retention

American  

[ri-ten-shuhn] / rɪˈtɛn ʃən /

noun

• retentions
  plural

1. the act of retaining.

2. the state of being retained.

3. the power to retain; capacity for retaining.

4. the act or power of remembering things; memory.

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retention British  

/ rɪˈtɛnʃən /

noun

1. the act of retaining or state of being retained

2. the capacity to hold or retain liquid

3. the capacity to remember

4. pathol the abnormal holding within the body of urine, faeces, etc, that are normally excreted

5. commerce a sum of money owed to a contractor but not paid for an agreed period as a safeguard against any faults found in the work carried out

6. (plural) accounting profits earned by a company but not distributed as dividends; retained earnings

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Usage

What is retention? Retention is the act of retaining, that is, holding onto or keeping possession of something, as in Kim noted the plant’s successful retention of water. Retention is also used to refer to the state of being retained or having the power to retain something, as in The lawyer was outraged by the police’s continued retention of his client. Retention can also mean that something or someone has the power to retain things, especially a person’s ability to retain information in their memory, as in Weekly testing is done to improve students’ retention of what they have learned. Example: Justine worked hard to improve the retention of skilled employees at her company.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonretention
  noun
• overretention
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• retentions
  plural

Etymology

Origin of retention

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English retencion, from Latin retentiōn-, stem of retentiō “restraint, withholding,” from retent(us) “held back” (past participle of retinēre “to hold back”; see retain) + -iō -ion

Explanation

You can use retention to mean the ability to keep or hold. If you have extraordinary powers of retention, you remember everything you hear or learn. Are your ankles ever swollen after a long flight? This comes from the lack of movement which can cause the retention of water. The roots of the word, Latin re- "back" and tenere "to hold," say it all. You often use the word in the military or business contexts to talk about keeping soldiers, or employees, from leaving. If you're lucky, they might offer you a retention bonus to prevent you from quitting.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

retention retentions

The overall retention rate rose slightly in 2025, to 72.9% of the 16,081 students completing the course they started in 2023.

From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026

The program drives consistent growth, customer retention and engagement, and sales for merchants, the company said, even though DashPass orders have a lower gross margin percentage than non-DashPass orders.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026

Net dollar retention rate, a measure of recurring revenue retained from existing customers over 12 months, was 136% at the end of the second quarter, thanks to customers purchasing additional licenses and AI credit add-ons.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026

Publicis is pairing AI-powered marketing with strong client retention, growing free cash flow, and a major data acquisition.

From Barron's ● Jul. 30, 2026

Heather has stopped eating and complains about fluid retention.

From "Speak" by Laurie Halse Anderson

Earlier this month, Kluska was much more optimistic about the trials after meeting with Mereo management, who were “very pleased” with trial retentions.

From MarketWatch ● Dec. 29, 2025

He said his plan includes an increase in “investment in recruitment and retentions to rebuild our ranks and revitalize morale,” and pledged to reorganize the agency to create more opportunities for advancement.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 31, 2023

Superchargers' retentions have left them with a fairly strong core, but they could do with a right-handed top-order batter to partner and complement Adam Lyth.

From BBC ● Mar. 23, 2023

The whistleblower said the purpose of the retentions department, which he worked in, was to “squeeze the money” from clients until they were down to “the last cent”.

From The Guardian ● Mar. 1, 2020

In many instances these are retentions of positions assumed by the limbs of the fœtus in the course of evolution, and are therefore, in the adult, expressions of degeneracy.

From Degeneracy Its Causes, Signs and Results by Eugene S. Talbot