contain
Americanverb (used with object)
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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:
Companies like Deep Fission must prove they can meet short timelines, contain costs and overcome the industry’s historic challenges.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
Firefighters in France and Spain were battling to contain the worst wildfires in living memory before the arrival of a fourth heatwave of the summer brings scorching temperatures.
From Barron's ● Jul. 28, 2026
Rollins, in a social-media post this week, pointed to a drop in new screwworm cases in July as a sign that containment and the sterile-fly efforts were helping contain the outbreak.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
Firefighters in France are working around the clock to contain wildfires that have been raging in the Gironde region, while bracing for another sharp rise in temperatures.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
“That’s impressive,” he said, piecing it together, his voice barely able to contain his glee.
From "City Spies" by James Ponti
Studies have found that bottled water contains higher levels of microplastics than tap.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
Spoiler alert: This post contains details from the new film “Spider-Man: Brand New Day.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
The South Downs National Park is considered one of the best places in the region for glow worms because it contains some of the country's darkest skies.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
It contains cells that detect light and convert it into electrical signals, which are then sent to the brain and assembled into the images we see.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 26, 2026
The package contains one hundred pesos—far more than the amount he’d given away.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
The fire was 33 acres and 5% contained as of Tuesday morning, Castillo said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
If those measures remain contained, the Fed can hold rates steady and allow the initial price increase to pass through the data.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
However, scientists had never conclusively demonstrated that the pigments contained no carbon at all.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 28, 2026
More than 80 percent of programs contained information that was either seriously misleading or straight-up wrong, including that HIV can be contracted by sweat and tears and that condoms are ineffective.
From Slate ● Jul. 28, 2026
It contained his own notes on Spassky’s games, jotted in pencil, with comments and question marks designating poor moves, exclamation marks designating good ones.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
The report also found that households containing one or more retired adults was the HCI with the highest overall increase, at 5.2%.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
During searches, officers found a brown paper bag containing a tiny item they initially thought was a baby bird.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
Roberto Velasco, 84, brought a small suitcase and a hard disc containing copies of old family letters and keepsakes from his family in Chile over the 50 years he has spent in Spain.
From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026
So I went ahead and swapped my normal creams containing high amounts of glycerin, aloe and other plant-based ingredients for tallow-based alternatives for a two-week period.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
What Nhamo saw now was the sudden appearance of small red-and-blue packages containing magic roots or feathers.
From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer
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.
