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retard

[ri-tahrd, ree-tahrd] / rɪˈtɑrd, ˈri tɑrd /


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

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A case in point is a bill on New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s desk that would retard artificial intelligence in the name of protecting public safety.

From The Wall Street Journal Dec. 11, 2025

The giant trees resist burning thanks to the bark, up to about 30 centimeters thick at the base, which contains tannic acids that retard flames.

From Science Magazine Dec. 1, 2023

"Going forward, we'll be able to do tests on mice to see if new molecules that stabilise mitochondrial and autophagic function can retard the disease."

From Science Daily Nov. 1, 2023

“Although you may retard an ignition or a fire spread for this season, what you’ve done is grown a lot more biomass to burn in the next year,” he said.

From Los Angeles Times Jul. 3, 2023

Researchers said that when parents talk to their children less, engage less—in a nutshell, put their attention to the television not the children—it can eventually retard language development.

From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel

If the levels of solutes increase beyond a certain range, a hormone is released that retards water loss through the kidney and dilutes the blood to safer levels.

From Textbooks Jun. 9, 2022

Prior Vital Dufour, who was ordained Cardinal of the Catholic church by Pope Clement in 1313, once listed 40 of the virtues of Armagnac including: "It renders man joyous, preserves youth and retards senility."

From BBC May 28, 2022

Earlier, Holder posted a tweet that simply stated the law regarding the fines and imprisonment of up to six months that anyone who “willfully obstructs or retards the passage of the mail” can face.

From Slate Aug. 15, 2020

Lack of electricity impacts public health — try running a modern hospital without any power — and retards economic growth.

From Time Jul. 26, 2011

The man who does not repent in science or theology, after he has acquired faith, renders himself liable to injury and retards his own progress.

From Joseph Smith as Scientist A Contribution to Mormon Philosophy by Widtsoe, John Andreas

It retarded the progress after the Civil War by invalidating the civil rights acts and its invalidation of parts of the Voting Rights Act was fairly typical.

From Washington Post Aug. 16, 2022

Based on some of the results, the team thinks microbes retarded the growth of inbreds, rather than giving the hybrids a special boost.

From Science Magazine Jul. 29, 2021

Supreme Court ruled that states may not execute “mentally retarded offenders.”

From Slate May 22, 2020

Of the four Smith brothers, one has schizophrenia; another, as an infant, was deemed “mentally retarded with autistic tendencies.”

From New York Times Jul. 24, 2017

Gay connected the dry cells and he advanced the gas and retarded the spark lever.

From "Cannery Row" by John Steinbeck

Their opposition to transportation projects and other infrastructure, though supposedly grounded in Jeffersonian principle, was a roundabout way of retarding industrial development and ensuring that slavery did not become an economic anachronism.

From Salon Jul. 26, 2025

That drove prices in Europe and Asia to all-time highs earlier this year, fanning inflationary pressure and retarding efforts by countries to switch to gas from coal to reduce pollution and carbon emissions.

From Reuters May 27, 2022

When that ice recedes, more heat and moisture can warm the air, further retarding ice formation.

From Scientific American Dec. 12, 2018

A retarding voltage between the collector wire and plate can then be adjusted so as to determine the energy of the ejected electrons.

From Textbooks Aug. 12, 2015

I had begun to believe that the Mediterranean Diet that kept my grandmother alive against her will was also sinisterly retarding my maturity.

From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides




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