ret
v.v. to soak plants like flax or hemp in water for a long time. This process helps separate the useful fibers from the woody parts of the plant.
v. to soak plant material, such as flax or hemp, in water or expose it to moisture to soften the fibers through bacterial action. Transitive — requires a direct object.
Farmers ret the flax in large tanks of water.
After the harvest, the stalks are left in the field to ret naturally in the morning dew.
Traditional textile production required workers to ret the raw plant material for several weeks before the fibers were supple enough to be spun into high-quality linen thread.
From Middle English retten, reten; perhaps from Middle Dutch rēten, reeten (compare Middle Low German rōten; Middle High German rōzen), or from Old Norse reyta (compare Norwegian røyta, Swedish röta); all from Proto-Germanic rautijaną (“to make mellow or soft”), from Proto-Indo-European rewd- (“to tear; rend; rip”). Related to rot.
Abbreviation.
The verb is transitive and describes a specific stage in fiber processing.