pack-horses cross an open space a mile below, and she thought she saw the stag-hounds.†   (source)
  • He declared that he would never retract one word, and that he was quite prepared to lose all his pupils.†   (source)
  • I think that for a year after the publication of this article every association and every conference or religious body of any kind, of my race, that met, did not fail before adjourning to pass a resolution condemning me, or calling upon me to retract or modify what I had said.†   (source)
  • He would marry her tomorrow if she could regain Bertha Dorset's friendship; and to induce the open resumption of that friendship, and the tacit retractation of all that had caused its withdrawal, she had only to put to the lady the latent menace contained in the packet so miraculously delivered into her hands.†   (source)
  • Most of its arms were retracted, but with three long tentacles it was fishing out a number of rods, plates, and bars which lined the covering and apparently strengthened the walls of the cylinder.†   (source)
  • Could Anne have foreseen such a junction, she would have staid at home; but, from some feelings of interest and curiosity, she fancied now that it was too late to retract, and the whole six set forward together in the direction chosen by the Miss Musgroves, who evidently considered the walk as under their guidance.†   (source)
  • "I!" exclaimed her brother, hastily, as if anxious to retract an error; "I said it then, and I say it now and so you will find it to be.†   (source)
  • She had told Morris Townsend that she would not mention him to her father, and she saw no reason to retract this vow of discretion.†   (source)
  • The white petals retracted into their red sheaths, the flowers vanished before my eyes, and the bush changed into a chunk of stony nipples.†   (source)
  • Congress may decide amiss without destroying the Union, because the electoral body in which Congress originates may cause it to retract its decision by changing its members.†   (source)
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