retracted

Etymology

verb

1. simple past and past participle of retract

adj

1. Withdrawn back and in, as the claws of a cat.
2. (phonetics, of a sound) Pronounced further back in the vocal tract.
   My guess is that he substitutes a schwa sound for the retracted r in final position. 1987, Rex Burns, Suicide Season, Viking, page 109
3. (heraldry) Couped bendwise: cut off by a line diagonal to the main direction.
   Pale, retracted, that is, shortened. It is a French term, used when pales are borne cut off, either pendent from the chief, or issuant from the base, which should be particularly noticed in the blazon. 1828, William Berry, Encyclopaedia Heraldica: Or, Complete Dictionary of Heraldry, page 1
   RETRACTED, said of charges when borne one shorter than another; as, three pales or palets issuant from the chief, retracted, that is, cut off bend ways, and hanging of different lengths. 1830, Thomas Robson (engraver.), The British herald, or Cabinet of armorial bearings of the nobility & gentry of Great Britain & Ireland