Adjacent Words

Detention definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

DETENTION, n. [See Detain.]
1. The act of detaining; a withholding from another his right; a keeping what belongs to another, and ought to be restored.
2. Confinement; restraint; as detention in custody.
3. Delay from necessity; a detaining; as the detention of the mail by bad roads.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a state of being confined (usually for a short time); "his detention was politically motivated"; "the prisoner is on hold"; "he is in the custody of police" [syn: detention, detainment, hold, custody]
2: a punishment in which a student must stay at school after others have gone home; "the detention of tardy pupils"

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Middle English detencion, from Anglo-French or Latin; Anglo-French, from Latin detention-, detentio, from detin?re to detain Date: 15th century 1. the act or fact of detaining or holding back; especially a holding in custody 2. the state of being detained; especially a period of temporary custody prior to disposition by a court

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 detaining or being detained. 2 a being kept in school after hours as a punishment. b an instance of this. 3 custody; confinement. Phrases and idioms: detention centre Brit. an institution for the brief detention of young offenders. Etymology: F détention or LL detentio (as DETAIN)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Detention De*ten"tion, n. [L. detentio: cf. F. d['e]tention. See Detain.] 1. The act of detaining or keeping back; a withholding. 2. The state of being detained (stopped or hindered); delay from necessity. 3. Confinement; restraint; custody. The archduke Philip . . . found himself in a sort of honorable detention at Henry's court. --Hallam.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(detentions) 1. Detention is when someone is arrested or put into prison, especially for political reasons. ...the detention without trial of government critics... N-UNCOUNT: also N in pl 2. Detention is a punishment for naughty schoolchildren, who are made to stay at school after the other children have gone home. The teacher kept the boys in detention after school. N-VAR

Moby Thesaurus

afterthought, apprehension, arrest, arrestation, arrestment, bind, block, blockage, blocking, bureaucratic delay, captivity, check, clogging, close arrest, closing up, closure, confinement, constriction, cramp, custody, deceleration, delay, delayage, delayed reaction, detainment, double take, drag, dragging, durance, durance vile, duress, ease-off, ease-up, fixation, flagging, foot-dragging, halt, hampering, hang-up, hindering, hindrance, holdback, holdup, house arrest, immuration, immurement, impediment, imprisonment, incarceration, inhibition, interference, interim, internment, interruption, jailing, jam, lag, lagging, let, letdown, letup, logjam, minus acceleration, moratorium, nab, negativism, nuisance value, obstruction, obstructionism, occlusion, opposition, paperasserie, pause, pickup, pinch, red tape, red-tapeism, red-tapery, repression, reprieve, resistance, respite, restraint, restriction, retardance, retardation, retardment, setback, slack-up, slackening, slow-up, slowdown, slowing, slowing down, slowness, slowup, squeeze, stay, stay of execution, stop, stoppage, stranglehold, stricture, suppression, suspension, term of imprisonment, tie-up, time lag, wait