retention

Meanings

1. 1noununcountablebusiness

   The act of keeping something or someone instead of losing them, such as staff, customers, or heat.

   Grammar: Usually has no plural: employee retention is a goal, not 'a retention'.

   Patterns

   • retention of something
   • retention rate
   • the retention of staff

   The company's biggest challenge this year is staff retention.

   Better pay led to a sharp rise in customer retention.

   The retention of old records costs the office a lot of storage space.

2. 2noununcountable

   The ability to hold information in the mind and recall it later, or the holding of a substance such as water inside a body or material.

   Grammar: Often followed by of: the retention of facts, the retention of water.

   Patterns

   • retention of something
   • memory retention

   Short, frequent study sessions improve retention of new vocabulary.

   Clay soil has high water retention, so puddles linger after rain.

   Some medicines cause fluid retention in the legs.

Word forms

Common combinations

employee retention

Flexible hours helped employee retention in the small firm.

customer retention

Cheap offers rarely build long-term customer retention.

retention rate

The course has a retention rate of ninety percent.

memory retention

Sleep plays a large part in memory retention.

water retention

Salty food can cause water retention.

Synonyms and how they differ

keeping

Keeping is a plain everyday word, while retention sounds more formal and is typical of reports and policies.

memory

Memory names the ability to remember, whereas retention stresses how well information stays in the mind over time.

preservation

Preservation suggests protecting something from damage or decay, not just continuing to hold it.

Opposites

Word family

retain verb

to keep or continue to have something

retentive adjective

able to hold or remember well, as in a retentive memory

retainer noun

a fee paid in advance to secure someone's services

Commonly confused: retention or detention?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “retention”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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