detain

American  

[dih-teyn] / dɪˈteɪn /

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.

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detain British  

/ ˌdiːteɪˈniː, dɪˈteɪn /

verb

1. to delay; hold back; stop

2. to confine or hold in custody; restrain

3. archaic to retain or withhold

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Other Word Forms

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

Etymology

Origin of detain

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”

Explanation

When you detain someone, you hold them back, slow them down, or stop them from moving on. If you are detained by the police, you may be late for the big football game, even if you were speeding to get there by the kickoff. There are lots of words that contain the root tain, like contain and retain. These come from Latin tenere, which means "to hold." Detain is specifically used when you're talking about holding someone so they can't go anywhere. It's often used in discussions involving the police who detain people who they think might be guilty. But you can use detain, say, when you're explaining why you were late: "I was detained at the office by a conference call that wouldn't end. Sorry."

Example Sentences

Hell could no longer hold us in our bounds, Nor this unvoyageable gulf obscure Detain from following thy illustrious track.

From Paradise Lost by Milton, John

Rush into the throng; by force210 Detain them of thy soothing speech, ere yet All launch their oary barks into the flood.

From The Iliad of Homer Translated into English Blank Verse by William Cowper by Cowper, William

The rain is gone, except so much as we Detain in needfull teares to weep the want of thee.

From The Complete Works of Richard Crashaw, Volume I (of 2) by Crashaw, Richard

Detain the Count, therefore, till you hear from me; I shall start in the morning.'

From Gerald Fitzgerald The Chevalier by Lever, Charles James

Schools, unless discipline were doubly strong, Detain their adolescent charge too long.

From Webster's Unabridged Dictionary by Webster, Noah

Related Words

• apprehend
• confine
• delay
• jail