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third-person singular simple present rets, present participle retting, simple past and past participle retted
(transitive) To prepare (flax, hemp etc.) for further processing by soaking, which facilitates separation of fibers from the woody parts of the stem. quotations examples
the hemp was retted / and soon the retting was done / and swiftly it was hung up / and hurriedly it was dried […].
1989, Elias Lönnrot, translated by Keith Bosley, The Kalevala, section XLVIII
the lowland nearly silent except for water-thrushes, the harvested fields, the smell of hops being dried in kilns, flax pulled up and piled in sheaves, in local practice not to be retted till the spring
2006, Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day, Vintage, published 2007, page 621
retired examples