Synonyms

detain

American

[dih-teyn] / dɪˈteɪn /

verb (used with object)

to keep from proceeding; keep waiting; delay.

Synonyms:

check, stay, stop, hinder, slow, retard
to keep under restraint or in custody.
Obsolete. to keep back or withhold, as from a person.

detain British

/ ˌdiːteɪˈniː, dɪˈteɪn /

verb

to delay; hold back; stop
to confine or hold in custody; restrain
archaic to retain or withhold

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

Etymology

Origin of detain

First recorded in 1480–90; detainen, from Anglo-French, Old French detenir, from unattested Vulgar Latin dētenīre, for Latin dētinēre, equivalent to dē- de- + -tinēre, combining form of tenēre “to hold”

Explanation

When you detain someone, you hold them back, slow them down, or stop them from moving on. If you are detained by the police, you may be late for the big football game, even if you were speeding to get there by the kickoff. There are lots of words that contain the root tain, like contain and retain. These come from Latin tenere, which means "to hold." Detain is specifically used when you're talking about holding someone so they can't go anywhere. It's often used in discussions involving the police who detain people who they think might be guilty. But you can use detain, say, when you're explaining why you were late: "I was detained at the office by a conference call that wouldn't end. Sorry."

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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.

These factors, and others, convinced the judge that he could not detain the boys because the guidelines for sentencing children say that custody is a "last resort", with the priority being rehabilitation.

From BBC • Jun. 5, 2026

Immigration agents, I noted, were acting as though they had carte blanche to detain people suspected of being in the U.S. illegally, conducting raids that sometimes swept up American citizens.

From Los Angeles Times • May 27, 2026

Baker was also involved in monitoring Calocane over the eight days after Skelton did not detain him and put him under the care of the crisis team in January 2022.

From BBC • May 7, 2026

"The court should detain the defendant pending trial," the filing said.

From Barron's • Apr. 29, 2026

Fellow immigrants from your homeland are more than willing to pay it forward and pitch in to make sure the INS doesn't detain you.

From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023