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Engage vs Retract - What's the difference?

engage | retract | Related terms |

In transitive terms the difference between engage and retract

is that engage is to bind through legal or moral obligation (to do something, especially to marry) usually in passive while retract is to take back or withdraw something one has said.

As verbs the difference between engage and retract

is that engage is To interact socially.retract is to pull back inside.

engage

English

(wikipedia engage)

Alternative forms

* ingage (obsolete)

Verb

(engag)
  • To interact socially.
  • #To engross or hold the attention of; to keep busy or occupied.
  • #*(Alexander Pope) (1688-1744)
  • #*:Thus shall mankind his guardian care engage .
  • #To draw into conversation.
  • #*(Nathaniel Hawthorne) (1804-1864)
  • #*:the difficult task of engaging him in conversation
  • #To attract, to please; (archaic) to fascinate or win over (someone).
  • #*(Joseph Addison) (1672-1719)
  • #*:Good nature engages everybody to him.
  • (lb) To interact antagonistically.
  • #(lb) To enter into conflict with (an enemy).
  • #*(Fitz Hugh Ludlow) (1836-1870)
  • #*:a favourable opportunity of engaging the enemy
  • #(lb) To enter into battle.
  • (lb) To interact contractually.
  • #(lb) To arrange to employ or use (a worker, a space, etc.).
  • #*{{quote-book, year=1905, author=
  • , title= , chapter=2 citation , passage=For this scene, a large number of supers are engaged , and in order to further swell the crowd, practically all the available stage hands have to ‘walk on’ dressed in various coloured dominoes, and all wearing masks.}}
  • #(lb) To guarantee or promise (to do something).
  • #(lb) To bind through legal or moral obligation (to do something, especially to marry) (usually in passive).
  • #:
  • # To pledge, pawn (one's property); to put (something) at risk or on the line; to mortgage (houses, land).
  • #* 1590 , (Edmund Spenser), (The Faerie Queene) , II.vii:
  • Thou that doest liue in later times, must wage / Thy workes for wealth, and life for gold engage .
  • (lb) To interact mechanically.
  • #To mesh or interlock (of machinery, especially a clutch).
  • #:
  • # To come into gear with.
  • The teeth of one cogwheel engage those of another.
  • (label) To enter into (an activity), to participate (construed with in).
  • *
  • *:“[…] We are engaged in a great work, a treatise on our river fortifications, perhaps? But since when did army officers afford the luxury of amanuenses in this simple republic?”
  • Antonyms

    * (to cause to mesh or interlock) disengage

    Derived terms

    * engagement * disengage * disengagement ----

    retract

    English

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To pull back inside.
  • An airplane retracts its wheels for flight.
  • (ambitransitive) To draw back; to draw up.
  • Muscles retract after amputation.
    A cat can retract its claws.
  • To take back or withdraw something one has said.
  • I retract all the accusations I made about the senator and sincerely hope he won't sue me.
  • * Bishop Stillingfleet
  • I would as freely have retracted this charge of idolatry as I ever made it.
  • * Granville
  • She will, and she will not; she grants, denies, / Consents, retracts , advances, and then flies.
  • To take back, as a grant or favour previously bestowed; to revoke.
  • (Woodward)

    Synonyms

    * take back * withcall * withdraw

    See also

    * unsay * unspeak