WITHDRAWAL

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does withdrawal mean? 

• WITHDRAWAL (noun)
  The noun WITHDRAWAL has 9 senses:

1. a retraction of a previously held position

2. the act of taking out money or other capital

3. the act of withdrawing

4. avoiding emotional involvement

5. the act of withdrawing blood, tumors, etc.

6. the act of ceasing to participate in an activity

7. a method of birth control in which coitus is initiated but the penis is deliberately withdrawn before ejaculation

8. formal separation from an alliance or federation

9. the termination of drug taking

  Familiarity information: WITHDRAWAL used as a noun is familiar.

 Dictionary entry details 

• WITHDRAWAL (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A retraction of a previously held position

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

backdown; climb-down; withdrawal

Hypernyms ("withdrawal" is a kind of...):

abjuration; recantation; retraction (a disavowal or taking back of a previous assertion)

Derivation:

withdraw (take back what one has said)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The act of taking out money or other capital

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("withdrawal" is a kind of...):

remotion; removal (the act of removing)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "withdrawal"):

bank withdrawal (the withdrawal of money from your account at a bank)

disinvestment (the withdrawal of capital from a country or corporation)

Derivation:

withdraw (remove (a commodity) from (a supply source))

Sense 3

Meaning:

The act of withdrawing

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Context example:

the withdrawal of French troops from Vietnam

Hypernyms ("withdrawal" is a kind of...):

departure; going; going away; leaving (the act of departing)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "withdrawal"):

effacement; self-effacement (withdrawing into the background; making yourself inconspicuous)

retreat (the act of withdrawing or going backward (especially to escape something hazardous or unpleasant))

retirement; retreat (withdrawal for prayer and study and meditation)

evacuation (the act of evacuating; leaving a place in an orderly fashion; especially for protection)

decampment (breaking camp)

abandonment; defection; desertion (withdrawing support or help despite allegiance or responsibility)

pullback ((military) the act of pulling back (especially an orderly withdrawal of troops))

retreat ((military) withdrawal of troops to a more favorable position to escape the enemy's superior forces or after a defeat)

receding; recession (the act of becoming more distant)

Derivation:

withdraw (remove something concrete, as by lifting, pushing, or taking off, or remove something abstract)

withdraw (keep away from others)

withdraw (make a retreat from an earlier commitment or activity)

withdraw (release from something that holds fast, connects, or entangles)

withdraw (pull back or move away or backward)

withdraw (retire gracefully)

withdraw (break from a meeting or gathering)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Avoiding emotional involvement

Classified under:

Nouns denoting feelings and emotions

Synonyms:

detachment; withdrawal

Hypernyms ("withdrawal" is a kind of...):

indifference (unbiased impartial unconcern)

Derivation:

withdraw (lose interest)

Sense 5

Meaning:

The act of withdrawing blood, tumors, etc.

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Context example:

the nurse was expert at the withdrawal of blood

Hypernyms ("withdrawal" is a kind of...):

remotion; removal (the act of removing)

Sense 6

Meaning:

The act of ceasing to participate in an activity

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("withdrawal" is a kind of...):

separation (the act of dividing or disconnecting)

Sense 7

Meaning:

A method of birth control in which coitus is initiated but the penis is deliberately withdrawn before ejaculation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

coitus interruptus; onanism; pulling out; withdrawal; withdrawal method

Hypernyms ("withdrawal" is a kind of...):

birth control; birth prevention; family planning (limiting the number of children born)

Sense 8

Meaning:

Formal separation from an alliance or federation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

secession; withdrawal

Hypernyms ("withdrawal" is a kind of...):

separation (the act of dividing or disconnecting)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "withdrawal"):

breakaway; breaking away (the act of breaking away or withdrawing from)

Derivation:

withdraw (withdraw from active participation)

Sense 9

Meaning:

The termination of drug taking

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

drug withdrawal; withdrawal

Hypernyms ("withdrawal" is a kind of...):

conclusion; ending; termination (the act of ending something)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "withdrawal"):

cold turkey (complete and abrupt withdrawal of all addictive drugs or anything else on which you have become dependent)

 Context examples 

Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale-A (BPRS-A) Emotional withdrawal.

(BPRS-A - Emotional Withdrawal, NCI Thesaurus)

Test names of questionnaire questions associated with the short opiate withdrawal scale questionnaire for the Clinical Data Interchange Standards Consortium (CDISC) Standard Data Tabulation Model (SDTM).

(CDISC Questionnaire SOWS Short Test Name Terminology, NCI Thesaurus)

Test codes of questionnaire questions associated with the short opiate withdrawal scale questionnaire for the Clinical Data Interchange Standards Consortium (CDISC) Standard Data Tabulation Model (SDTM).

(CDISC Questionnaire SOWS Short Test Code Terminology, NCI Thesaurus)

The withdrawal of a medical intervention.

(Dechallenge, NCI Thesaurus)

If you stop using caffeine, you could get withdrawal symptoms.

(Caffeine, Food and Drug Administration)

Growth factor withdrawal activates GSK3b, which phosphorylates cyclin D, leading to its rapid ubiquitination and proteasomal degradation.

(G1/S Checkpoint Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

A worsening of chronic Graft versus Host Disease (cGVHD) manifestations during withdrawal of immunosuppressive therapy which does not exceed those at the beginning of the trial and improves after reinstatement of previous treatment.

(Exacerbation of cGVHD, NCI Thesaurus)

There were many signs of the battle that had been fought, and of the lynx's withdrawal to her lair after having won the victory.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

The systematic withdrawal of fluids and discharges from a wound, sore or cavity.

(Drainage, NCI Thesaurus)

If dependent users stop heroin, they have withdrawal symptoms.

(Heroin, NIH: National Institute on Drug Abuse)