contain
Syllables: con·tain/kənˈteɪn/
contain verb: to hold inside.
Verb
contain (third-person singular simple present contains, present participle containing, simple past and past participle contained)
- To hold inside.
- The brown box contains three stacks of books.
- a spray bottle containing water.
- To include as a part.
- Most of the meals they offer contain meat.
- Manganism has been known about since the 19th century, when miners exposed to ores containing manganese, a silvery metal, began to totter, slur their speech and behave like someone inebriated.2014 April 21, “Subtle effects”, in The Economist, volume 411, number 8884
- Synonyms:
- comprise, embody, incorporate, inhold
- To put constraints upon; to restrain; to confine; to keep within bounds.
- I'm so excited, I can hardly contain myself!
- Fear not, my lord: we can contain ourselves.c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
- Synonyms:
- control
- To have as an element or subset.
- A group contains a unique inverse for each of its elements.
- If that subgraph contains the vertex in question then it must be spanning.
- To restrain desire; to live in continence or chastity.
- But if they cannot contain, let them marry.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Bible Corinthians/#8 1 Corinthians:8–9
contain meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Malayalam
contain in Tamil
- அடக்கியிரு, உள் நிறுத்து, உள்கொண்டிரு, உள்ளடக்கு, கட்டுப்படுத்து, கொள்
contain in Urdu
- آڑے آنا, گھیرے میں رکھنا, روکنا
contain in Bengali
- ধারণ করা, ধরা, আঁটা, দমন করা
contain in Malayalam
- ഉൾക്കൊള്ളുക, തടയുക, നിജപ്പെടുത്തുക
More languagesFewer languages
- contain in Kannada
- ಒಳಗೊಳ್ಳು oḷagoḷḷu
- contain in Arabic
- اِحْتَوَى iḥtawā, تَضَمَّنَ taḍammana
- contain in Indonesian
- kandung, mengandung
- contain in Persian
- دربرداشتن darbardāštan
Examples of contain in a sentence
- Closer examination showed that some of these pits did, indeed, contain bacteria,[…].2013 July 20, “Welcome to the plastisphere”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:
- [The king's] only Person is oftentimes instead of an Army, to contain the unruly People from a thousand evil Occasions.1596 (date written; published 1633), Edmund Spenser, A Vewe of the Present State of Irelande […], Dublin: […] Societie of Stationers, […]...
- No omnibus, cab, or conveyance ever built could contain a young man in such a rage.1892, Walter Besant, “Prologue: Who is Edmund Gray?”, in The Ivory Gate […], New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC, page 16:
- There she goes / There she goes again / Racing through my brain / And I just can't contain / This feeling that remains1988, Lee Mavers, “There She Goes”, in Sixpence None the Richer, performed by Sixpence None the Richer, published 1997:
Synonyms of contain
1 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Antonyms
Forms of contain
| third-person singular present | contains |
|---|---|
| present participle | containing |
| past participle | contained |
| past | contained |
Origin of contain
From Middle English conteinen, borrowed from Old French contenir, from Latin continēre (“to hold or keep together, comprise, contain”), combined form of con- (“together”) + teneō (“to hold”).
Words formed from contain
Words that rhyme with contain
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- drain
- pane
- gain
- main
- sustain
- vein
- entertain
- skein
- Wayne
- abstain
- bane
- campaign
- champagne
- crane
- entrain
- fain
- insane
- maine
- pain
- plane
- stain
- wane
- Aquitaine
- ascertain
- chicane
- detain
- explain
- maintain
- mundane
- obtain
- refrain
- remain
- vane
- amain
- arcane
- Blaine
- complain
- deign
- detrain
- distrain
- kane
- ordain
- pertain
- profane
- public domain
- reign
- swain
- terrain
Questions about contain
- What does contain mean?
- Contain means to hold inside.
- What is contain in Tamil?
- Contain in Tamil is அடக்கியிரு, உள் நிறுத்து, உள்கொண்டிரு. See Contain meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use contain in a sentence?
- Closer examination showed that some of these pits did, indeed, contain bacteria,[…].
- What part of speech is contain?
- Contain is a verb.
- How do you pronounce contain?
- Contain is pronounced /kənˈteɪn/.
- What is the past tense of contain?
- The past tense of contain is contained.
Words near contain in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: contain (page history and authors); contain (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); contain (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); contain (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); contain (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ಒಳಗೊಳ್ಳು (Kannada) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-ca-contain.ogg.
Cite this entry: “contain.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/contain. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.