Retain
[rɪ'teɪn] or [rɪ'ten]
Definition
(verb.) keep in one's mind; 'I cannot retain so much information'.
(verb.) secure and keep for possible future use or application; 'The landlord retained the security deposit'; 'I reserve the right to disagree'.
(verb.) allow to remain in a place or position or maintain a property or feature; 'We cannot continue several servants any longer'; 'She retains a lawyer'; 'The family's fortune waned and they could not keep their household staff'; 'Our grant has run out and we cannot keep you on'; 'We kept the work going as long as we could'; 'She retained her composure'; 'this garment retains its shape even after many washings'.
(verb.) hold back within; 'This soil retains water'; 'I retain this drug for a long time'; 'the dam retains the water'.
Typist: Psyche--From WordNet
Definition
(v. t.) To continue to hold; to keep in possession; not to lose, part with, or dismiss; to retrain from departure, escape, or the like.
(v. t.) To keep in pay; to employ by a preliminary fee paid; to hire; to engage; as, to retain a counselor.
(v. t.) To restrain; to prevent.
(v. i.) To belong; to pertain.
(v. i.) To keep; to continue; to remain.
Checked by Edmond
Synonyms and Synonymous
v. a. [1]. Hold, keep, reserve, detain, hug, keep back, keep in hand.[2]. Engage (by fee paid), hire.
Typed by Julie
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Keep, hold, restrain
ANT:Abandon, forfeit, surrender
Inputed by Estella
Definition
v.t. to keep in possession: to detain: to employ by a fee paid: to restrain: to keep up as to retain a custom: to keep in mind.—adj. Retain′able that may be retained.—ns. Retain′er one who is retained or kept in service: a dependant but higher than a servant: a sutler: a retaining fee; Retain′ership; Retain′ment.—Retaining fee the advance fee paid to a lawyer to defend a cause; Retaining wall a wall to prevent a bank from slipping down.—General retainer a fee to secure a priority of claim on a counsel's services; Special retainer a fee for a particular case.
Typed by Levi
Examples
- Her lover was no longer to her an exciting man whom many women strove for, and herself could only retain by striving with them. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- My good friend, said the King, you have now been five and forty years in the service of my mother and myself; we have allowed you to retain your religion in the midst of fire and slaughter. Rupert S. Holland. Historic Inventions.
- Most cutters remove as little of the rough stone as possible in cutting so as to retain weight (they sell by weight). Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- The last crevice had closed, and for a long year that hideous chamber would retain its secret from the eyes of men. Edgar Rice Burroughs. The Gods of Mars.
- What I did mean to say, was, that I never expected to retain my favoured place in this family, after Fortune shed her beams upon it. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- Silk, lace, and wool when bleached with chlorine become hard and brittle, but when whitened with sulphurous acid, they retain their natural characteristics. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- Nor did it retain any hold upon the minds of his disciples in a later generation; it was probably unintelligible to them. Plato. The Republic.
- He has, however, retained some degree of self-respect, he continued, disregarding my remonstrance. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
- Richard sagaciously saw, as Jussieu observes, that this genus should still be retained among the Malpighiaceae. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- After all, Watson, said Holmes, reaching up his hand for his clay pipe, I am not retained by the police to supply their deficiencies. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
- The sick man drew a hand of his old fellow-prisoner towards him, and pressing it affectionately between both his own, retained it in his grasp. Charles Dickens. The Pickwick Papers.
- Blake and Fromentin were able to reproduce in picture s scenes long retained in memory. Walter Libby. An Introduction to the History of Science.
- How Heat is Distributed, Retained, and Moistened. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- Smooth-bore cannon and mortars of cast-iron and bronze are still retained in some fortresses, though rifled cannon are the only type now made. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- Set going under adequate conditions they are magnets for gathering and retaining an indefinitely wide scope of intellectual considerations. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- It lies near the pliable elasticity by which some persons take on the color of their surroundings while retaining their own bent. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- I shan't be one long,' he replied, looking up with a face retaining no human expression but rage and terror. Charles Dickens. Oliver Twist.
- Certainly, certainly, said Marks, with a conciliatory tone; it's only a retaining fee, you see,--he! Harriet Beecher Stowe. Uncle Tom's Cabin.
- He showed and claimed for the first time the knotting bill, which loops and forms the knot, and the turning cord holder for retaining the end of the cord. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- He is clean-shaven, pale, and ascetic-looking, retaining something of the professor in his features. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes.
- His failure was but proof that he needed more discipline, and thus afforded a reason for retaining the old methods. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- He says: In one sense it knows more than we know ourselves, for it retains the memory of many things which we forget, even though we have said them. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- Let us assume that she retains her power. Plato. The Republic.
- From time immemorial the manufacture of iron and steel has been followed in Germany, and that country yet retains pre-eminence in this art both as to mechanical and chemical processes. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- The ovens are highly insulated with a thick packing of best grade mineral wool, which reduces air leakage to a minimum and retains the heat generated for a long period. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- In the third division he is shown still higher in the air; and in the fourth he is mounted above the shoulders of pantaloon, who retains the same posture as at first. Frederick C. Bakewell. Great Facts.
- It ought to be so; it must be so, while he retains the use of his reason. Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice.
- The portion of a hat protected by the band retains its fresh appearance because the light has not had access to it. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
Editor: Lois