retained

Verb

retain (third-person singular simple present retains, present participle retaining, simple past and past participle retained)

1. (transitive) Often followed by from: to hold back (someone or something); to check, to prevent, to restrain, to stop.
   • Upon vvhich Prince Henry enraged, took up the Cheſs-board, and ſtruck the Dauphin vvith ſuch Fury on the Head, that he laid him bleeding on the Ground, and had killed him if his Brother Robert had not retained him, and made him ſenſible hovv much more it concerned him to make his Eſcape than purſue...1695, William Temple, An Introduction to the History of England, London: […] Richard Simpson […], and Ralph Simpson […], →OCLC, pages 286–287
   1. (transitive) To hold back (a pupil) instead of allowing them to advance to the next class or year; to keep back.
2. (transitive) Of a thing: to hold or keep (something) inside it; to contain.
   • water retained by a dam
   1. (transitive) To hold back (tissue or a substance, especially urine) in the body or a body organ.
3. (transitive) To hold (something) secure; to prevent (something) from becoming detached or separated.
4. (transitive) To keep (something) in control or possession; to continue having (something); to keep back.
   • Robert of Artoys baniſht though thou be, / From Fraunce thy natiue Country, yet with vs, / Thou ſhalt retayne as great a Seigniorie: / For vve create thee Earle of Richmond heere, […]1596, [attributed to William Shakespeare; Thomas Kyd], The Raigne of King Edward the Third: […], London: […] [T. Scarlet] for Cuthbert Burby, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], signature A3, recto

See all 22 meanings of retain