retardative 
The retardative effects would also be largely increased, 
to a serious extent, in fact, in the case of the telephones. 
Pop. Sri. Mn., XXVII. 717. 
retardatory (re-tiir'da-to-ri), . [< retard + 
-atiinj.] Tending or having power to retard. 
Instant promptitude of action, adequate retardatory 
power. Atheiurum, Xo. 2802, p. SOS. 
retarder (re-tiir'der), . One who retards; 
that which serves as a hindrance, impediment , 
or cause of retardation. 
This disputing way of enquiry is so far from advancing 
science that it is no inconsiderable retarder. Olanville. retent, . 
retardment (re-tard'mont), >i. [< OF. rctnrdi- 
ment, F. n-tardcmcnt = Pr. retardamen = Pg. 
rrtanlaiiifiito = It. ritardamento, < ML. "iTtar- 
damentiim, < L. retardare, retard: see retard.] 
The act of retarding ; a retardation ; delay. 
Which Malice or which Art no more could stay 
Than witches' charms can a retardment bring 
To the resuscitation of the Day, 
Or resurrection of the Spring. 
Cowley, Upon His Majesty's Restoration and Return. 
retaunt (re-tanf), n. [< re- + taunt, n.] The 
repetition of a taunt. [Rare.] 
Wyth suche tauntes and retauntes, ye, in maner checke 
and checke mate to the uttermooste profe of my pacience. 
Hall, Richard III., f. 10. (HalUuxll.) 
retch 1 (rech), v. 
5121 
gci'C, cover: see tefiiniiriit.} The act of disclos- 
ing or producing to view something concealed. 
This may be said to lie rather a restoration of a body to 
its own colour, or a rctection of its native colour, than a 
change. Boyle, Works, I. 685. 
t. [< re- + tell.'] To tell 
(re-tel'), 
[() < ME. recclien, < AS. rec- retention (re-ten'shon), n. [< OF. retention, 
can, stretch, extend, hold forth (see under racW, F. retention = Pr. retentio = Sp. retention = Pg. 
v ) mixed in mod. dial, use with (6) reach, < retencao = It. ritenzione, < L. retentio(n-), a re- 
ME. reeliea, < AS. rsecan, reach: see reaeftl.] taining, < retinere, pp. retentua, retain: see rc- 
To reach [Prov. Eng.] tain.'] 1. The act of retaining or keeping back; 
I retche with a weapen or with my hande, je attains. 
Palsgrave. (HalliweU.) 
retch 2 (rech), v. I. [Also formerly or dial. 
reach; < ME. *reehen, < AS. linecan, clear the 
While no thoughtful Englishman can defend the ac- 
quisition of India, yet a thoughtful Englishman may easily 
defend its retention. E. A. Freeman, Amer. Lects., p. 350. 
throat, hawk, spit (cf. hrdca, spittle, expecto- 2. The act of retaining or holding as one's own; 
ration, lireecea, hawking, clearing tb,e throat, continued possession or ownership. 
'Itrsecetaii, lirsectan, eructate, retch, hrsecetung, 
retching), = Icel. hrsekja, hawk, spit (hraki, 
spittle); cf. OHG. rachison, MHG. raJisenen, 
hawk ; prob. ult. imitative (cf . liawk s ). The AS. 
hrace, throat, = MD. raecke = OHG. rahho, 
MHG. rachc, G. ractien, throat, jaws, are prob. 
unrelated.] To make efforts to vomit. 
The ashes of the said barke given in wine hote is great- 
ly commended for the reaching and spitting of blood. 
Holland, tr. of Pliny, xxiv. 4. 
" Beloved Julia, hear me still beseeching ! " 
(Here he grew inarticulate with retching.) 
Byron, Don Juan, ii. 20. 
retch 3 t (rech), v. i. and t. [An assibilated 
form of reck.] Same as reck. 
retchlesst (rech'les), a. [An assibilated form 
of reckless.] Same as reckless. 
I left my natiue soile, full like a retchlesne man. 
Hakluijt's Voyages, I. 384. 
retial 
2. Retaining; having the power to keep or pre- 
serve: as, a body retentive of heat or of mag- 
netism ; tlie reteii tire force of the stomach. 3. 
Specifically, inpnycliol., retaining presentations 
or ideas; capable of preserving mental presen- 
tations. 
As long as I have a retentive faculty to remember any 
thing his Memory shall be fresh with me. 
HomU, Letters, ii. 30. 
Each mind . . . becomes specially retentive in the di- 
rection in which its ruling interest lies and its attention 
is habitually turned. J. Sully, Outlines of Psychol., p. 294. 
Retentive faculty, the faculty of mental retention ; the 
memory. 
Il.t . That which restrains or confines; a 
restraint. 
