Ret
adj, noun, verb
adj, noun, verb ·1 syllable ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Clipping of reiteration. abbreviation, alt-of, clipping, historical
- 2 Initialism of road equivalent tariff. abbreviation, alt-of, countable, initialism, uncountable
- 3 Initialism of rational emotive therapy. abbreviation, alt-of, countable, initialism, uncountable
Verb
- 1 To prepare (flax, hemp etc.) for further processing by soaking, which facilitates separation of fibers from the woody parts of the stem. transitive
"the hemp was retted / and soon the retting was done / and swiftly it was hung up / and hurriedly it was dried […]."
- 2 place (flax, hemp, or jute) in liquid so as to promote loosening of the fibers from the woody tissue wordnet
Adjective
- 1 Abbreviation of retired. abbreviation, alt-of
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
More examples"the hemp was retted / and soon the retting was done / and swiftly it was hung up / and hurriedly it was dried […]."
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English retten, reten; perhaps from Middle Dutch rēten, reeten (compare Middle Low German rōten; Middle High German rōzen), or from Old Norse reyta (compare Norwegian røyta, Swedish röta); all from Proto-Germanic *rautijaną (“to make mellow or soft”), from Proto-Indo-European *rewd- (“to tear; rend; rip”). Related to rot.
Etymology 2
Abbreviation.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.