Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Retention
1.
The act of retaining, or the state of being ratined.
2.
The power of retaining; retentiveness.
No woman’s heart
So big, to hold so much; they lack
So big, to hold so much; they lack
retention
. Shakespeare
3.
That which contains something, as a tablet; a [GREEK][GREEK][GREEK][GREEK] of preserving impressions.
[R.]
Shak.
4.
The act of withholding; retraint; reserve.
Shak.
5.
Place of custody or confinement.
6.
(Law)
The right of withholding a debt, or of retaining property until a debt due to the person claiming the right be duly paid; a lien.
Erskine. Craig.
Retention cyst
(Med.)
, a cyst produced by obstruction of a duct leading from a secreting organ and the consequent retention of the natural secretions.
Webster 1828 Edition
Retention
RETEN'TION
,Noun.
1.
The act of retaining or keeping.2.
The power of retaining; the faculty of the mind by which it retains ideas.3.
In medicine, the power of retaining, or that state of contraction in the solid or vascular parts of the body, by which they hold their proper contents and prevent in voluntary evacuations; undue retention of some natural discharge.4.
The act of withholding; restraint.5.
Custody; confinement. [Not in use.]