Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Retard
Re-tard′
,Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Retarded
; p. pr. & vb. n.
Retarding
.] [L.
retardare
, retardatum
; pref. re-
re- + tardare
to make slow, to delay, fr. tardus
slow: cf. F. retarder
. See Tardy
.] 1.
To keep delaying; to continue to hinder; to prevent from progress; to render more slow in progress; to impede; to hinder;
as, to
; – opposed to retard
the march of an army; to retard
the motion of a shipaccelerate
. 2.
To put off; to postpone;
as, to
retard
the attacks of old age; to retard
a rupture between nations.
Syn. – To impede; hinder; obstruct; detain; delay; procrastinate; postpone; defer.
Re-tard′
,Verb.
I.
To stay back.
[Obs.]
Sir. T. Browne.
Re-tard′
,Noun.
1.
Retardation; delay.
Retard of the tide
, or Age of the tide
the interval between the transit of the moon at which a tide originates and the appearance of the tide itself. It is found, in general, that any particular tide is not principally due to the moon’s transit immediately proceeding, but to a transit which has occured some time before, and which is said to correspond to it. The retard of the tide is thus distinguished from the lunitidal interval. See under
Retardation
. Ham. Nav. Encyc.
Webster 1828 Edition
Retard
RET'ARD
,Verb.
T.
1.
To diminish the velocity of motion; to hinder; to render more slow in progress; as, to retard the march of an army; to retard the motion of a ship. The resistance of air retards the velocity of a cannon ball. It is opposed to accelerate.2.
To delay; to put off; to render more late; as, to retard the attacks of old age; to retard a rupture between nations. My visit was retarded by business.RET'ARD
,Verb.
I.
Definition 2024
retard
retard
English
Noun
retard (plural retards)
- Retardation; delay.
- (slang, offensive, dated) A person with mental retardation.
- Do all retards have a low I.Q.?
- (slang, offensive) A stupid person, or one who is slow to learn.
Usage notes
Through the euphemism treadmill, the term retard (which originated as a neutral substitute for the terms had previously designated those with disabilities, namely idiot, imbecile, and moron) has come to be considered offensive; see Wikipedia for more. In a 2003 survey by the BBC, retard was voted the most offensive word relating to disability, followed by spastic.[1]
Synonyms
- (retardation): delay, hold-up, retardation
- (person with mental retardation): idiot, tard (offensive), imbecile (disused medical term), mental deficient (legal term), moron (disused medical term), person with learning difficulties
- (stupid person): See also Wikisaurus:fool
Translations
retardation; delay
a person with mental retardation
|
a stupid person, or one who is slow to learn
Verb
retard (third-person singular simple present retards, present participle retarding, simple past and past participle retarded)
- (transitive) To keep delaying; to continue to hinder; to prevent from progress; to render more slow in progress; to impede; to hinder
- retard the march of an army
- retard the motion of a ship
- (transitive) To put off; to postpone.
- to retard the attacks of old age
- to retard a rupture between nations
- (transitive, obsolete) To be slow or dilatory to perform (something).
- (intransitive) To decelerate; to slow down.
- (intransitive, obsolete) To stay back.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Sir Thomas Browne to this entry?)
Synonyms
- (keep delaying; continue to hinder): decelerate, hinder, slow, slow down
- (postpone): postpone, put off
- (stay back): hang back, stay back
Antonyms
- (keep delaying; continue to hinder): accelerate, speed, speed up
- (postpone):
- (stay back): come forward
Translations
keep delaying; impede; etc
put off; postpone
stay back
|