retracev.
/ˌriːˈtreɪs/, /rᵻˈtreɪs/, U.S. /riˈtreɪs/ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military operations > manoeuvre > [verb (intransitive)] > retreat
withdraw1297
recoilc1330
faila1400
rere?a1400
give way1413
ruse?a1425
retreata1460
to leave place1487
wandis1487
settle1513
retire1533
retrace1539
dismarch1596
to come off1600
to fall back1602
retraicta1604
give grounda1616
recline1789
exfiltrate1980
1539 R. Morison tr. Frontinus Strategemes & Policies Warre ii. v. sig. Fiii Fuluius chyefe capytayne..commaunded his horsemen to chase theym euen vnto their campe, prouokyng them fyrste to fyghte, and than to fayne theym selfe to flye, and to retrace agayn [L. regredi].
1544 P. Betham tr. J. di Porcia Preceptes Warre ii. ¶41 sig. Kviiiv Let hym fayne despeyre, and retrace [L. abire] backe in many skyrmysshes, layenge some pyked and actyue warryours, in couerte embusshemente.
2.
a. transitive. To return by taking (one's outward route) in the opposite direction. Frequently in to retrace one's steps and variants. Also figurative and in figurative contexts.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > aspects of travel > travel in specific course or direction > direct (one's course, steps, etc.) [verb (transitive)] > retrace (one's course or steps)
retrace1594
untread1594
recompassc1604
retreat1605
to measure back (also backward)a1616
recollect1651
retrace1775
retrack1839
unthread1847
1594 R. Carew tr. T. Tasso Godfrey of Bulloigne v. 218 Nor any let could make [him] his steps retrace From path, which God points holy thoughts t'ensew [It. Ne impedimento alcun torcer da l'orme Puote, che Dio ne segna, i pensier santi].
1659 T. St. Serfe tr. S. de Cyrano de Bergerac Σεληναρχια sig. E6 You were to day an old rawbon'd man, and now you are a youth. How's this?.. The Creatures of this World from old age retrace the steps of youth.
1717 Let. to Rev. Dr. Snape 2 This being..as necessary, as for a Traveller, who has wander'd into a narrow Lane that leads to a Precipice, to retrace his Steps, if he desires to arrive in Safety at his Journey's End.
1740 C. Pitt tr. Virgil Æneid II. ix. 415 He retrac'd his former Steps, and trod, Once more, the winding Mazes of the Wood.
1784 T. Holcroft tr. Foucher d'Obsonville Philos. Ess. Foreign Animals 75 Many species of animal..have the power to direct their steps and retrace their route, by efforts of memory.
1814 H. F. Cary tr. Dante Vision I. i. 33 With purpose to retrace my steps, I turn'd.
1846 H. H. Wilson Hist. Brit. India 1805–35 II. vii. 293 The nature of the country precluding a forward movement, he retraced his march.
1899 D. S. Jordan Imperial Democracy iii. 63 We should know clearly our final intentions as a nation, for it is never easy to retrace false steps.
1923 National Geographic Mag. Apr. 397/1 No passenger need retrace a step—ticket window, Pullman office, checking-room, all coming in their order on the traveler's way to his train.
1948 ‘R. Crompton’ Family Roundabout xxiv. 267 She walked several yards past the gate of The Beeches and had to retrace her steps.
1991 New Yorker 2 Sept. 29/1 That doesn't mean wanting to repeat the past; it means retracing our footsteps to the point where we took a wrong turn and lost our way.
2008 C. Paolini Brisingr 509 Having searched all of the houses, the mass of soldiers retraced their steps to the center of the village.
b. transitive. To travel (a route previously taken by another); to follow (a route one has previously taken) again. Also figurative. Cf. sense 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > aspects of travel > travel in specific course or direction > direct (one's course, steps, etc.) [verb (transitive)] > retrace (one's course or steps)
retrace1594
untread1594
recompassc1604
retreat1605
to measure back (also backward)a1616
recollect1651
retrace1775
retrack1839
unthread1847
1775 J. Marra Jrnl. Resolution's Voy. 81 There did not seem any absolute necessity for him to retrace what he himself had already examined; nor indeed to retrace the course which Tasman had pointed out.
1796 F. Burney Camilla II. i. 193 He dismounted, and giving his horse to his groom, re-traced her footsteps.
1829 Athenæum 27 May 330/2 Without a word we to the town returned, And I next morn..Proposed to Ellen that we should retrace Our evening's walk.
1875 Z. B. Vance Sketches N. Carolina 73 He believed he could retrace the very route by which they had ascended thirteen years before.
1941 Pop. Mech. June 34/2 It's a long way from the steaming Congo jungle that John Rowlands Stanley opened up to the Congo into which we plunged, 50 years later, to retrace his perilous journey.
1988 L. Gordon Eliot's New Life iii. 105 The poem retraces his approach that late summer day, looking down the lane in the haze of heat.
2002 C. Williams Sugar & Slate 131 Perhaps those African Americans feel free enough to go to the slave forts in Ghana and retrace the steps of their forefathers but it only filled me with discomfort.
c. intransitive. To return, esp. by the same route taken on the outward journey.
