English word meanings

jhNz

Germany2762 Posts

October 05 2010 14:19 GMT

Hey guys I'm currently preparing a psychology course for university and all literature I have is in english. Even though english is not my first language I understand almost everything i read but here i stumbled upon some words. The problem is, that i don't really see the different meanings of them since they all seem really similar to me. Consulting a dictionary shows that there's a lot of overlapping in the meanings so I'd really like to hear the opionons of some native speakers on those. The words are:

evade, retreat and withdraw.

Background of those: These words are part of an exercise that is supposed to show, how a person acts inside a group of people. You have to tick a certain amount of verbs you think that fit best on how you behave. And since these verbs all appear in the list, there should be some major differences i don't see at the moment

*edit: Especially the difference between retreat and withdraw isn't clear to me.

Thanks in advance guys

Chriamon

United States886 Posts

October 05 2010 14:24 GMT

evade means to avoid something, and retreat and withraw have to do with, you are already engaged, and then you move back. I think retreat and withdraw are pretty much synonyms (with only very slight differences in meaning).

Bright]

United States118 Posts

October 05 2010 14:28 GMT

When I think of the difference between 'evade' and 'retreat' I simply think of a battle or a sword fight. If you are in a battle, when you 'retreat' you take all of your forces and basically run to a position further away from your enemy. When you 'evade' your enemy, you never engage in the first place. Or if you are in a sword fight, when you 'evade' your attacker, it means he doesn't touch you.

Something along those lines.

Withdraw is a tad harder to explain.. it could mean "pulling something back" for example: "the commander withdrew his forces". Which means the commander of an army ordered his forces to regroup.

Hope that helps a bit?

Random()

Kyrgyz Republic1462 Posts

October 05 2010 14:32 GMT

I am not a native English speaker but I think their meanings are clear - "to evade" is to avoid facing something or to dodge something, and I think the difference between "to retreat" and "to withdraw" is that you are usually forced to retreat, while to withdraw is more of a tactical or political decision, i.e. planned beforehand.

NukeTheBunnys

United States1004 Posts

October 05 2010 14:33 GMT

retreat can be some where you get away to, usually private and or safe, it also can mean to withdraw, usually from something dangerous or undesirable

withdraw can be to move back You can withdraw troops before a battle begins, but ones the battle starts to move back is more specifically retreating, or to take back(i withdraw my complaint)

evade is to avoid getting engaged in the first place

jhNz

Germany2762 Posts

October 05 2010 14:38 GMT

thanks a lot guys, you were a great help

BroOd

Austin10833 Posts

October 05 2010 14:40 GMT

In English, words often have connotations, or an associated other meaning that are not necessarily part of the main definition. Words like retreat and withdraw, while having similar meanings, carry different connotations that help dictate the appropriateness of their use. Withdraw carries something of a neutral connotation in that there's no direct association to a positive or negative. Retreat, on the other hand, carries a negative connotation.

Imagine you're holding the middle of Lost Temple with a big mech army. If you decide to pull your army out of the middle of the map to regroup at your main base, you would be withdrawing your army from the middle of the map. If your opponent was pushing into your army and forcing you to pull back to your main, you would be retreating from the middle of the map.

jhNz

Germany2762 Posts

October 05 2010 14:43 GMT

On October 05 2010 23:40 BroOd wrote:
In English, words often have connotations, or an associated other meaning that are not necessarily part of the main definition. Words like retreat and withdraw, while having similar meanings, carry different connotations that help dictate the appropriateness of their use. Withdraw carries something of a neutral connotation in that there's no direct association to a positive or negative. Retreat, on the other hand, carries a negative connotation.

Imagine you're holding the middle of Lost Temple with a big mech army. If you decide to pull your army out of the middle of the map to regroup at your main base, you would be withdrawing your army from the middle of the map. If your opponent was pushing into your army and forcing you to pull back to your main, you would be retreating from the middle of the map.

wow that was an amazing post and awesome analogy. thank you so much!

theSAiNT

United States726 Posts

October 05 2010 14:49 GMT

Brood has it spot on.

sk`

Japan442 Posts

October 05 2010 14:53 GMT

#10

Evade:
Dodging incoming aggression without leaving the conflict.

