Retard

5 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Retard \Re*tard"\, v. i.
     To stay back. [Obs.] --Sir. T. Browne.
     [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:



  Retard \Re*tard"\, n.
     1. Retardation; delay.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. A mentally retarded person. [Colloq. and disparaging]
        [PJC]
  
     3. a person who is stupid or inept, especially in social
        situations. [Colloq. and disparaging]
        [PJC]
  
     {Retard of the tide}, or {Age of the tide}, the interval
        between the transit of the moon at which a tide originates
        and the appearance of the tide itself. It is found, in
        general, that any particular tide is not principally due
        to the moon's transit immediately proceeding, but to a
        transit which has occured some time before, and which is
        said to correspond to it. The retard of the tide is thus
        distinguished from the lunitidal interval. See under
        {Retardation}. --Ham. Nav. Encyc.
        [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Retard \Re*tard"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Retarded}; p. pr. & vb.
     n. {Retarding}.] [L. retardare, retardatum; pref. re- re- +
     tardare to make slow, to delay, fr. tardus slow: cf. F.
     retarder. See {Tardy}.]
     1. To keep delaying; to continue to hinder; to prevent from
        progress; to render more slow in progress; to impede; to
        hinder; as, to retard the march of an army; to retard the
        motion of a ship; -- opposed to {accelerate}.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. To put off; to postpone; as, to retard the attacks of old
        age; to retard a rupture between nations.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Syn: To impede; hinder; obstruct; detain; delay;
          procrastinate; postpone; defer.
          [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  retard
       n : a person of subnormal intelligence [syn: {idiot}, {imbecile},
            {cretin}, {moron}, {changeling}, {half-wit}]
       v 1: slow the growth or development of; "The brain damage will
            retard the child's language development" [syn: {check},
            {delay}]
       2: cause to move more slowly or operate at a slower rate; "This
          drug will retard your heart rate"
       3: be delayed
       4: lose velocity; move more slowly; "The car decelerated" [syn:
           {decelerate}, {slow}, {slow down}, {slow up}] [ant: {accelerate}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  105 Moby Thesaurus words for "retard":
     arrest, backpedal, backwater, balk, block, bottle up, brake,
     bridle, check, clip the wings, confine, constrain, contain,
     control, cool, cool off, countercheck, curb, curtail, dam up, damp,
     dampen, decelerate, delay, detain, dompt, drag, draw rein, dunce,
     ease off, ease up, enjoin, fool, frustrate, govern, guard, hinder,
     hold, hold at bay, hold back, hold fast, hold in, hold in check,
     hold in leash, hold up, idiot, imbecile, impede, inhibit,
     intercept, interfere, interfere with, intermeddle, interrupt,
     intervene, jerk, keep, keep back, keep from, keep in,
     keep in check, keep under control, lag, lay under restraint,
     let down, let up, lose ground, lose momentum, lose speed,
     make late, meddle, moderate, moron, obstruct, oppose, prohibit,
     pull, pull in, reef, rein, rein in, relax, repress, resist,
     restrain, restrict, retrench, scotch, set back, slack off,
     slack up, slacken, slow, slow down, slow up, snub, stall, stay,
     stop, straiten, suppress, take in sail, throttle down, thwart,
     withhold