Dictionary Thesaurus Word Dynamo Quotes Reference Translator Spanish

detain

[dih-teyn]

verb (used with object)

to keep from proceeding; keep waiting; delay.

to keep under restraint or in custody.

Obsolete. to keep back or withhold, as from a person.

Origin:
1480–90; detainen < Anglo-French, Old French detenir < Vulgar Latin *dētenīre, for Latin dētinēre, equivalent to dē- de- + -tinēre, combining form of tenēre to hold

Related forms

de·tain·a·ble, adjective

de·tain·ment, noun

pre·de·tain, verb (used with object)

un·de·tain·a·ble, adjective

un·de·tained, adjective

Synonyms
1. retard, stop, slow, stay, check.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source

Link To detain

:10

:09

:08

:07

:06

:05

:04

:03

:02

:01

Detain is one of our favorite verbs.

So is hornswoggle. Does it mean:

to swindle, cheat, hoodwink, or hoax.

to expurgate (a written work) by removing or modifying passages considered vulgar or objectionable.

LEARN MORE FUN, UNUSUAL VERBS WITH WORD DYNAMO...

Example Sentences

The police can detain you for any one of a million reasons.

Nigerian authorities refused to detain the ex-president.

The police were alerted that he was at the airport, so had the port police detain him.

EXPAND

Collins

World English Dictionary

detain (dɪˈteɪn)

—vb
1.	to delay; hold back; stop
2.	to confine or hold in custody; restrain
3.	archaic to retain or withhold

[C15: from Old French detenir, from Latin dētinēre to hold off, keep back, from de- + tenēre to hold]

de'tainable

—*adj*

detainee

—n

de'tainment

—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source

Etymonline

Word Origin & History

detain

mid-15c., from M.Fr. detenir, from O.Fr. detenir "to hold off, keep back" (12c.), from L. detinere "hold off, keep back," from de- "from, away" + tenere "to hold" (see tenet). Related: Detainee (1928).

Word Dynamo By Dictionary.com

Searching for detain?
How many words do you actually know?

FIND OUT

Related Words

buttonhole collar detention

keep quarantine stay

Matching Quote

"Passing over the earlier Continental poets, since we are bound to the pleasant archipelago of English poetry, Chaucer's is the first name after that misty weather in which Ossian lived, which can detain us long. Indeed, though he represents so different a culture and society, he may be regarded as in many respects the Homer of the English poets. Perhaps he is the youthfulest of them all. We return to him as to the purest well, the fountain farthest removed from the highway of desultory life. He is so natural and cheerful, compared with later poets, that we might almost regard him as the personification of spring.... It is still the poetry of youth and life, rather than of thought; and though the moral vein is obvious and constant, it has not yet banished the sun and daylight from his verse."

-Henry David Thoreau

Partners:Word Bloglines Citysearch The Daily Beast Ask Answers Ask Kids Life123 Sendori Thesaurus

About Privacy Policy Terms of Use API Careers Advertise with Us Contact Us Help