battre en retraite
/batʁ ɑ̃ ʁə.tʁɛt/
le (masc.) la (fem.)
Underline = a spelling pattern that usually signals that gender.
Forms
- present
- bat en retraite
- past
- a battu en retraite
- perfect
- battu en retraite
Meaning
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to retreat, back down
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Face à l'opposition, le gouvernement bat en retraite.
Faced with the opposition, the government backs down.
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Face à la résistance des habitants, la mairie a battu en retraite sur son projet de parking. Le terrain est resté un parc comme avant.
Facing residents' resistance, city hall backed down on its parking lot project. The land stayed a park as before.
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Similar words
Close synonyms for "to retreat, to withdraw from."
False-friend-of-a-shared-word trap: both phrases contain retraite, but battre en retraite means "to retreat" (military/figurative) while prendre sa retraite means "to retire" (from a job) — completely different meanings despite the shared word.
Similar in other languages
German
zurückziehen is the German word for the same thing — both mean "to retreat, to withdraw."
Practice
1 What does battre en retraite mean?
to retreat, back down
2 Fill the gap: Face à l'opposition, le gouvernement bat en ___.
Full sentence: Face à l'opposition, le gouvernement bat en retraite. (Faced with the opposition, the government backs down.)
3 Which fingerprint chart matches battre en retraite?
battre en retraite: neutral register, common frequency, general domain, neutral connotation.
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