withdrawal

UK/wɪðˈdɹɔː(ə)l/US/wɪðˈdɹɔ(ə)l/

nounC15 meanings Common in everyday speech and writing · #4,957 of 15,258leans written

Other forms: withdrawals

A withdrawal is money taken out of an account. You put the card in the machine, choose fifty, and the slip that comes out calls it a withdrawal.

The word covers any pulling back or taking away. The withdrawal of troops from a border, the withdrawal of funding from a project, a company's withdrawal of a product from the shelves, a runner's withdrawal from the race. In medicine it names what a body goes through when a drug it depends on stops: withdrawal symptoms, three days of withdrawal. It also describes a person going quiet and cutting themselves off from everyone. It is built from withdraw plus -al, and the verb behind it is irregular — withdraw, withdrew, withdrawn. It nearly always takes OF or FROM: the withdrawal of support, withdrawal from the treaty.

Definitions of withdrawal

1nounwithdrawalMoney taken out of a bank account, or the act of taking it out.C1~4%
“There is a daily limit on cash withdrawals.”
2nountakingThe act of taking something or someone back or away.C1~20%
“The withdrawal of the troops took six months.”
3nounleavingThe act of leaving an agreement, a competition or an organisation.C1~45%
“His withdrawal from the tournament surprised everyone.”
4nounphysicalThe physical and mental effects a person has when they stop taking a drug their body depends on.C1~29%
“The first week of withdrawal was the worst.”
5nounbecomingThe act of becoming silent and cutting yourself off from other people.C2~2%
“The doctor described a slow withdrawal from friends and family.”

Shares are an estimate: a language model read 24 sentences found in the wild and placed 24 of them on a sense — a count of our sample, not a measurement of English.

withdrawal is an act of taking something back.

Where it comes from

Proto-Indo-European
*dʰregʰ- — to drag, pull; to run
Middle English
withdrawen
English
withdraw
English, today
withdrawal

Built from

withdrauen · Middle English — to depart, leave, move away; (reflexive) to go away; (reflexive) to leave someone’s service; (often reflexive) to draw back or retreat (from a battlefield or dangerous place), withdraw; to abandon, desert; to go, go forth; to move; of the sea, water, etc.: to (cause to) ebb, recede, subside; to disappear; to slacken, wane; (often reflexive) to cease, stop; to desist, refrain; (reflexive) to go back on, recant; to avoid, eschew; to bring under control, contain, suppress; to curb, curtail; to delay, put off; to demur, refuse; to carry or take away, deprive of, remove; to contract, draw away or in, retract; to deny, refuse; to revoke; to withhold; to divert; to separate; to adopt, borrow, imitate
drauen · Middle English — to drag, pull, tow, tug, draw [and other senses]

From withdraw + -al. withdraw comes from Middle English withdrawen, withdrauen (“to depart, leave, move away; (reflexive) to go away; (reflexive) to leave someone’s service; (often reflexive) to draw back or retreat (from a battlefield or dangerous place), withdraw; to abandon, desert; to go, go forth; to move; of the sea, water, etc.: to (cause to) ebb, recede, subside; to disappear; to slacken, wane; (often reflexive) to cease, stop; to desist, refrain; (reflexive) to go back on, recant; to avoid, eschew; to bring under control, contain, suppress; to curb, curtail; to delay, put off; to demur, refuse; to carry or take away, deprive of, remove; to contract, draw away or in, retract; to deny, refuse; to revoke; to withhold; to divert; to separate; to adopt, borrow, imitate”)widdraw, witdrawe, withdrah, withdraugh, withdraughe, withdrauh, withdrauʒ, withdrawe, withdrawine, withdraʒ, withedrawe, withedrawin, wtdrau, (Northern England) widdrau, witdrau, from with- + drawen, drauen (“to drag, pull, tow, tug, draw [and other senses]”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European dʰregʰ- (“to drag, pull; to run”)); see further at with- and draw. The English word is analysable as with + draw.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Shopping & Money, Mental Health & Wellbeing, Word Building

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withdrawal in the wild

When the drug is removed, these conditions may resurface and be confused with withdrawal symptoms.
Drug withdrawal
In early 2020 the Iraqi parliament voted to withdraw all remaining troops and the Iraqi Prime Minister told the U.S. to start working on troop withdrawal.
Withdrawal of United States troops from Iraq (2007–2011)
A tactical withdrawal or retreating defensive action is a type of military operation, generally meaning that retreating forces draw back while maintaining contact with the enemy.
Withdrawal (military)
Acute withdrawal syndromes can last days, weeks or months.
Physical dependence
On 23 January 2020, the withdrawal agreement was ratified by the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and on 29 January 2020 by the European Parliament.
Withdrawal from the European Union

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

the drauen family

withdraw withdrawal

withdrawal — used about once every 1,156 pages · #4,957 · point at the bar for the others

Definitions of withdrawal

1nounwithdrawalMoney taken out of a bank account, or the act of taking it out.C1~4%

“There is a daily limit on cash withdrawals.”

2nountakingThe act of taking something or someone back or away.C1~20%

“The withdrawal of the troops took six months.”

3nounleavingThe act of leaving an agreement, a competition or an organisation.C1~45%

“His withdrawal from the tournament surprised everyone.”

4nounphysicalThe physical and mental effects a person has when they stop taking a drug their body depends on.C1~29%

“The first week of withdrawal was the worst.”

5nounbecomingThe act of becoming silent and cutting yourself off from other people.C2~2%

“The doctor described a slow withdrawal from friends and family.”

Shares are an estimate: a language model read 24 sentences found in the wild and placed 24 of them on a sense — a count of our sample, not a measurement of English.

withdrawal is an act of taking something back.