0 present participle of retreat
1 to go away from a place or person in order to escape from fighting or danger:
2 to decide not to do something, or to stop believing something, because it causes too many problems:
The government is retreating from its promises.
3 If a price retreats, it goes down after it has gone up:
On seeing us, the deer stood stock-still for a moment, then turned and retreated into the forest.
I saw her coming and retreated.
It is the biological equivalent of the retreating glaciers and ice shelves, and yet to unravel its complexities can take a lifetime's work.
Global warming sparks scramble for black gold under retreating ice.
Physically, this would correspond to transition from a retreating to an advancing saturation front.