ΚΠ
1866 G. A. Townsend Campaigns Non-combatant xix. 208 In the morning I retraced to headquarters.
1916 E. L. Masters Songs & Satires 41 And though I had gone so far, I retraced, and faced you coming Into the aisle of the car.
1937 Maine (Federal Writers' Project) ii. 185 Retrace on State St.
1996 J. Evanovich Two for Dough 94 Morelli made a U-turn and retraced back to the burg.
3.
a. transitive. To trace again in thought or memory; to recall; to go over again, to recapitulate.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > memory > retrospection, reminiscence > look back on [verb (transitive)]
refera1398
to look back1579
review1597
retrospect1664
retrace1686
to take back1796
reverie1961
1686 F. Spence tr. C. de Saint-Évremond Miscellanea 102 I am bound, for the honour and sake of Epicurus, to retrace something of the Life and Death of this great Disciple.
1741 G. Ogle tr. G. Chaucer Gualtherus & Griselda in Canterbury Tales III. 171 Then, Home as He returns, his Thoughts retrace, Her winning Innocence! Her bashful Grace!
1748 J. Thomson Castle of Indolence i. xlviii What transport, to retrace our boyish plays.
1785 W. Cowper Task iv. 183 We retrace with mem'ry's pointing wand..The dangers we have 'scap'd.
1809 B. H. Malkin tr. A. R. Le Sage Adventures Gil Blas III. ix. vi. 416 I should be puzzled to retrace a single sentiment.
1867 H. James in N. Amer. Rev. Oct. 688 With the subject [sc. Jason] all reading people are familiar, and we have no need to retrace its details.
1941 D. M. Wolfe Milton in Puritan Revol. ix. 256 Retracing briefly our six years' history of Milton's references to the people, we find his confidence in them..gradually thereafter lessening.
1986 J. M. Crouse Homeless Transient in Great Depression ii. 25 To understand this conflict, let us retrace the history of the transient in New York State.
b. transitive. To follow again with the eyes; to look at again with care or close attention. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > seeing or looking > see [verb (transitive)] > look at or behold > see or look again
revise1563
review1591
re-see1605
retrace1726
reobserve1857
1726 A. Pope tr. Homer Odyssey V. xxiv. 270 The Chief divine Gaz'd o'er his Sire, retracing ev'ry line.
1792 C. Smith Desmond I. vi. 102 With what delight I retrace every word she has written.
1807 J. Barlow Columbiad i. 33 Retrace the banks yon rushing waters lave.
1823 T. De Quincey Lett. Young Man in London Mag. Jan. 85/1 The same book left in your possession, and open at any hour to be consulted, retraced,..and in the fullest sense studied.
1940 Pop. Mech. May 684/2 Three shutters open and close in close sequence to expose only a third of the line at one time. This forces the subject to read properly, because it is impossible to pause or retrace what has been read.
4. transitive. To follow back through preceding stages or phases; to trace back to an origin or source. Occasionally reflexive.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > discovery > find out, discover [verb (transitive)] > trace or follow up
investigate1623
trace1654
to run up1657
track1681
retrace1697
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis vii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 415 Then if the Line of Turnus you retrace; He springs from Inachus of Argive Race.
1801 A. Hamilton in N.-Y. Evening Post 26 Dec. 2/5 Retracing our financial system to its commencement.
1805 J. Foster Ess. i. vii. 87 I am supposing a man to retrace himself through his past life.
1841 I. D'Israeli Amenities Lit. II. 242 Eruditely whimsical..in the attempt to retrace the etymology, or to modify exotic words to a native origin.
1953 F. Alexander in C. Kluckhohn & H. A. Murray Personality in Nature, Society & Culture (ed. 2) ii. xxvi. 423 Mental diseases, whenever they could not be retraced to infectious origin,..were explained on a hereditary basis.
5. transitive. To trace or go over (a line, design, etc.) again with a pen, pencil, etc., or with fresh marks, ink, etc. Also in extended use.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > representation > a plastic or graphic representation > graphic representation > represent graphically [verb (transitive)] > line or figure > again
retrace1769
1769 H. Brooke Fool of Quality IV. xvii. 94 That eternal Law of Benevolence..was written and again retraced in the Bosom of the first Man.
1790 Coll. Voy. round World I. x. 249 An Indian..drew the figure upon my skin; he then retraced it, by pricking the lines with needles.
1821 London Jrnl. Arts & Sci. 2 154 The muslin or gauze is to be stretched over the paper or other materials..and the lines retraced or marked over again with a black lead or chalk pencil.
1874 P. G. Hamerton Internat. Rev. iv. 211 Rubens..drew his figures with black lead, then..retraced the outline with a hair pencil and color mixed with varnish.
1917 Pop. Sci. Monthly Aug. 284/1 With a pencil in one hand, draw a mark by vibrating it rapidly across one end of the paper, the pencil retracing its own mark back and forth.
1950 Pop. Mech. Jan. 175/1 An impression in the dampened leather, which is further deepened by retracing the design directly on the leather with a regular tracing tool.
1989 D. Morrow & M. Keyes Conc. Hist. Sport in Canada 24 His unprecedented ability to trace and re-trace figures on the ice with tremendous accuracy and precision.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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