detained
- 1Simple past and past participle of detain.
Border agents detained the travelers until their documents were verified.
The suspect was detained overnight before being released without charge.
Note
One spelling does two jobs: the plain past (agents detained the travelers) and the participle that follows had or was. It carries every meaning of detain, and context sorts them out. Someone detained by a long meeting was merely held up, while someone detained by the police was taken into custody. Goods can be detained too, when they are seized for official purposes, and something detained from a person is withheld.
detained is a form of detain
detain, verb: To place someone under official custody, preventing them from leaving. Full entry
- Spelling
- detain → detained: add -ed
- Sound
- The ending sounds like /d/.
Use it in a sentence
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