Detain is an English word with synonyms like delay or retard. Below you'll find 10+ example sentences showing how it's used in practice.
Detain in a sentence
Related words
Detain meaning
- To keep something from proceeding or coming to completion; to delay.
- To keep someone from proceeding by holding them back or making claims on their attention.
- To keep back or from; to withhold.
Synonyms of Detain
Using Detain
- The main meaning on this page is: To keep something from proceeding or coming to completion; to delay. | To keep someone from proceeding by holding them back or making claims on their attention. | To keep back or from; to withhold.
- Useful related words include: delay, retard, slow up, slow down.
- In the example corpus, detain often appears in combinations such as: to detain, and detain, detain the.
Context around Detain
- Average sentence length in these examples: 25 words
- Position in the sentence: 5 start, 9 middle, 6 end
- Sentence types: 20 statements, 0 questions, 0 exclamations
Corpus analysis for Detain
- In this selection, "detain" usually appears in the middle of the sentence. The average example has 25 words, and this corpus slice is mostly made up of statements.
- Around the word, protesters, police, interrogate, man, people and malik stand out and add context to how "detain" is used.
- Recognizable usage signals include airport protesters detain a man and did not detain malik. That gives this page its own corpus information beyond isolated example sentences.
- By corpus frequency, "detain" sits close to words such as accumulating, augment and bala, which helps place it inside the broader word index.
Example types with detain
The same corpus examples are grouped by length and sentence type, making it easier to see the contexts in which the word appears:
Police maintained they did not detain Malik. (7 words)
The officers see people running and detain a few. (9 words)
Israel has 26 facilities it uses to interrogate, detain and incarcerate Palestinians. (12 words)
Home Office is considering fitting more GPS tags on migrants who come to the UK via illegal routes as it is running out of space to detain people – under plans branded as “just another gimmick” by the Labour party. (39 words)
Killsmany in the past decade has lived in Alaska, Arizona and most currently in Datil, N.M. A federal motion to temporarily detain him states he also has ties to the states of Michigan, Missouri, West Virginia and Maine. (39 words)
For example, the a statute that authorized the minister of the interior to detain without trial “infiltrators”—that is, asylum-seekers who have entered the country illegally—for long periods of time (up to three years). (36 words)
Example sentences (20)
Hong Kong protesters detain man claimed to be undercover police In Hong Kong's paralyzed international airport, protesters detain a man they say is working undercover for police.
For example, the a statute that authorized the minister of the interior to detain without trial “infiltrators”—that is, asylum-seekers who have entered the country illegally—for long periods of time (up to three years).
Home Office is considering fitting more GPS tags on migrants who come to the UK via illegal routes as it is running out of space to detain people – under plans branded as “just another gimmick” by the Labour party.
Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick has distanced himself from figures that show the government’s plan to detain and deport people who arrive in the UK on small boats could cost up to £6 billion.
Israel has 26 facilities it uses to interrogate, detain and incarcerate Palestinians.
It came to a stop and as the officers tried to detain the three occupants, Const Woods was hit by the vehicle and dragged underneath.
Killsmany in the past decade has lived in Alaska, Arizona and most currently in Datil, N.M. A federal motion to temporarily detain him states he also has ties to the states of Michigan, Missouri, West Virginia and Maine.
Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden says he has no control over unauthorized immigrants who get released from his jail – even if immigration officials have asked him to detain them.
Police detain a person while attempting to remove a group of teens and young adults from Chicago's Millennium Park after several fights occurred on April 17, 2019.
Police did detain another resident of the home and are calling him a suspect in the shooting.
Police maintained they did not detain Malik.
Police used 'stop and search' powers to detain the male and search for the blade.
Riot police detain dozens of fans outside the Melina Merkouri indoor stadium, in western Athens, early Friday, Dec. 8, 2023.
Security personnel detain an AAP supporter during a protest against the arrest of Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia by CBI in the excise policy case, in New Delhi, Monday, Feb. 27, 2023.
Superintendent David Pickett, of Northumbria Police, said: “Every single day, our teams are deployed to locate and detain wanted suspects, many of whom are actively evading arrest and trying to remain off the radar of police.
The ATD term refers to “Alternatives to Detention” and it was being used by Mayorkas to dodge the federal law that requires him to detain asylum-seeking migrants until their requests are decided.
The Crown obtained an order to detain the accused persons’ items on Monday.
The deputy grabs the woman and eventually forcibly throws her to the ground, then struggles to handcuff her, ultimately using pepper spray in an effort to detain her.
The group has increased the number of security guards and is also training staff to stop and detain shoplifters.
The officers see people running and detain a few.
Common combinations with detain
These word pairs occur most frequently in English texts:
- to detain 102×
- and detain 22×
- detain the 20×
- detain people 14×
- detain him 14×
- police detain 13×
- detain and 12×
- or detain 6×
- detain any 6×
- detain man 5×