Word.ws English Dictionary

detentions

detentions is the plural of detention.

Meaning of detention

Noun

detention (countable and uncountable, plural detentions)

  1. (uncountable) The act of detaining or the state of being detained; hindrance.
    • Detain not the wages of the hireling: for every degree of detention of it beyond the time is injuſtice, and uncharitableneſs, and grindes his face til tears and blood come out: […]1651, Jer[emy] Taylor, “Of Christian Justice”, in The Rule and Exercises of Holy Living. […], 2nd edition, London: […] Francis Ashe […], →OCLC, section III (Of Negotiation, or Civil Contracts), page...
  2. Confinement of a prisoner awaiting trial.
    Synonyms:
    DT, jug
  3. A punishment given to a student for a minor infraction, typically requiring the student to report to a designated room during recess or outside of school hours to work on homework or perform busywork.
    • be stuck in detention
    Synonyms:
    DT, jug
  4. (civil law) The bare physical control without the mental element of intention required for possession.

See all 5 meanings of detention

Questions about detentions

What is detentions the plural of?
Detentions is the plural of detention.

Words near detentions in the dictionary

  1. detention ponds
  2. detention time
  3. detention times
  4. detention warrant
  5. detention warrants
  6. detentions
  7. detentive
  8. detents
  9. deter
  10. Deterding
  11. Deterdings

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: detentions (page history and authors); detention (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.

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Cite this entry: “detentions.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/detentions. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.