Retard word meaning and definition

[noun] a person of subnormal intelligence
[verb] cause to move more slowly or operate at a slower rate; "This drug will retard your heart rate"
[verb] lose velocity; move more slowly; "The car decelerated"
[verb] slow the growth or development of; "The brain damage will retard the child's language development"
[verb] be delayed

\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}. 2. To put off; to postpone; as, to retard the attacks of old age; to retard a rupture between nations. Syn: To impede; hinder; obstruct; detain; delay; procrastinate; postpone; defer.
\Re*tard"\, v. i. To stay back. [Obs.] --Sir. T. Browne.
\Re*tard"\, n. Retardation; delay. {Retard, 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.

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