retire(2) (iou) and acrostic (iou)

retire(2) (iou)

retire verb. M16.
[Old & mod. French retirer, from re- RE- + tirer draw.]
I. verb intrans.
Withdraw, esp. to or from a specified place, position, or occupation, or to seek seclusion or shelter; spec. (a) leave office or Employment, esp. on reaching the normal age for leaving service; (b) go to bed; (c) Sport cease to compete; leave the field; spec. in Cricket, voluntarily terminate or be compelled to suspend one's innings, usu. because of injury (freq. in retire hurt). M16.
retire on one's laurels: see LAUREL noun 2.
E. Waugh No. 28 overturned and..retired from the race. E. Langley They retired early and lay in their beds. G. Greene The doctor in disgust..had retired to the country. E. Pawel His illness..finally forced him to retire.
(Esp. of a military force) retreat before or from an enemy, fall back from or from an attacking position or an object of attack; Fencing give ground before one's adversary; take one or more steps backward; gen. move back or away; appear to recede; disappear from sight. M16.
W. S. Churchill Lack of numbers..compelled the British force to retire. A. Moorehead When this sea retired a great lake remained.
Return; come back. M16-L17.
T. Drant Expulse Nature with a forke Yet she will still retire.
II. verb refl.
Withdraw, leave, go away. Now rare. M16.
S. Johnson My desire..to retire myself to some of our American plantations.
III. verb trans.
Cause to retire; spec. (a) order (a military force) to retreat, esp. before an enemy or from an attacking position or an object of attack; (b) compel (a person) to leave office or Employment, esp. before reaching the normal age for leaving service; (c) Baseball cause (a batter or team) to retire; put out. M16.
C. J. Lever The French were..seen to retire their..guns. Times One idea..is that Sir Charles Villiers..should be retired early.
b. Rally (troops). Scot. rare. L16-M17.
c. Withdraw (a bill or note) from operation or currency; pay (a Debt). L17.
Orig., put away; remove (a person or thing) from or to a place; withdraw (the mind, the thoughts) from an object or sphere. Later, withdraw (a thing) from notice; conceal, obscure. Now rare or obsolete. L16.
Evelyn Retire your..rarest Plants..into your Conservatory. Harper's Magazine To retire your comely features in..a veil.
Draw or pull (a thing) back to a former position. Long rare or obsolete. L16.
P. Lowe Retire the needle the way that it went in.
b. Hold (a person) back from some course; dissuade, restrain. rare. L16-E17.
c. Get back; regain, recover. Only in 17.
W. Warburton Inheritance given to rent may be retired, or redeemed.
reti'ree noun (chiefly US) a person who has retired from office or Employment, esp. on reaching the normal age for leaving service; a pensioner: M20.
retirer noun a person who retires or retreats L16.

acrostic (iou)

acrostic noun & adjective. Also acrostich. L16.
[French acrostiche from Greek akrostikhis, formed as ACRO- + stikhos row, line of verse: assim. to -IC.]
A. noun.
A poem or Other composition in which the initial (single acrostic), the initial and final (double acrostic), or the initial, middle, and final (triple acrostic) letters of the lines make words. L16.
b. A word-puzzle so made. L19.
The beginning or end of a verse. E17-M18.
A poem in which the consecutive lines or verses begin with the successive letters of the alphabet. L17.
b. adjective. Of the Nature of or in the form of an acrostic. M17.
acrostical adjective = ACROSTIC adjective M19.
acrostically adverb M19.

Sites

Pest Star