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I cannot decide which word better describe this situation: Say there is a surface and users approache it with their finger, touche it, and then recede/withdraw.

Clearly I'm interested in the physical aspect and I want it to contrast the word "approach". Dictionary definitions say both are fine, however, I got some strong feedback for and against either words from multiple readers.

For the sake of completeness, I am writing a formal text.

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  • Well actually that it is not really screen. I just wanted to simplify the whole scenario. In reality it is a mechanical device that has an injection head and a worker is supposed to bring the injection head towards a specific hole on a work-piece, inject some material, and then recede/withdraw in the injection head. The head is attached to a free moving robot like mechanism. That avoid all that I used the screen/touch analogy...
    – Pouya
    Commented Mar 23, 2020 at 19:57
  • The word recede describes a process of moving away more than a single act of releasing a touch. When a hairline recedes, it takes years.
    – Yosef Baskin
    Commented Mar 23, 2020 at 21:24
  • Seems like raise/lift/pull back/ would be better. The injection tool head is lowered into position above the injection site. Once the injection is complete the head is raised/lifted/pulled back for clearance before being moved to the next injection site.
    – Jim
    Commented Mar 23, 2020 at 22:20

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In the context of your comment. Withdraw seems better. with the focal point of the hole in your work material, "withdraw from" goes with "insert into"

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    I agree that "withdraw" is better, To me "recede" describes a natural or automatic process happening on a more or less wide front (for example "his hairline is receding" as Yosuf Baskin suggests above or "The Holderness coast is receding due to erosion") whereas "withdraw" describes an action which is more or less intentional (for example "Napoleon withdrew from Moscow after it was set on fire" or "Having delivered the message the secretary withdrew from the room"). The action of pulling back a finger or an injection head is deliberate.
    – BoldBen
    Commented Mar 24, 2020 at 0:50

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