Category:Detract

De*tract", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Detracted; p. pr. & vb. n. Detracting.] Etym: [L. detractus, p. p. of detrahere to detract; de + trahere to draw: cf. F. détracter. See Trace.]

1. To take away; to withdraw. Detract much from the view of the without. Sir H. Wotton.

2. To take credit or reputation from; to defame. That calumnious critic. . . Detracting what laboriously we do. Drayton.

Syn. -- To derogate; decry; disparage; depreciate; asperse; vilify; defame; traduce. See Decry.

detract De*tract", v. i.

Defn: To take away a part or something, especially from one's credit; to lessen reputation; to derogate; to defame; -- often with from. It has been the fashion to detract both from the moral and literary character of Cicero. V. Knox.