Ret

Pronunciation

Rhymes: -É›t

{{abbreviation-old|en}}

ret

retired

Full definition of ret

Verb

(transitive) To prepare (flax, hemp etc.) for further processing by soaking, which facilitates separation of fibers from the woody parts of the stem.

2006, Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day, Vintage 2007, p. 621:the lowland nearly silent except for water-thrushes, the harvested fields, the smell of hops being dried in kilns, flax pulled up and piled in sheaves, in local practice not to be retted till the spring

Derived terms

retter

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