retains

1. 1
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of retain.

   The thick wall retains heat through the cold night.

   A skilled negotiator retains the trust of both sides.

   Note

   A verb that always needs an object: the wall retains heat, the school retains a pupil, the body retains fluid. One construction is worth knowing. When the meaning is holding back, it is often followed by from, as in a barrier that retains the crowd from the stage. The same spelling also belonged to an obsolete noun for attendants, which is long out of everyday use.

2. 2
   nounobsolete

   Plural of retain.

   Note

   A noun that has dropped out of the language: retain once meant an act of keeping or a possession, and also a body of attendants around someone important. Its plural belongs to historical fiction or to the reading of older texts. In modern prose the word to reach for is retinue, because readers will otherwise take retains for the everyday verb.

Showing meanings only. Show all 2