どく・退くdoku[2]odaka (tail-high)

1. godan verb, intransitive verbto step aside; to move (out of the way); to make way
   そこにいると邪魔じゃまなんだよね。どいてよ。↗

   Move! You're in my way.
2. godan verb, intransitive verbto resign; to retire; to quit; to secede

Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only

• Synonym離れるはなれるNeutralGeneral word for leaving or coming apart; 「退く」 read 「どく」 focuses on clearing the way and moving out of a spot.
• Synonym退役たいえきWrittenWritten word for leaving military service, also for ships or planes going out of service, as in 「退役した軍艦」; 「退く（どく）」 is the everyday step-aside.
• SynonymリタイアNeutralLoanword for retiring from work or dropping out of a race mid-way; read 「どく」, 「退く」 is about making way and does not specifically mean quitting a race.
• Synonym離れ去るはなれさるWrittenWritten style: breaking away from a place or relationship and going off; 「退く」 stresses making way, and for everyday leaving use 「離れる」.
• Related引き上げるひきあげるNeutralMainly transitive: pulls up or raises (e.g. tax rates); it also means pulling out or withdrawing. 「退く」 is just stepping aside oneself, with no withdrawing or going back.
• RelatedさがるNeutralCovers stepping back, moving down or away, and figures dropping; 「退く」 is about making way and never suggests a numerical decline.
• Related辞めるやめるNeutralThe everyday, all-purpose word for quitting or leaving a job; 「退く」 has the resigning sense only when read 「しりぞく」; read 「どく」 it just means stepping aside.
• Related後ずさりあとずさりNeutralBacking up while facing forward, stressing the direction of bodily movement; 「退く」 just means making way — no need to face forward or walk backwards.
• Related辞任じにんWrittenFormal word for stepping down from a post, common in the news; the resigning sense of 「退く」 is 「しりぞく」, while 「どく」 only refers to making way.
• Related辞職じしょくWrittenFormal term for voluntarily resigning one's job; in 「職を退く」 the reading 「しりぞく」 gives the resigning sense, while 「どく」 is only stepping aside.
• Related後退こうたいWrittenWritten word for moving backwards, also decline or regression in development; read 「どく」, 「退く」 is about shifting aside and clearing space.
• Related退陣たいじんWrittenPolitical, written-style word for a leader stepping down, also troops pulling back; read 「どく」, 「退く」 only means making way, never leaving office.
• Related辞すじすWrittenWritten style for taking one's leave or resigning a post; 「退く」 read 「どく」 is fairly colloquial and only about making way — for resigning read 「しりぞく」.
• Related引退いんたいNeutralRetiring from a job, position or activity, such as an athlete's retirement; read 「どく」, 「退く」 in daily speech usually means stepping aside.
• Related外すはずすNeutralIn 「席を外す」 it means briefly stepping out of one's seat; it also covers detaching or excluding, while 「退く」 stresses moving yourself out of the way.
• Relatedまかり出るまかりでるWrittenLiterary and old-fashioned: withdrawing from a place, or coming forward to appear before a superior; 「退く（どく）」 is the everyday, colloquial step-aside.
• Related辞するじするWrittenWritten style: taking one's leave, resigning as in 「職を辞する」, or declining as in 「招待を辞する」; 「退く（どく）」 is more colloquial and means making way.
• Antonym進むすすむNeutralMoving forward or up to a higher position, the opposite of 「退く」 in direction of movement; the step-aside of 「退く」 is not necessarily backwards.
• Antonym前進するNeutralMoving toward the front, opposite to 「退く」 in the advance-versus-step-back direction; 「退く」 can also mean simply stepping to the side.

Use 「退く（どく）」 to step aside or make way, as in 「そこを退いて」. For leaving, say 「離れる」; for stepping back, 「下がる」; for quitting a job, 「辞める」; for retiring, 「引退」; for moving forward, 「進む」. The resignation words 「辞任」「辞職」「辞す」「辞する」 and 「退陣」 belong to written or formal prose, and the resigning sense of 「退く」 itself is read 「しりぞく」.

Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only

1. 場所ばしょをあける。