How to use retain in a sentence
40 example sentences · verb, noun
Retain means often followed by from: to hold back (someone or something); to check, to prevent, to restrain, to stop. Example: “Mulch your vegetable garden to retain moisture and keep weeds down.”
Examples of retain by meaning
verbOf a thing: to hold or keep (something) inside it; to contain.
- water retained by a dam
verbTo keep (something) in the mind; to recall, to remember.
- He grew desperate as he felt this image fading from his memory in spite of all efforts to retain it.1958, Gustave Flaubert, chapter 11, in Eleanor Marx-Aveling, transl., Madame Bovary, collector’s edition, New York, N.Y.: Pocket Books...
verbTo keep (something) in place or use, instead of removing or abolishing it; to preserve.
- However, in 1844, saner counsels prevailed, and Edgeley became the principal station—the directors eating their words once more by retaining the older station, which was renamed Heaton Norris.1957 September, M. D. Greville and G. O. Holt, “Railway Development in Manchester—1”, in Railway Magazine, page 618
- The electric locomotives, which have been a familiar sight for so many years, are to be withdrawn from passenger service, but a few will be retained for miscellaneous non-passenger duties.1961 October, “Talking of Trains: Metropolitan Service Revised”, in Trains Illustrated, London: Ian Allan Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 584
More sentences with retain
- Mulch your vegetable garden to retain moisture and keep weeds down.From the entry mulch
- A car racing in a circle may retain the same speed while continually changing its velocity.From the entry velocity
- No customer personal data will be retained unless it is rendered anonymous.From the entry anonymous
- Edna and Simon divorced last year; he got the house, and she retained the business.From the entry divorce
- Australia retained the most recent Ashes series drawing against England 2-2.From the entry the Ashes
- Despite being a constitutional monarchy, the British sovereign still retain many royal prerogatives.From the entry prerogative
- Unpolished grains that retained their outer coating were a major linchpin of his diet of whole foods.From the entry whole food
- In the past, trainmasters were promoted brakemen or conductors who retained their union seniority.From the entry trainmaster
- Unlike general lossless data compression algorithms, succinct data structures retain the ability to use them in-place, without decompressing them first.From the entry succinct
- Various European countries transferred the aviation control of their adjoining airspace to Eurocontrol, while each retaining legal jurisdiction.From the entry airspace
- The building code requires deadmen for retaining walls.From the entry deadman
- We have to retain the majority at all costs.From the entry at all costs
- Nowadays, only the nothern dialect retains inverse number.From the entry inverse number
- E.g., orthonasal is the first direction from which olfaction happens; orthosteric is the original and unmodulated binding site; orthotone is when a speaker retains the accent.From the entry ortho-
- Despite my mother speaking Khmer to us at home, I hadn’t retained it through my formative years.2024, Kaliane Bradley, The Ministry of Time, Sceptre, page 6. From the entry Khmer
- I just hope I retain most of my awareness," one player said.2023 May 31, Eva Martinello, “This 57-year-old streamer is way better at Apex Legends than you”, in Dot Esports, archived from the…. From the entry game sense
- "We'll replace components on a like-for-like basis so that it retains its magnificent appearance," Hodgson promises.2020 August 12, Andrew Mourant, “The tide is turning for a Victorian wonder”, in Rail, page 53. From the entry like-for-like
- The original jumpers were made with coarse sheep's wool that retained the natural oils.2020, Colin Murphy, A Feckin' Tour of Ireland: 50 Must Do Things, The O'Brien Press Ltd, →ISBN. From the entry Aran jumper
- Discard the unmeated portion and retain the two remaining portions of the wing.2020, Tim Pinsonneault, A Cookbook for Masons. From the entry unmeated
- Some compound words retain elements of the meanings of the two words.2018, Dale D. Johnson, Words: The Foundation of Literacyhttps://books.google.com/books?id=Jx9WDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT40&dq=%22compound+words%22. From the entry compound word
