To Repel Something
To Dismiss Something, To Reject Something
transitive verb, ichidan verb
This word consists of kanji with hiragana attached. Because the hiragana ends with an う sound, you know this word is a verb.
The kanji itself means retreat, and this verb version is when you make something retreat. In other words, it means to repel something, to dismiss something, or to reject something.
This is a transitive verb. That means it takes a direct object. You repel something, like bad luck. You reject something, like a proposal.
Since this word has okurigana (hiragana attached to the kanji) you know that it's probably going to be the kun'yomi reading. You learned this with its intransitive pair verb 退く, but here's a mnemonic just in case:
Remember the re-zoner? Well, to repel bad luck, she, re-zoned (しりぞ) the whole place. No bad luck allowed inside the zone.
このお守りには、災いを退ける力がある。
This charm has the power to repel misfortune.
議会は全ての議案を退けた。
The council dismissed all of the proposals.
日本にとってアメリカの意見を退けることは難しい。
It's hard for Japan to reject the opinions of the U.S.