Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Retain
Re-tain′
(rē̍-tān′)
, Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Retained
(rē̍-tānd′)
; p. pr. & vb. n.
Retaining
.] 1.
To continue to hold; to keep in possession; not to lose, part with, or dismiss; to restrain from departure, escape, or the like.
“Thy shape invisible retain.” Shak.
Be obedient, and
Unalterably firm his love entire.
retain
Unalterably firm his love entire.
Milton.
An executor may
retain
a debt due to him from the testator. Blackstone.
2.
To keep in pay; to employ by a preliminary fee paid; to hire; to engage;
as, to
. retain
a counselorA Benedictine convent has now
retained
the most learned father of their order to write in its defense. Addison.
3.
To restrain; to prevent.
[Obs.]
Sir W. Temple.
Retaining wall
(Arch. & Engin.)
, a wall built to keep any movable backing, or a bank of sand or earth, in its place; – called also
retain wall
.
Syn. – To keep; hold; restrain. See
Keep
. Re-tain′
,Verb.
I.
1.
To belong; to pertain.
[Obs.]
A somewhat languid relish,
retaining
to bitterness. Boyle.
2.
To keep; to continue; to remain.
[Obs.]
Donne.
Webster 1828 Edition
Retain
RETA'IN
,Verb.
T.
1.
To hold or keep in possession; not to lose or part with or dismiss. The memory retains ideas which facts or arguments have suggested to the mind.They did not like to retain God in their knowledge. Rom. 1.
2.
To keep, as an associate; to keep from departure.Whom I would have retained with me. Phil. 13.
3.
To keep back; to hold.An executor may retain a debt due to him from the testator.
4.
To hold from escape. Some substances retain heat much longer than others. Metals readily receive and transmit heat, but do not long retain it. Seek cloths that retain their color.5.
To keep in pay; to hire.A Benedictine convent has now retained the most learned father of their order to write in its defense.
6.
To engage; to employ by a fee paid; as, to retain a counselor.RETA'IN
, v.i.1.
To belong to; to depend on; as coldness mixed with a somewhat languid relish retaining to bitterness.[Not in use. We now use pertain.]
2.
To keep; to continue. [Not in use.]Definition 2024
retain
retain
English
Verb
retain (third-person singular simple present retains, present participle retaining, simple past and past participle retained)
- (transitive) To keep in possession or use.
- Milton
- Be obedient, and retain / Unalterably firm his love entire.
- 1856: Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary, Part III Chapter XI, translated by Eleanor Marx-Aveling
- A strange thing was that Bovary, while continually thinking of Emma, was forgetting her. He grew desperate as he felt this image fading from his memory in spite of all efforts to retain it. Yet every night he dreamt of her; it was always the same dream. He drew near her, but when he was about to clasp her she fell into decay in his arms.
- 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 1, in The China Governess:
- The original family who had begun to build a palace to rival Nonesuch had died out before they had put up little more than the gateway, so that the actual structure which had come down to posterity retained the secret magic of a promise rather than the overpowering splendour of a great architectural achievement.
- Milton
- (transitive) To keep in one's pay or service.
- Addison
- A Benedictine convent has now retained the most learned father of their order to write in its defence.
- Addison
- (transitive) To employ by paying a retainer.
- (transitive) To hold secure.
- (obsolete) To restrain; to prevent.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Sir W. Temple to this entry?)
- (obsolete) To belong; to pertain.
- Boyle
- A somewhat languid relish, retaining to bitterness.
- Boyle
Synonyms
Related terms
Translations
to keep in possession or use
|
|
to keep in one's pay or service
|
to hold secure
|