DETAINING

Verb

detaining

present participle of detain

Noun

detaining (plural detainings)

The act by which someone is detained; detention.

Source: Wiktionary


DETAIN

De*tain", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Detained; p. pr. & vb. n. Detaining.] Etym: [F. détenir, L. detinere, detentum; de + tenere to hold. See Tenable.]

1. To keep back or from; to withhold. Detain not the wages of the hireling. Jer. Taylor.

2. To restrain from proceeding; to stay or stop; to delay; as, we were detained by an accident. Let us detain thee, until we shall have made ready a kid for thee. Judges xiii. 15.

3. To hold or keep in custody.

Syn.

– To withhold; retain; stop; stay; arrest; check; retard; delay; hinder.

De*tain", n.

Definition: Detention. [Obs.] Spenser.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

14 June 2025

FELLOW

(noun) a member of a learned society; “he was elected a fellow of the American Physiological Association”


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