Retreat:
Leaving the conflict after it has begun or while it is at a disadvantaged state.

Withdraw:
Leaving the conflict before it has begun or while it is at a neutral state.

Demand2k

Norway875 Posts

October 05 2010 14:55 GMT

#11

You, sir, are a master of analogy.

NovaTheFeared

United States7229 Posts

October 05 2010 14:56 GMT

#12

He said these were all verbs so although retreat can also be a noun, we have to assume he means "to retreat". You're very right that withdraw and retreat share a great deal in meaning and probably differ most only in shades of meaning. Withdraw means to pull back, and from a psychology student you'll well know that a person being "withdrawn" means that person has pulled back emotionally. In the context of a group, I would give these examples of possible divergence:

1. Evade: avoids the social setting altogether.
2. Withdraw: attends the social setting but doesn't engage with others.
3. Retreat: attends the social setting and flees.

Another connotation suggested to me by retreat vs. withdraw is force. It seems to me that if you retreat you are more forced in the situation, and if you withdraw that is more voluntary. If you retreat from a political proposal it is because it is very unpopular and your choice is made for you, if you withdraw it it may be from lack of interest rather than being pressured. Retreat also connotes more movement for me, almost a 180 degree. If someone attempts to give you a hug and you pull back, you've withdrawn. If you turn around and leave, you retreated.

I hope that's helpful, I think it's fun to try to dig that deep into language where you're really talking about shades of meaning rather than definitions.

QuanticHawk

United States32098 Posts

October 05 2010 14:59 GMT

#13

continuing with this, you would want to evade detection if you have DTs that you're trying to sneak in your opponents base.

but yeah, broods basically makes it real simple

Divinek

Canada4045 Posts

October 05 2010 15:24 GMT

#14

On October 05 2010 23:53 sk` wrote:
Evade:
Dodging incoming aggression without leaving the conflict.

Retreat:
Leaving the conflict after it has begun or while it is at a disadvantaged state.

Withdraw:
Leaving the conflict before it has begun or while it is at a neutral state.

perfect

NovaTheFeared

United States7229 Posts

October 05 2010 15:33 GMT

#15

The more I think about it the force seems to be the key distinction. That is probably why I feel there is more movement in a retreat is because you are forced to flee by someone or something.

Zoler

Sweden6339 Posts

October 05 2010 16:07 GMT

#16

Retreating from a battle sounds a lot more chaotic than withdrawing.

Geo.Rion

7377 Posts

October 05 2010 16:11 GMT

#17

probably others explain it better, but take a look at this:
evade from prison, from a sitation, (not determined where, more vague)
retreat from a battle, a fight, into a corner (more accurate, could spesify place)
withdraw troops, a proposal, an offer (more formal, thus can be used in documents etc...)

at least i feel it that way

mangina

United States230 Posts

October 05 2010 16:17 GMT

#18

evade, retreat and withdraw.

Evade - I feel its more situational. Based on a situation, circumstance, or condition. So, relative to a certain situation... that situation is evaded.
for example: You evade an upcoming battle.

Retreat - You are the subject. You retreat. You take yourself and fall back.
for example: You retreat from the battlefield with your remaining soldiers.

Withdraw - More of a direct action. You withdraw something. You withdraw an object. You place a direct action on something.
for example: You(commander) decided to withdraw your remaining fleet from enemy territory.

EchOne

United States2906 Posts

October 05 2010 20:09 GMT

#19

I don't have anything more to offer on Evade, but one difference I noticed in the uses of retreat and withdraw, at least in military discussions, is that retreat is more concerned with the geography while withdraw is more concerned with the engagement. For example, you can retreat from a position while still engaged with the enemy via artillery, airstrikes, skirmishes. You can also withdraw a battleship from combat simply by ordering it to stand down on its gun barrage. When retreats break engagement or withdrawals reposition troops (often the case) the meanings overlap.

NovaTheFeared's post is the most helpful and accurate one to me. Notice by his descriptions the words' social applications fit with their military applications. A party is a position where you may or may not be engaged. To leave the place is to retreat. To cease engagement is to withdraw.

jhNz

Germany2762 Posts

October 06 2010 15:13 GMT

#20

thanks again for all of your help, you guys are awesome!

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