Synonyms for detain
dɪˈteɪnde·tain

English Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:5.0 / 2 votes

1. detain

   The legal term arrest carries always the implication of a legal offense; this is true even of arresting for debt. But one may be detained by process of law when no offense is alleged against him, as in the case of a witness who is held in a house of detention till a case comes to trial. One may be restrained of his liberty without arrest, as in an insane asylum; an individual or corporation may be restrained by injunction from selling certain property. In case of an arrest, an officer may secure his prisoner by fetters, by a locked door, or other means effectually to prevent escape. Capture is commonly used of seizure by armed force; as, to capture a ship, a fort, etc. Compare HINDER; OBSTRUCT.

   Synonyms:
   apprehend, arrest, capture, catch, hold, make prisoner, restrain, secure, seize, stop, take into custody, take prisoner

   Antonyms:
   discharge, dismiss, free, liberate, release, set free

   Preposition:
   Arrested for crime, on suspicion, by the sheriff; on, upon, or by virtue of a warrant; on final process; in execution.

Complete Dictionary of Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:3.5 / 4 votes

1. detain

   Synonyms:
   stay, keep, arrest, check, withhold, delay, restrain, embargo, stop

   Antonyms:
   liberate, expedite, accelerate, dismiss, loose, disembargo

Princeton's WordNetRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. confine, detainverb

   deprive of freedom; take into confinement

   Synonyms:
   restrict, hold, bound, restrain, circumscribe, stay, throttle, hold in, hold up, confine, delay, limit, trammel, enclose

2. stay, detain, delayverb

   stop or halt

   "Please stay the bloodshed!"

   Synonyms:
   quell, delay, bide, stick, stay, last out, confine, hold up, ride out, persist, check, rest, appease, remain, stick around, abide, retard, stay on, stay put, outride, continue

3. delay, detain, hold upverb

   cause to be slowed down or delayed

   "Traffic was delayed by the bad weather"; "she delayed the work that she didn't want to perform"

   Synonyms:
   go, live, stick up, stay, last, delay, confine, hold up, hold out, hold, sustain, hold water, live on, support, check, retard, endure, stand up, withstand, defy, survive

Matched Categories

1. • Check
   • Slow

Dictionary of English SynonymesRate these synonyms:5.0 / 1 vote

1. detainverb

   Synonyms:
   restrain, stay, check, delay, retain, stop, keep back

2. detainverb

   Synonyms:
   confine, hold in custody

PPDB, the paraphrase databaseRate these paraphrases:0.0 / 0 votes

1. List of paraphrases for "detain":

   detains, arrests, arrest, detention, nabs, incarcerate, apprehend, imprison, arresting, hold, stop, detained, nab, captures, arrested

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How to use detain in a sentence?

1. Pedro Agramunt:

   The demonization of political competitors ... is not healthy for a democracy, and the power to detain suspected criminals must not be used, or appear to be used, to settle political scores, i could not help getting the impression that this (pre-trial detention) is part of a bitter campaign by the current authorities against their predecessors.

2. Homer:

   It is equally offensive to speed a guest who would like to stay and to detain one who is anxious to leave.

3. Bari Abdelatif:

   Sometimes they follow the woman home and detain her father, or they confiscate her ID and tell her to come back with her father to pick it up.

4. Samuel Alito:

   The Government must either :( 1) detain them,( 2) return them to a contiguous foreign nation, or( 3) parole them into the United States on an individualized, case-by-case basis, these options operate in a hydraulic relationship : When it is not possible for the Government to comply with the statutory mandate to detain inadmissible aliens pending further proceedings, it must resort to one or both of the other two options in order to comply with the detention requirement to the greatest extent possible.

5. Sam Shamansky:

   The county prosecutor working with the U.S. Attorney's office decided to proceed first in state court to detain my client.