Those secret checks . . . readily conspire with all out- 
ward retentives. Bp. Hall, Nabal and Abigail. 
also rctainauncf, < OF. retenance, < ML.*reti- re tentively (re-ten'tiv-li), adv. In a retentive 
ncntia,^ L. retinere, retain: see retain. Cf.reti- majmer . 
retentiveness (re-ten'tiv-nes), n. The prop- 
erty of being retentive ; specifically, in psychol., 
the capacity for retaining mental presenta- 
tions: distinguished from memory, which im- 
plies certain relations existing among the pres- 
entations thus recorded. See memory. 
Even the lowered vital activity which we know as great 
fatigue is characterized by a diminished retenliveneei of 
impressions. H. Spencer, Prin. of Psychol., 100. 
Retentieenesi is both a biological and a psychological 
fact ; memory is exclusively the latter. 
J. Ward, Encyc. Brit., XX. 47. 
Magnetic retenttveness. Same as coercive force (which 
see, under coercive). 
retentivity (re-ten-tiv'i-ti), H. [= F. retenti- 
vite; as retentive + -ity.] Retentiveness; spe- 
cifically, in magnetism, coercive force (which 
see, under coercive). 
This power of resisting magnetisation or demagnetisa- 
tion is sometimes called coercive force ; a much better 
Whate'er Lord Harry Percy then had said . . . 
At such a time, with all the rest retold, 
May reasonably die, and never rise 
To do him wrong. Shak., 1 Hen. IV., 1. 3. 7?. 
[ME., for reteii ne, retinue: see reti- 
nue.] Retinue. 
Syre Degrivaunt ys whom [home] went, 
And aftyr hys reten sent. 
Sir Deyrevant, 930. (Hrtlhwell.) 
retenancet, [ME., also retenaunce, retcnauns. 
< OF. retenance, < ML. *reti- 
Cf . reti- 
nue.] Retinue. 
Mede was ymaried in meteles me thoujte; 
That alle the riche retenauns that regneth with the false 
Were boden to the bridale. Piers Plowman (B), ii. 52. 
retent (re-teuf), n. [< L. retentus, pp. of reti- 
nere, retain: see retain.] That which is re- 
tained. Imp. Diet. 
restraint; reserve 
His life I gave him and did thereto add 
My love, without retention or restraint. 
Shak.,T. N., v. 1.84. 
I. n. A member of the Reteporidse. 
They are such retchless flies as you are, that blow cut- 
purses abroad in every corner; your foolish having of 
money makes them. B. Jonson. Bartholomew Fair, ill. 1. 
retchlesslyt (rech'les-li), adr. Same as reck- 
lessly. 
I do horribly and retchlessly neglect and lightly regard 
thy wrath hanging over my head. 
J. Bradford, Works (Parker Soc., 1853), II. 262. 
retchlessnesset (rech'les-nes), n. Same as 
recklessness. 
A viper that hast eat a passage through me, 
Through mine own bowels, by thy ret-cltlessness. 
B. Jonson, Magnetick Lady, iv. 1. 
rete (re'te), .; pi. retia (re'shi-a). [NL., < L. 
rete, a net.] In anat., a vascular network; a 
plexus, glomerulus, or congeries of small ves- 
sels; in hot., a structure like network. 
It sends out convoluted vessels (retia) from the large 
cerebral cleft, which are connected with the roof of the 
cleft. Gegenbaur, Comp. Anat. (trans.), p. 513. 
Epidermal rete. Same as rete mwccwum. Rete Hal- 
leri. Same as rete vasculoirum testis. Rete Malpighii. 
Same as rete mucosum. Rete mirabile, a network or 
plexus of small veins or arteries, formed by the immediate 
breaking up of a vessel of considerable size, terminating 
either by reuniting in a single vessel (bipolar), or in capil- 
laries (unipolar). Rete mirabile gemmum or conju- 
gatum, a plexus in which arteries and veins are com- 
bined. Rete mirabile of Galen, a meshwork of ves- 
sels formed by the inti-acranial part of the internal carotid 
artery in some mammals. Rete mirabile simplex, a 
plexus consisting of arteries only, or of veins only. Rete 
mucosuin, the deeper, softer part of the epidermis, below 
the stratum granulosum. consisting of prickle-cells. Also 
culled stratum spinosum, rete mucogtim Malpiyhii, rete Mal- 
lii'ildi, stratum Malpighii, corpus reticulare, corpus inucu- 
man, Malpi'/hiaii layer, epidermal rete. See cuts under tkiii 
and smat-aland. Rete vasculosum testls, a network 
of vessels lying in the mediastinum testis, into which the 
straight tubules empty. It holds the accumulated secre- 
tion of the t'sstis, discharging through the vasa deferent. 
Also called rete ramilosum Hatteri, rete Hatteri, rete testi*, 
rete textis Halleri, spermatic rete. 
reteciOUS (re-te'shus), a. [Irreg. < rete + 
-cioii.i.} Same ;is rctij'orm. 
retectiont (re-tek'shon), . [< L. retectiiK, pp. 
of rctef/erc, uncover, disclose, < re-, back, + t< - 
322 
term, due to Lamont, is retentivity. 
