Nominal Forms
Infinitive: to detain
Participle: detained
Gerund: detaining
Cognates
-
Indicative
Present
| I | detain |
| you | detain |
| he;she;it | detains |
| we | detain |
| you | detain |
| they | detain |
Perfect
| I | have detained |
| you | have detained |
| he;she;it | has detained |
| we | have detained |
| you | have detained |
| they | have detained |
Past
| I | detained |
| you | detained |
| he;she;it | detained |
| we | detained |
| you | detained |
| they | detained |
Pluperfect
| I | had detained |
| you | had detained |
| he;she;it | had detained |
| we | had detained |
| you | had detained |
| they | had detained |
Future
| I | will detain |
| you | will detain |
| he;she;it | will detain |
| we | will detain |
| you | will detain |
| they | will detain |
Future Perfect
| I | will have detained |
| you | will have detained |
| he;she;it | will have detained |
| we | will have detained |
| you | will have detained |
| they | will have detained |
Subjunctive
Present
| I | detain |
| you | detain |
| he;she;it | detain |
| we | detain |
| you | detain |
| they | detain |
Perfect
| I | have detained |
| you | have detained |
| he;she;it | have detained |
| we | have detained |
| you | have detained |
| they | have detained |
Imperfect
| I | detained |
| you | detained |
| he;she;it | detained |
| we | detained |
| you | detained |
| they | detained |
Pluperfect
| I | had detained |
| you | had detained |
| he;she;it | had detained |
| we | had detained |
| you | had detained |
| they | had detained |
Conditional
Present
| I | would detain |
| you | would detain |
| he;she;it | would detain |
| we | would detain |
| you | would detain |
| they | would detain |
Perfect
| I | would have detained |
| you | would have detained |
| he;she;it | would have detained |
| we | would have detained |
| you | would have detained |
| they | would have detained |
Imperative
| you | detain |
| we | Let's detain |
| you | detain |
Verbs conjugated like 'detain'
abandon,
abduct,
abear,
aberr,
abject,
abord,
abort,
abound,
abraid,
abray,
abrook,
abscind,
abscond,
absist,
absorb,
abstain,
abstract,
accend,
accent,
accept, etc. (List truncated at 20 verbs)
Verbs similar to 'detain'
derain,
destain,
detail,
detin,
detrain,
detwin,
retain,
attain,
berain,
bestain,
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms
- delay
- arrest, inhibit, check, keep, retard, slow, stay
- confine
- constrain, arrest, intern, restrain
- retain
- hold, withhold
Antonyms
- delay
- hasten, speed, expedite, dispatch
- retain
- relinquish, yield, surrender
Additional Information
Phrasal Verbs
Etymology
1. c.1440, from M.Fr.
detenir, from O.Fr.
detenir "to hold off, keep back" (12c.), from L.
detinere "hold off, keep back," from
de- "from, away" +
tenere "to hold" (see tenet).
2. From Old French detenir. Doublet of détente. Cognate with Italian detenere, Portuguese deter, Romanian deține, and Spanish detener. See: Italian '
detenere', Portuguese '
deter', Romanian '
deține', Spanish '
detener'.
Verbs referencing "detain"
Spanish
detener, Esperanto
deteni.
Sample Sentences
-
[...] floating ice were swinging heavily to and fro in the turbid waters. Owing to the peculiar form of the shore on the Kentucky side, the land bending far out into the water, the ice had been lodged and detained in great quantities, and the narrow channel which swept round the bend was full of ice, piled one cake over another, thus forming a temporary barrier to the descending ice, which lodged, and formed [...]
(Uncle Tom’s Cabin)
-
[...] feelings. The more hopelessly sordid and insensible he appeared, the greater became Mrs. Shelby's dread of his succeeding in recapturing Eliza and her child, and of course the greater her motive for detaining him by every female artifice. She therefore graciously smiled, assented, chatted familiarly, and did all she could to make time pass imperceptibly.
(Uncle Tom’s Cabin)
-
[...] shame.—For what offence can that lonely child, of ten or twelve years old, be shut up here ? Oh! that boy? He is the son of the prisoner we saw just now; is a witness against his father; and is detained here for safe keeping, until the trial; that 's all.
(American Notes for General Circulation)
-
[...] it cannot be—the last half year is almost worse than all; for then he thinks the prison will take fire and he be burnt in the ruins, or that he is doomed to die within the walls, or that he will be detained on some false charge and sentenced for another term: or that something, no matter what, must happen to prevent his going at large. And this is natural, and impossible to be reasoned against, [...]
(American Notes for General Circulation)
-
‘Detained at the jail, a mulatto, named Tom. Has a scar on the right cheek, and appears to have been burned with powder on the face. ’
(American Notes for General Circulation)
-
The letter of Miss Ophelia to Mrs. Shelby had, by some unfortunate accident, been detained, for a month or two, at some remote post-office, before it reached its destination; and, of course, before it was received, Tom was already lost to view among the distant swamps of the Red River.
(Uncle Tom’s Cabin)