contain
Americanverb (used with object)
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contains,
present (3rd person singular)
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contained,
past participle, past
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containing
present participle
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to hold or include within its volume or area.
This glass contains water.
This paddock contains our best horses.
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to be capable of holding; have capacity for.
The room will contain 75 persons safely.
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to have as contents or constituent parts; comprise; include.
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to keep under proper control; restrain.
He could not contain his amusement.
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to prevent or limit the expansion, influence, success, or advance of (a hostile nation, competitor, opposing force, natural disaster, etc.).
to contain an epidemic.
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to succeed in preventing the spread of.
efforts to contain water pollution.
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Mathematics. (of a number) to be a multiple of; be divisible by, without a remainder.
Ten contains five.
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to be equal to.
A quart contains two pints.
verb
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to hold or be capable of holding or including within a fixed limit or area
this contains five pints
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to keep (one's feelings, behaviour, etc) within bounds; restrain
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to consist of; comprise
the book contains three different sections
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military to prevent (enemy forces) from operating beyond a certain level or area
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maths
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to be a multiple of, leaving no remainder
6 contains 2 and 3
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to have as a subset
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Synonym Usage
Contain, accommodate, hold, express the idea that something is so designed that something else can exist or be placed within it. Contain refers to what is actually within a given container. Hold emphasizes the idea of keeping within bounds; it refers also to the greatest amount or number that can be kept within a given container. Accommodate means to contain comfortably or conveniently, or to meet the needs of a certain number. A passenger plane that accommodates 50 passengers may be able to hold 60, but at a given time may contain only 30.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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containsimple
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containssimple
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have containedperfect
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has containedperfect
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am containingprogressive
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are containingprogressive
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is containingprogressive
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have been containingperfect progressive
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has been containingperfect progressive
Past
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containedsimple
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had containedperfect
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was containingprogressive
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were containingprogressive
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had been containingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of contain
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English conte(y)nen, from Anglo-French contener, Old French contenir, from Latin continēre, equivalent to con- con- + -tinēre, verb suffix of tenēre “to hold” ( see tenet)
Explanation
The verb contain has many shades of meaning but it often describes something that's held back or held in by something. Kids on the last day of school may find it hard to contain their glee when summer officially starts. Picture Times Square on New Year's Eve. People can barely contain — or hold back — their excitement at being there. They clutch cups that contain — or hold — hot drinks that help them stay warm. The police set up barriers to contain — or restrain — the crowd to keep everyone under control. The next morning, the heaps of trash on the street will contain — or include — streamers, party hats, and cups.
Vocabulary lists containing contain
The SAT: Multiple-Meaning Words, List 4
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PARCC: Language of the Test (Grade 11)
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The New SAT: Multiple-Meaning Words
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
A website or email can contain hidden prompts telling the bots to ignore instructions and send personal data to hacker accounts instead.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026
One of the new tools uses hardware features in Nvidia's chips to contain agents.
From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026
Investors read the move as an effort to contain the government’s borrowing costs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026
What about foods that contain ingredients I can barely pronounce, never mind recognise?
From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2026
At that they could contain themselves no more.
From "The Hidden Gallery" by Maryrose Wood
His first squad - for Nations League games against Croatia, England and Spain - contains seven players with either no caps or one cap - although none are aged under 22.
From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026
The average calendar year contains 21 such days, and there’s never been a year with fewer than five, he added.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 28, 2026
The Wende’s Soviet Hippie collection contains ephemera that dovetails with the current moment, and aims to “illuminate the political and cultural changes of the past” and “offer opportunities to make sense of a changing present.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2026
Both newly discovered species have now been registered in a global database, but Toler-Scott says the Salish Sea likely contains additional species that have yet to be documented.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 25, 2026
The zero in the center of the painting contains an infinity of space.
From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife
Police said a cordon was currently in place in the area and added officers believed the incident was contained.
From BBC ● Sep. 27, 2026
Samples from oxygen-free environments contained only simple, prokaryotic forms.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 27, 2026
Two of the supervisors realized Mason’s filing contained major errors, such as contradicting the trial record by asserting one witness never visually identified Johnson as the shooter.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 27, 2026
The state also accuses TikTok of falsely telling app stores the platform was suitable for children aged 12 and up and contained only mild or infrequent mature content.
From Barron's ● Sep. 25, 2026
The three cups contained dried blackberries, huckleberries, and raspberries, all separately soaking in warm water.
From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el
Lagarde said the ECB remains on a “middle path” to balance containing inflation against the risk of weighing too heavily on economic growth.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026
JWST's sensitivity and resolution allowed them to distinguish broad winds containing molecular hydrogen from jets and winds traced by neon.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 28, 2026
The examples containing these metals were generally written after the first century C.E.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 26, 2026
Claire said people had also come into the shop with cards containing money, while others had given her cash for meals when they met her around Shepshed.
From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2026
Soojin has a hard time containing her shock when Nico walks up to us while we're standing in the bus line.
From "Amina's Song" by Hena Khan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