S. P. Thompson, Elect, and Mag., p. 80. 
3. Continuance or perseverance, as in the use retenuet, An obsolete form of retinue. 
or practice of anything; preservation. Retepora (re-tep'o-ra), n. [NL. (Lamarck, 
A froward retention of custom is as turbulent a thing as 1801), < L. rete, net, + poms, a pore : seepore'A] 
an innovation. Bacon, Advancement of Learning, vi. The typical genus of Retepondee. R. cellulosa 
Looked at from the outside, the work [western doorway is known a s Neptune's ruffles. 
of tower of Trail] is of the best and most finished kind of retepore (re'te-por), n. and a. [< NL. Retepora.] 
Italian Romanesque; and we have here, what is by no ' 
means uncommon in Dalmatia, an example of the late re- 
tention of the forms of that admirable style. 
E. A. Freeman, Venice, p. 182. 
4. The act of retaining or keeping in mind ; es- 
pecially, that activity of the mind by which it 
retains ideas ; the retentive faculty : often used 
as synonymous with memory. 
No woman's heart 
So big, to hold so much ; they lack retention. 
Shak., T. N., ii. 4. 99. 
The next faculty of the mind, whereby it makes a further 
progress towards knowledge, is that which I call retention, 
or the keeping of those simple ideas which from sensation 
or reflection it hath received. 
Locke, Human Understanding, ii. 10. 
Any particular acquisitive task will become easier, and 
. . . more difficult feats of retention will become possible. 
J. Sully, Outlines of Psychol., p. 287. 
Hence 5f. That which retains impressions, 
as a tablet. [Rare.] 
That poor retention could not so much hold, 
Nor need I tallies thy dear love to score ; 
Therefore to give them from me was I bold. 
To trust those tables that receive thee more. 
Shak., Sonnets, cxxii. 
6. In med. : (a) The power of retaining, as in 
the stomach or bladder; inability to void or 
discharge : as, the retention of food or medicine 
by the stomach; retention of urine. Hence r et e xt"(re"-'teks'), r. t. [< L. retexere, unweave, 
(b) A morbid accumulation of solid or liquid unravel - break up can cel, also weave again, < 
matter in vessels of the body or cavities in- 
tended to contain it only for a time. 7f. The 
Retepore {Retepora tuditlata], natural size. 
II. a. Of or pertaining to the Reteporidie. 
Keteporidse (re-te-por'i-de), H. pi. [NL., < Re- 
tepora + -idle.] A family of chilostomatous 
polyzoans, typified by the genus Retepora. The 
zoarium is calcareous, erect, fixed, foliaceons, and fenes- 
trate (whence the name), unilaminar, reliculatelyor freely 
ramose in one plane ; and the zocecia are secund. 
(re"te-te-la'ri-an), a. and . Same 
state of being confined ; custody ; confinement. 
Sir, I thought it fit 
To send the old and miserable king 
To some retention and appointed guard. 
Shak., Lear, v. 3. 47. 
re-, back, again, 4- texere, weave : see text."] To 
unweave; unravel; hence, to undo; bring to 
naught; annul. 
Neither King James, King Charles, nor any Parliament 
which gave due hearing to the frowardness of some com- 
plaints did ever appoint that any of his orders should be 
retexed. Bp. Hacket, Abp. Williams, i. 57. (Davits.) 
8. In Scots law, a lien; the right of withhold- re texture (re-teks'tur), . [< re- + texture. Cf. 
. 
ing a debt or retaining property until a debt 
due to the person claiming this right is duly 
paid Retention cyst, a cyst which originates in the 
retention of some secretion, through obstruction in the 
efferent passage. Retention of urine, in med., a con- 
dition in which there is inability to empty the bladder vol- 
' " ' 
"/ = 
= Sp. Pg. I 
pp. of retinere, retain : see retain.] I. 
a. If. Serving to hold or confine; restraining; retnorient, . 
eonflring. rethoriouslyt, adv. 
Nor airless dungeon, nor strong links of iron, 
Can lie n-tfitlirf to the strength of spirit. 
Slink ,. J. r... i. 3. ! 
retex.] The act of weaving again. 
My Second Volume, ... as treating practically of the 
Wear, Destruction, and Retexture of Spiritual Tissues or 
Garments, forms, properly speaking, the Transcendental 
or ultimate Portion of this my work on Clothes. 
Carlyle, Sartor Resartus, iii. 2. 
rethort, A Middle English form of rhetor. 
rethoricet, rethoricket, Obsolete forms of 
rhetoric. 
See rlnturiini. 
retia. . Plural of rete. 
retial (re'shi-al), a. [< rete+ -iriL] Pertaining 
to a rete, or having its character. 
