Hypertext Webster Gateway: "detain"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Detain \De*tain"\ (d[-e]*t[=a]n"), v. t. [imp. & p. p.
{Detained}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Detaining}.] [F. d['e]tenir, 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.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Detain \De*tain"\, n.
Detention. [Obs.] --Spenser.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
detain
v 1: deprive of freedom; take into confinement [syn: {confine}]
[ant: {free}]
2: stop or halt; "Please stay the bloodshed!" [syn: {stay}, {delay}]
3: cause to be slowed down or delayed; "Traffic was delayed by
the bad weather" [syn: {delay}, {hold up}] [ant: {rush}]
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