1-Stop Dictionary Reference

Detain

ahd-5

transitive verb. To keep from proceeding; delay or retard.

transitive verb. To keep in custody or confinement.

transitive verb. To retain or withhold (payment or property, for example).

The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

noun. Detention.

To keep back or away; withhold; specifically, to keep or retain unjustly.

To keep or restrain from proceeding; stay or stop: as, we were detained by the rain.

In law, to hold in custody.

the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English

noun. Detention.

transitive verb. To keep back or from; to withhold.

transitive verb. To restrain from proceeding; to stay or stop; to delay.

transitive verb. To hold or keep in custody.

Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

verb. Keep (someone) from proceeding by holding them back or making claims on their attention.

verb. To put under custody.

WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

verb. deprive of freedom; take into confinement

verb. stop or halt

verb. cause to be slowed down or delayed

Word Usage

"Please note that the position of the Bush-Cheney cabal has been that anybody they detain is * not* a POW, but a, well, ... ah, ‘terrorist’, in a ..... well, not a war, except as they say itis."

cross-reference

withhold

Hypernym

Words that are more generic or abstract

check delay retard

Hyponym

Words that are more specific

bind over cage cage in gaol immure

Rhyme

Words with the same terminal sound

Alane Aquitaine Ayn Bahrain Biscayne

Same Context

Words that are found in similar contexts

Jerusalem active-duty alpha-shift attemptto belly-crawling

Synonym

Words with the same meaning

apprehend arrest arrest backpedal backwater

verb-form

detained detaining detains