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Retract vs Retractor - What's the difference?

retract | retractor |

As a verb retract

is to pull back inside.

As a noun retractor is

one who, or that which, retracts.

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

    retractor

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • One who, or that which, retracts.
  • In breech-loading firearms, a device for withdrawing a cartridge shell from the barrel.
  • A surgical instrument used to hold apart the edges of an incision or wound.
  • (chess) A chess puzzle in which a number of moves are retracted and the solver is challenged to reach an alternate outcome.
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