All 3 Uses of
retract
in
The Mysterious Benedict Society
- If they mentioned it aloud, she might retract it.†
p. 269.6 *
- 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.†
p. 324.7
- The cuffs and helmet had not retracted.†
p. 462.4
Definitions:
-
(1)
(retract) to take back; or to move back or inin various senses, including:
- to take back something previously said -- such as a promise or opinion
- to move back or in -- such as an airplane's landing gear, or pulling your hand back after being burned
- in surgery, the use of a medical instrument to draw skin or an organ back out of the way
-
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
Less commonly, in phonetics retract references changing the sound of a vowel by pulling the tongue back.