Definition of "retreat" []

• The act or process of withdrawing, especially from something hazardous, formidable, or unpleasant. (noun)
• The process of going backward or receding from a position or condition gained. (noun)
• A place affording peace, quiet, privacy, or security. See Synonyms at shelter. (noun)
• A period of seclusion, retirement, or solitude. (noun)
• A period of group withdrawal for prayer, meditation, or study: a religious retreat. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "He cites a Carleton University professor, Waller Newell, who regards that election as a vain retreat from the grimness of the Bush years: people expressing a naive wish, both at home and in Europe, for a peaceful future."
• "The word retreat conjured images of expensive hotels in exotic locales with golf courses, five-star restaurants, spas, and everyone sitting around the pool sipping mai tais and piña coladas while some team leader spewed psychobabble bullshit and asked everyone, “How do you feel about that?”"
• "The only thing better than a quaint mountain retreat is a quaint PREFAB mountain retreat."