Link Centre Dictionary

detain

de·tain

UK/dɪˈteɪn/ US/dɪˈteɪn/ fairly common

verb

1.

deprive of freedom; take into confinement

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Antonyms
2.

stop or halt

  • “Please stay the bloodshed!”
Synonyms
3.

cause to be slowed down or delayed

  • “Traffic was delayed by the bad weather”
  • “she delayed the work that she didn”
Synonyms
Antonyms

Origin

From Old French detenir. Doublet of détente. Cognate with Italian detenere, Portuguese deter, Romanian deține, and Spanish detener.

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.