Literary notes about Retract (AI summary)
In literature, the word "retract" is employed with remarkable versatility, conveying both physical and abstract reversals. It often denotes the act of pulling back or withdrawing a statement, promise, or even an action, as when a character refuses to retract a hostile remark or is compelled to take back a hasty error ([1], [2]). Authors also use it to evoke the tension of an irreversible decision or a moment of pride and defiance, illustrated by resolute declarations like not retracting a word despite overwhelming pressure ([3], [4]). In other contexts, "retract" serves a more concrete purpose, describing literal movements such as drawing back a thrust or even adjusting phonetic accents in words ([5], [6]). This multiplicity of meanings enriches narratives, allowing writers to explore themes of integrity, regret, and the complexities of personal commitment within their works ([7], [8]).
- Peter was too strong a man to renounce and then retract his renunciation twenty-four hours later.
— from The Moon out of Reach by Margaret Pedler - So, as far as my own emotions are concerned then, I retract nothing of what I told you.
— from The Triflers by Frederick Orin Bartlett - ‘I’ll not retract my word,’ said Catherine.
— from Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë - I am in earnest,—I will not equivocate,—I will not excuse,—I will not retract a single inch,—and I will be heard."
— from The Battle of PrinciplesA Study of the Heroism and Eloquence of the Anti-Slavery Conflict by Newell Dwight Hillis - cried the Gascon, trying in vain, too late, to retract the thrust.
— from Twenty years after by Alexandre Dumas and Auguste Maquet - Vocatives in ες from proper names in ης retract the accent, as Σώκρατες , except those in ωδες, ωλες, ωρες, ηρες , as Δειῶδες .
— from The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America by Thomas Jefferson - The instant is solemn; there is still time to retract if you think you have been mistaken.
— from Les Misérables by Victor Hugo - He will pledge himself to retract any error into which he may have fallen, and which Callicles may point out.
— from Gorgias by Plato
