retract

Universal Words verb 1 (formal) to say that sth you have said earlier is not true or correct or that you did not mean it: [VN] He made a false confession which he later retracted. * They tried to persuade me to retract my words. 2 [VN] (formal) to refuse to keep an agreement, a promise, etc: to retract a bid / an offer 3 (technical) to move back into the main part of sth; to pull sth back into the main part of sth: [V] The animal retracted into its shell. * The undercarriage failed to retract. * [VN] The undercarriage was fully retracted.