contain
to hold or include within its volume or area: This glass contains water.This paddock contains our best horses.
to be capable of holding; have capacity for: The room will contain 75 persons safely.
to have as contents or constituent parts; comprise; include.
to keep under proper control; restrain: He could not contain his amusement.
to prevent or limit the expansion, influence, success, or advance of (a hostile nation, competitor, opposing force, natural disaster, etc.): to contain an epidemic.
to succeed in preventing the spread of: efforts to contain water pollution.
Mathematics. (of a number) to be a multiple of; be divisible by, without a remainder: Ten contains five.
to be equal to: A quart contains two pints.
Origin of contain
1synonym study For contain
Other words for contain
Other words from contain
- con·tain·a·ble, adjective
- pre·con·tain, verb (used with object)
- un·con·tain·a·ble, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use contain in a sentence
You may be surprised to find that most clothing contains plastic, which is a petroleum product.
Trying to shop sustainably? Here’s what you need to consider. | Sarah Kaplan | November 20, 2020 | Washington PostIf you build a fire in a BBQ or a small brick fire pit, it is contained.
Why Even A Small Thanksgiving Is Dangerous | Maggie Koerth (maggie.koerth-baker@fivethirtyeight.com) | November 20, 2020 | FiveThirtyEightElsewhere in the Fortune multiverse, our year-end issue contains a package of stories to guide investors in 2021.
Top tech CEOs join this year’s Brainstorm Tech conference | Aaron Pressman | November 20, 2020 | FortuneJunk food may trigger attention-related problems because it does not contain the good fats needed to build healthy brain cells, says Richardson.
Warning! Junk foods can harm a teen’s brain | Sharon Oosthoek | November 19, 2020 | Science News For StudentsSo, the data contains sales for more than 300,000 different brands, which are typically going to be consumer-packaged goods that are sold at these more traditional retail outlets.
Does Advertising Actually Work? (Part 1: TV) (Ep. 440) | Stephen J. Dubner | November 19, 2020 | Freakonomics
Jimmy Fallon's uncontainable glee is a welcome respite from late night's usual smarm and snark, but that's Fallon's thing.
Seth Meyers Gets Off to a Rocky Start on 'Late Night' | Kevin Fallon | February 25, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTAnd more than ever, they race around the world unimpeded by national boundaries and uncontainable by central banks.
Uncontainable passion is not just a major preoccupation of the archetype, it's the bedrock.
British Dictionary definitions for contain
/ (kənˈteɪn) /
to hold or be capable of holding or including within a fixed limit or area: this contains five pints
to keep (one's feelings, behaviour, etc) within bounds; restrain
to consist of; comprise: the book contains three different sections
military to prevent (enemy forces) from operating beyond a certain level or area
maths
to be a multiple of, leaving no remainder: 6 contains 2 and 3
to have as a subset
Origin of contain
1Derived forms of contain
- containable, adjective
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
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