01 n. The act of retarding; hindrance; the act of delaying; as, the retardation of the motion of a ship; -- opposed to acceleration.
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1.
The act of retarding; hindrance; the act of delaying; as, the retardation of the motion of a ship; -- opposed to acceleration.“The retardations of our fluent motion.” — De Quinsey.
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2.
That which retards; an obstacle; an obstruction.“Hills, sloughs, and other terrestrial retardations.” — Sir W. Scott.
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3.
The keeping back of an approaching consonant chord by prolonging one or more tones of a previous chord into the intermediate chord which follows; -- differing from suspension by resolving upwards instead of downwards.(Mus.)
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4.
The extent to which anything is retarded; the amount of retarding or delay.
Phrases & compounds
Retardation of the tide —
The lunitidal interval, or the hour angle of the moon at the time of high tide any port; the interval between the transit of the moon and the time of high tide next following