detaining

1. 1
   verb

   Present participle and gerund of detain.

   Officers spent hours detaining protesters near the square.

   Detaining a minor requires notifying a parent immediately.

   Note

   The -ing form of detain does two grammatical jobs. As a participle it builds progressives (officers were detaining protesters). As a gerund it fills a noun's slot but still takes a direct object, because detain is transitive in every use. Put the in front and it becomes the noun for the act, which needs of before its object (the detaining of citizens) and can even be pluralized as detainings.

2. 2
   noununcountable

   The act of holding someone in custody or otherwise keeping them from leaving.

   The unlawful detaining of citizens drew widespread protest.

   Officials later apologized for the detaining of several foreign journalists.

   Similardetention, arrest, imprisonment, internment, confinement

   Oppositerelease, liberation, discharge

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