I. rə̇ˈsēd, rēˈ- intransitive verb
Etymology: Latin recedere to go back, withdraw, from re- + cedere to go — more at cede
1. archaic : differ , vary — usually used with from
2. : to go away : depart
watched the August days recede — Francis Russell
had drooped in his chair after dinner, and the accumulation of ninety years had receded abruptly into history — Victoria Sackville-West
3.
a. : to move back or away : fall or draw back to a more distant line or position : withdraw
the tide, having risen to its highest, was receding — Arnold Bennett
a hairline receding almost visibly — Leslie Waller
far too self-willed to recede from a position — Thomas Hardy
b.
(1) : to extend farther back : lie more remote
south of the town the river not only spreads out, but the hills recede — Sherwood Anderson
(2) : to slant backward
a receding forehead
4.
a. : to withdraw wholly (as from an agreement or promise)
once he had given his word, he could not recede
receded from the bargain he had made
b. : to deviate in some degree (as from a principle, belief, position)
a height of devotion to human liberties from which she has never receded — F.A.Ogg & Harold Zink
define a position from which he never receded — Stanislaus Joyce
c. : to withdraw opposition to an amendment passed by the other house of a bicameral legislature
5.
a. : to grow less : contract , diminish , shrink
some feared that employment might recede to as few as 14,000 employees — New York Times
colleges will recede in their public importance — R.W.Emerson
b. : to fall to a lower level : decline
demand in general eased and prices receded for practically all types of skins — Farmer's Weekly (South Africa)
6. of a color : to seem to go away from the viewer
light colors recede
— contrasted with advance
Synonyms:
retreat , retrograde , retract , back : recede is applied to withdrawing or going backward, sometimes slowly and gradually, from some fixed or definite forward or high point or position
the flood waters receded
the frontier soon receded before the ax and plow — American Guide Series: Texas
west coast lay opinion receded somewhat from its previous intransigent attitude — Americana Annual
retreat often applies to a drawing back or withdrawing induced by uncertainty, danger, fear, or superior opposing force or other agency exciting pressure
the outnumbered troops retreated before the enemy
have been forced to retreat, for the earliest tabulations produced patterns too complex to be handled or understood — W.O.Aydelotte
educational theory and practice have retreated into cultural parochialism — Douglas Bush
retrograde applies to movement backward in contrast to expected forward movement, to reversion or going backward rather than progressing
where one man advances, hundreds retrograde — T.L.Peacock
he had progressed, and he could never, by any possibility, afford to retrograde — P.B.Kyne
retract indicates a drawing backward or inward from an outer, exposed, prominent, or more apparent position
a cat retracting its claws
retracted the platoons on the left flank
back may refer to any backward or reversed motion or, especially with down, to a receding or retreating
back a car
water backing up in the pipes
back down and accept defeat
II. (ˈ)rē+ transitive verb
Etymology: re- + cede
: to cede back : grant or yield again to a former possessor