retain
Americanverb (used with object)
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retains,
present (3rd person singular)
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retained,
past participle, past
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retaining
present participle
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to keep possession of.
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to continue to use, practice, etc..
to retain an old custom.
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to continue to hold or have.
to retain a prisoner in custody; a cloth that retains its color.
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to keep in mind; remember.
- Antonyms:
- forget
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to hold in place or position.
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to engage, especially by payment of a preliminary fee.
to retain a lawyer.
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Medicine/Medical. to keep in the body, especially abnormally; fail to eliminate.
I was referred to a specialty clinic and they discovered that I was retaining urine.
verb
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to keep in one's possession
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to be able to hold or contain
soil that retains water
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(of a person) to be able to remember (information, facts, etc) without difficulty
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to hold in position
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to keep for one's future use, as by paying a retainer or nominal charge
to retain one's rooms for the holidays
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law to engage the services of (a barrister) by payment of a preliminary fee
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(in selling races) to buy back a winner that one owns when it is auctioned after the race
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(of racehorse trainers) to pay an advance fee to (a jockey) so as to have prior or exclusive claims upon his services throughout the season
Synonym Usage
See keep.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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nonretainmentnoun
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retainabilitynoun
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retainablenessnoun
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retainmentnoun
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nonretainableadjective
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retainableadjective
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unretainableadjective
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unretainingadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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retainsimple
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retainssimple
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have retainedperfect
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has retainedperfect
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am retainingprogressive
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are retainingprogressive
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is retainingprogressive
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have been retainingperfect progressive
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has been retainingperfect progressive
Past
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retainedsimple
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had retainedperfect
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was retainingprogressive
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were retainingprogressive
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had been retainingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of retain
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English reteinen, from Old French retenir, from Latin retinēre “to hold back, hold fast,” equivalent to re- re- + -tinēre, combining form of tenēre “to hold”
Explanation
Retain means to hold on to or keep. People who can retain a lot of information are often mistaken for geniuses, but really they just have very good memories. To retain is to keep or maintain, whether in mind, possession or a certain condition. If you have a great personal assistant, you'll probably want to retain him for as long as you can. If your body is retaining water you might look a little plump. The verbs restrain and detain sound similar, but they mean to keep something by force.
Vocabulary lists containing retain
The Balcony Scene from "Romeo and Juliet"
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Out of My Mind
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List 1
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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:
He renewed Canopy’s yearly license last October, and Microsoft had emailed him to confirm he would retain access until Oct.
From Slate ● Aug. 18, 2026
Bagehot would recognize the goal: Reduce the encouragement to take risk, known as moral hazard, that offering guarantees in advance creates, but retain the ability to mount a rescue in a crisis.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
“I did not give my consent to any Trustee of my Trust to withhold, defer, or retain my Age-30 Distribution indefinitely,” Reiner said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026
As CO2 increases, the body can retain additional bicarbonate to help keep blood pH stable.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 15, 2026
"Xaro assures me that in Qarth, man and woman each retain their own property after they are wed. The dragons are mine."
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
Despite opinion polls registering a fall in Vladimir Putin's domestic approval ratings, Russia's president – Mr Muratov believes - retains a tight grip on power.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
The bank trims its ADR target price to US$11.40 from US$13.00 but retains a buy rating.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
Jefferies retains an underperform call on Bank of Queensland and lifts its price target by 0.7% to A$5.68/share.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026
The transaction includes a "collaboration and technology-sharing agreement" that retains Boeing's access to Wisk technology for current and next-generation commercial and defense aircraft, the press release said.
From Barron's ● Aug. 10, 2026
Today, the term Hellenistic retains an unfocused, wishy-washy feel, if not a whiff of outright condescension.
From "Circumference" by Nicholas Nicastro
The Brewers are the small-market overachievers, who somehow have retained their little-engine-that-could persona despite owning the best regular-season record in baseball last year.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2026
Buffett added that it is possible the conglomerate retained some of Combs’s stocks, and it is unclear whether Berkshire ended June with any of those holdings.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
Flock is cutting the number of days most data is retained, from 30 days to seven and abnormal searches and uses will also automatically be flagged.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
"Expansion and straightening cause water to drain away into the North Sea and Baltic Sea even faster, rather than being retained in the surrounding area."
From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026
Although not in the look of the campus and village; they retained much of their dreaming summer calm.
From "A Separate Peace" by John Knowles
At the Women's European Championship that followed, Bronze was instrumental in England retaining the trophy, starting every game despite suffering a fractured tibia on the eve of the tournament.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
The vegetables should become deeply soft and jammy while retaining a little texture; you are not trying to cook them into a completely smooth paste.
From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026
He didn't even do that for Thomas Tuchel's World Cup squad, even though it seemed England were crying out for his ball retaining abilities in the latter stages of the competition.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
"For several years the two popes and their supporters fought for control of Rome, with Honorius retaining powerful backing from the Holy Roman Empire and attracting support elsewhere in northern Europe."
From Science Daily ● Aug. 11, 2026
I still wasn't sure how much Joan knew, after our trip to the Emergency Ward, but a few days later she had come back to live in Belsize, retaining, however, the freest of town privileges.
From "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath
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.