- Even octopuses without stylets almost certainly retain the molecular machinery necessary to build them.2017, Danna Staaf, Squid Empire, ForeEdge, →ISBN, page 120. From the entry octopus
- He adjusted to domesticated life remarkably well, retaining his regal feral “cattitude.”2014, Kathleen M. Downey, Legendary Locals of Newburyport, Legendary Locals, →ISBN, page 18. From the entry cattitude
- Soft paywalls retain more users than hard paywalls - by a big margin.2014, The Guardian. From the entry soft paywall
- She’d worked out exactly how much ice cream she had to eat to retain her original plumpitude.2013, Lucy Ellmann, “Daylight Saving Time”, in Mimi: A Novel, Bloomsbury, →ISBN, page 133. From the entry plumpitude
- UNDP has also retained a coordination role, by dint of history and because of its broad mandate.2012, Stephen Browne, “The Future of the UN Development System”, in United Nations Development Programme and System, Abingdon…. From the entry by dint of
- The medal screwpost is placed through the uniform and retained by a circular screwback plate.2012, Henry Sakaida, Heroines of the Soviet Union 1941-45, →ISBN, page 59. From the entry screwback
- And they retained an accounting firm to produce audited financial statements.2011, Thomas M. Bloch, Many Happy Returns: The Story of Henry Bloch, America's Tax Man, Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., →ISBN…. From the entry take
- The FUSION system retains the valving design used on the factory Z06 mufflers.2011 July 5, Cam Benty, Chevy LS Engine Buildups: Covers LS1 through LS9 Models, Penguin, →ISBN. From the entry catback
- There are major disagreements within the Coalition and politicians always want to retain room for manoeuvre.2010 September 12, Roger Bootle, The Telegraph. From the entry room
- Our strategy is to retain and explain, rather than to reject and replace.2010, J. I. Packer, Gary A. Parrett, Grounded in the Gospel: Building Believers the Old-Fashioned Way, page 31. From the entry retain and explain
- All parties had retained attorneys; the community and press were having a field day.2009, Julie Jurgens-Shimek, Autism Is a Four Letter Word: Love, AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 32. From the entry field day
- These sterigmata are retained and make the twigs rough for several years after leaf fall.2009, J.E. Eckenwalder, Conifers of the World: The Complete Reference, Timber Press, →ISBN. From the entry sterigma
- North Point is the only one of Hong Kong Island's geographical 'points' to have retained its name.2009 December 13, Jason Wordie, “Out and about”, in South China Morning Post, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 28 Dec 2023…. From the entry West Point
- For Communion, he retained the somewhat arbitrary and excerptive pre-Reformation pattern of unconnected Epistle and Gospel readings.2009, Colin Buchanan, The A to Z of Anglicanism. From the entry excerptive
- They have an appealing firmness that is retained during light cooking.2009 April 10, Yotam Ottolenghi, “The new vegetarian: marinated mushrooms with walnut and tahini yogurt”, in The Guardian, →ISSN. From the entry shimeji
- I believe I still retain some of my hearing accent when I use American Sign Language.2008, Jeremy Linn Brunson, The Practice and Organization of Sign Language, page 76. From the entry accent
Meaning of retain
- verb Often followed by from: to hold back (someone or something); to check, to prevent, to restrain, to stop.
- verb To hold back (a pupil) instead of allowing them to advance to the next class or year; to keep back.
- verb Of a thing: to hold or keep (something) inside it; to contain.
Questions about retain in a sentence
- How do you use retain in a sentence?
- Retain is used as a verb and noun. For example: “Mulch your vegetable garden to retain moisture and keep weeds down.”
- What is a short sentence with retain?
- “water retained by a dam”
- What does retain mean?
- Retain means often followed by from: to hold back (someone or something); to check, to prevent, to restrain, to stop.
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: retain (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this page: “How to use retain in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/retain. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
