verb
-
to delay; hold back; stop
-
to confine or hold in custody; restrain
-
archaic to retain or withhold
Other Word Forms
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."
Vocabulary lists containing detain
Echo
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Enrique's Journey
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This Week In Words: Current Events Vocab for January 30–February 5, 2021
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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.
"The court should detain the defendant pending trial," the filing said.
From Barron's • Apr. 29, 2026
Prosecutors also said he left the scene, changed his shirt and shoes, and returned two hours later, at which point agents recognized him and moved to detain him.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 10, 2026
He said detention facilities were necessary to detain people so they could be guaranteed due process.
From BBC • Apr. 4, 2026
Among them were two nephews the DEA would later detain: Efraín Campo Flores and Franqui Flores de Freitas, both raised by Flores after one of her sisters died.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 29, 2026
He couldn’t find any reason to detain them further.
From "Habibi" by Naomi Shihab Nye
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.
