contain

[ kuhn-teyn ]

/ kənˈteɪn /

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verb (used with object)

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.

Nearby words

Origin of contain

1250–1300; Middle English conte(y)nen < Anglo-French contener, Old French contenir < Latin continēre, equivalent to con- con- + tenēre to hold (see tenet)

SYNONYMS FOR contain

3 embody, embrace.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR contain ON THESAURUS.COM

Related formscon·tain·a·ble, adjectivepre·con·tain, verb (used with object)un·con·tain·a·ble, adjective

Synonym study

1. 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.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for containing

Methane (chemical formula CH4) is one of the simplest hydrocarbons, which literally means “containing hydrogen and carbon.”
Methane on Mars: Life or Just Gas?|Matthew R. Francis|December 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The father had a plastic bag in each hand, containing two of the turkeys he had come to pass out to people in the neighborhood.
Darren Wilson Wasn’t Indicted—the System Was|Michael Daly|November 25, 2014|DAILY BEAST
“Rapid ‘contact tracing’ will be key to containing the disease in West Africa,” it reads.
Doctors Without Borders Hits Ebola Breaking Point|Abby Haglage, Kent Sepkowitz|October 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Prince William was seen clutching an envelope, when they left, most likely containing images of the scan.
Royal Baby Due In April|Tom Sykes|October 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST

A CDC that seems perplexed by the ABCs of containing a highly predictable outbreak.
Disease History Vs. Disease Hysteria|Kevin Bleyer|October 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The park proper, containing more than twelve hundred hectares, is one of the largest and most thickly wooded in France.
Royal Palaces and Parks of France|Milburg Francisco Mansfield
I remarked that the one containing the chief priest had fallen into a rivulet, as if fate was not tired of drowning him.
The Adventures of Hajji Baba of Ispahan|James Morier
In front and at his feet lies the town of Gettysburg, containing, in quiet times, a population of four or five thousand souls.
Camp-Fire and Cotton-Field|Thomas W. Knox
One of these is the country of New Mexico, containing many towns, and 100,000 inhabitants.
The Desert Home|Mayne Reid
Next is Pygela, a small town, containing a temple of Diana Munychia.
The Geography of Strabo, Volume III (of 3)|Strabo

British Dictionary definitions for containing

contain

/ (kənˈteɪn) /

verb (tr)

to hold or be capable of holding or including within a fixed limit or areathis contains five pints

to keep (one's feelings, behaviour, etc) within bounds; restrain

to consist of; comprisethe 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 remainder6 contains 2 and 3
to have as a subset

Derived Formscontainable, adjective

Word Origin for contain

C13: from Old French contenir, from Latin continēre, from com- together + tenēre to hold

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

Word Origin and History for containing

contain

late 13c., from Old French contein-, stem of contenir, from Latin continere (transitive) "to hold together, enclose," from com- "together" (see com-) + tenere "to hold" (see tenet). Related: Containable.

contain

verb (used with object)

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Origin of contain

Synonym study

Examples from the Web for containing

British Dictionary definitions for containing

contain

verb (tr)

Word Origin for contain

Word Origin and History for containing

contain