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A.Word.A.Day--ret

This week's theme: short words.

ret (ret) verb tr.

To soak or expose to moisture (flax, hemp, etc.) to remove fiber from softened wood.

[From Middle English reten, perhaps from Middle Dutch.]

See more usage examples of ret in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

-Anu Garg (garg AT wordsmith.org)

"Deep in the city's culture memory is the experience of the linen trade. As Robert Johnstone writes, 'The fibres came to the hacklers retted, dried and scutched, like long, flaxen hair which would comb through metal brushes.'" Tom Paulin; The Vernacular City; The Guardian (London, UK); Feb 23, 2002.

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