Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- transitive verb To keep from proceeding; delay or retard.
- transitive verb To keep in custody or confinement.
- transitive verb Archaic To retain or withhold (payment or property, for example).
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun Detention.
- To keep back or away; withhold; specifically, to keep or retain unjustly.
- To keep or restrain from proceeding; stay or stop: as, we were detained by the rain.
- In law, to hold in custody.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun obsolete Detention.
- transitive verb To keep back or from; to withhold.
- transitive verb To restrain from proceeding; to stay or stop; to delay.
- transitive verb To hold or keep in custody.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb Keep (someone) from proceeding by holding them back or making claims on their attention.
- verb transitive To put under
custody .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb deprive of freedom; take into confinement
- verb stop or halt
- verb cause to be slowed down or delayed
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word detain.
Examples
-
Over the past eight years, we have seen the government over and over again detain men as “terrorists,” only to discover later that the evidence was weak, wrong or nonexistent.
Think Progress » Santorum excuses Graham’s anti-Muslim comments, calls them ‘reasonable.’ 2010
-
Even if the initial decision to detain is legally valid, for how long should detention last?
The Volokh Conspiracy » Melded Approaches to Terrorism Detention and Trials 2010
-
Please note that the position of the Bush-Cheney cabal has been that anybody they detain is * not* a POW, but a, well, ... ah, ‘terrorist’, in a ..... well, not a war, except as they say itis.
The Volokh Conspiracy » Lawyers, Treason, and Deception: A Response to Andrew McCarthy 2010
-
Over the past eight years, we have seen the government over and over again detain men as “terrorists,” only to discover later that the evidence was weak, wrong or nonexistent.
Think Progress » Santorum excuses Graham’s anti-Muslim comments, calls them ‘reasonable.’ 2010
-
And yet Judge Luttig brushes this language aside, seizing upon a different sentence in the Endo opinion: The fact that the Act and the [executive] orders are silent on detention does not of course mean that any power to detain is lacking.
-
The Bush Administration has loudly proclaimed that giving it unchecked authority to arrest and detain is the surest way to victory in the War on Terror.
Balkinization 2004
-
The Bush Administration has loudly proclaimed that giving it unchecked authority to arrest and detain is the surest way to victory in the War on Terror.
Balkinization 2004
-
The fact that the Act and the orders are silent on detention does not of course mean that any power to detain is lacking.
IsThatLegal? 2004
-
The Bush Administration has loudly proclaimed that giving it unchecked authority to arrest and detain is the surest way to victory in the War on Terror.
Balkinization 2004
-
The Bush Administration has loudly proclaimed that giving it unchecked authority to arrest and detain is the surest way to victory in the War on Terror.
Balkinization 2004
Comments
Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.