What's the difference between 取り消す vs 取り下げる? I was adding sample sentences to my flash cards when I noticed that means withdraw. > > > withdraw [retract] one's statement This reminded of a sample sentence for > > > retract an accusation It's clear to me how and contribute to the meaning "to withdraw, take back" but I don't know what the role or the "semantic contribution" of is in this case. means to lower, right? Also, how do these two compound verbs differ in terms of nuance?

is used with an accusation, a bill (law), an academic article, a statement of opinion, etc. Its use is limited to withdrawing things related to someone's claim or opinion. is simply "to cancel", and it can be used with a wider variety of things. You can use with an order, a reservation, etc. and are interchangeable but the former sounds slightly more formal or legal.

> what the role or the "semantic contribution" of is

We can say ("to bring **up** (a topic)"), so I think can be understood as the opposite of it, i.e., asking others to forget.