<p><strong>Noun</strong></p><ul><li>the forced or strategic withdrawal of an army or an armed force before an enemy, or the withdrawing of a naval force from action.</li><li>the act of withdrawing, as into safety or privacy; retirement; seclusion.</li><li>a place of refuge, seclusion, or privacy: The library was his retreat.</li><li>an asylum, as for the insane.</li><li>a retirement or a period of retirement for religious exercises and meditation.</li><li>a flag-lowering ceremony held at sunset on a military post.</li><li>the bugle call or drumbeat played at this ceremony.</li><li>the recession of a surface, as a wall or panel, from another surface beside it.</li></ul><p><strong>Verb</strong></p><ul><li>to withdraw, retire, or draw back, especially for shelter or seclusion.</li><li>to make a retreat: The army retreated.</li><li>to slope backward; recede: a retreating chin.</li><li>to draw or lead back.</li></ul>