detain

[dih-teyn]

verb (used with object)

1. to keep from proceeding; keep waiting; delay.

   Synonyms: check, stay, stop, hinder, slow, retard

2. to keep under restraint or in custody.

3. Obsolete.,  to keep back or withhold, as from a person.

detain

/ ˌdiːteɪˈniː, dɪˈteɪn /

verb

1. to delay; hold back; stop

2. to confine or hold in custody; restrain

3. archaic,  to retain or withhold

Other Word Forms

• detainable adjective
• detainment noun
• predetain verb (used with object)
• undetainable adjective
• undetained adjective
• detainee noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of detain¹

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”

Word History and Origins

Origin of detain¹

C15: from Old French detenir, from Latin dētinēre to hold off, keep back, from _de- + tenēre to hold

Example Sentences

She and her companion were detained after police determined she was wanted in Wisconsin.

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He was from the same small town in Mexico as one of the men who was detained and later deported.

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The deaths have focused attention on the treatment of detained immigrants as well as long-standing concerns about medical care inside Adelanto, one of the largest federal immigration detention centers in California.

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Some detained people offer up a wrong name or alias, and that would explain why he never showed up in Homeland Security records.

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In video filmed by their pastor, Marjan is seen collapsed outside as agents detain her husband.

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Related Words

• apprehend 
• confine 
• delay 
• jail