Meaning & use
detain
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Meanings
verbtransitive
To keep someone somewhere so they cannot leave, especially as an official or legal act.
Grammar: Takes an object: police detained the man. Often used in the passive: he was detained for questioning.
Patterns
- detain someone
- be detained by someone
- be detained for something
- detain someone at a place
Police detained two men after the fight outside the station.
The journalist was detained at the airport for several hours.
Officers may detain you only if they have a good reason.
verbtransitiveformal
To delay someone or stop them from moving on, often by holding their attention or causing a wait.
Grammar: Takes an object; often used in the passive about people who are late: I was detained at work.
Patterns
- detain someone
- be detained by something
- detain someone for a while
I'm sorry I'm late — I was detained by a phone call.
Don't let me detain you; I know you have a train to catch.
A long queue at security detained us for nearly an hour.
Word forms
| third person singular | detains |
|---|---|
| past tense | detained |
| past participle | detained |
| -ing form | detaining |
Common combinations
- detain someone for questioning
- The suspect was detained for questioning at the local police station.
- be detained in custody
- She was detained in custody overnight before seeing a judge.
- detain someone against their will
- Holding a person against their will is itself a serious offence.
- detain a suspect
- Officers may detain a suspect while they check the facts.
- be detained at the border
- Several travelers were detained at the border for extra checks.
- detain someone briefly
- The guard detained us briefly to check our passes.
Synonyms and how they differ
- hold
- More general and less official: you can hold someone's hand, but you detain a person in custody.
- arrest
- Stronger and more formal: an arrest is the start of a criminal charge, while being detained is often shorter and may lead to no charge.
- delay
- Used for time lost to traffic or tasks, not for keeping a person in official custody.
- keep
- Very general and needs a place or phrase: keep someone in a room, not simply detain them.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: detain or retain? detain or contain?
detain vs retain
Retain means to keep something, such as a record or a right; detain means to keep a person from leaving.
detain vs contain
Contain means to hold or control something inside limits, as in contain a fire; it is not used for holding people in custody.
Practice
The police ___ him for several hours before releasing him without charge.
Choose one answer.
'Detained' fits because police kept him from leaving for a period. 'Retained' means kept or preserved (a lawyer, a record), 'contained' means kept something under control, and 'delayed' only means made him late, not held in custody.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “detain”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.