RETAIN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does retain mean? 

• RETAIN (verb)
  The verb RETAIN has 4 senses:

1. hold back within

2. allow to remain in a place or position or maintain a property or feature

3. secure and keep for possible future use or application

4. keep in one's mind

  Familiarity information: RETAIN used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• RETAIN (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they retain    ... he / she / it retains   
Past simple: retained   
Past participle: retained   
-ing form: retaining   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Hold back within

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Context example:

the dam retains the water

Hypernyms (to "retain" is one way to...):

bear; carry; contain; hold (contain or hold; have within)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

retentive (good at remembering)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Allow to remain in a place or position or maintain a property or feature

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

continue; keep; keep on; retain

Context example:

this garment retains its shape even after many washings

Hypernyms (to "retain" is one way to...):

keep up; prolong; sustain (lengthen or extend in duration or space)

Verb group:

continue; persist in (do something repeatedly and showing no intention to stop)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Sense 3

Meaning:

Secure and keep for possible future use or application

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Synonyms:

hold; hold back; keep back; retain

Context example:

I reserve the right to disagree

Hypernyms (to "retain" is one way to...):

hold on; keep (retain possession of)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "retain"):

hold down (keep)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

retention (the act of retaining something)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Keep in one's mind

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Context example:

I cannot retain so much information

Hypernyms (to "retain" is one way to...):

remember; think of (keep in mind for attention or consideration)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sentence example:

They won't retain the story

Derivation:

retention (the power of retaining and recalling past experience)

retentive (good at remembering)

 Context examples 

This agent lacks the salt-retaining properties of other related adrenal hormones.

(Dexamethasone, NCI Thesaurus)

For them he has no use: I retain them.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

“If adults retain this ability, it would help them with migration between feeding and spawning areas.”

(North Atlantic haddock use magnetic compass to guide them, National Science Foundation)

Of the stores which remained below he was ordered to retain as much as would keep him for two months.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The exploration of glucocorticoid responses may allow the identification of compounds that retain the cardioprotective activities but do not inhibit wound healing.

(Corticosteroid Cardioprotection Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

For life as we know it to exist, a planet must have liquid surface water and retain an atmosphere.

(Super-Earth in Habitable Zone, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

The power of retaining and recalling past experience, something that is remembered.

(Memory, NCI Thesaurus)

Tests showed that, more than a decade after infection, the survivor retained antibodies against Ebola.

(Experimental Ebola antibody protects monkeys, NIH)

Elvitegravir is an inhibitor of viral integrase and retains activity against integrase mutants that are resistant to Raltegravir.

(Elvitegravir, NCI Thesaurus)

These genes retain a similar sequence and function.

(Homologous Gene, NCI Thesaurus)