Your answer is the word 'may'.
The message that Maureen Daly conveys in the story "Sixteen" is that in affairs of the heart it is best to use your head to temper the feelings of the heart. The main character says, "My heart still prays but my mind laughs. Finally, mind wins!" "Sixteen" is a story of unrequited love. The young girl in the story feels the young man she yearns for is different; he really has feelings for her. But, he never calls, and he ends up being like so many other young men she has fallen for. “I know what the stars knew all the time—he’ll never, never call—never,” she realizes. The message is an age old one that many young people learn over and over as they grow to use reason when dealing with love as opposed to using only their feelings, which run the gamut of love and passion, to anger, and finally to reason and moving on.
Answer:
1) The act or process of withdrawing, especially from something hazardous, formidable, or unpleasant.
Explanation:
We can see by how it's used in the passage that it's used as a verb, not as a noun, so we can eliminate 2. There's no military forces here, and this dog isn't retiring, so I'd say your best bet is 1, since the dog is withdrawing/retreating from the whip.
