To retract means to pull something back or take something back that you've said or done. When a turtle senses danger, it retracts its head into its shell, pulling it back to safety. When an airplane lands, you might hear a thump as the landing gear retracts back up into the plane's body.

The word also means taking back a statement, especially when you realize it was wrong or unfair. If you accuse your brother of breaking your model airplane but later discover the cat knocked it over, you might retract your accusation. Scientists retract published papers when they find serious errors in their research. A newspaper might retract a story that turns out to be false.

Retracting a statement is different from simply changing your mind. It means acknowledging that what you said was incorrect and shouldn't have been said in the first place. A retraction is the act of retracting, like when a magazine publishes a retraction of an article.

The opposite of retract is extend: a telescope extends to see far away and retracts to become compact again.