1. past tense and past participle of ret; soaked (plant fibers) in water to soften them for processing
Usage: technical; textile industry

Examples

• The flax was retted in the pond for several weeks.
• After being retted, the hemp fibers became much easier to separate.
• The farmer retted the plant material to prepare it for fiber extraction.
• Once properly retted, the stems could be processed into usable thread.
• The traditional method involved having the crops retted in running water.