What does detain mean?
Word: Detain
Part of Speech: Verb
Meaning: Detain means to keep someone in a place and not let them leave for a while; also to hold someone up or delay them.
Synonyms: hold, keep, delay
Antonyms: free
How do you spell detain?
Syllables: de - tain
Tricky part: The second part is spelt ain, with a and i together, as in rain. Students often write detane or detein.
Watch out for: detane, detein, detian
Memory tip: To detain someone is to keep them in, and the word keeps its a and i side by side in the middle, held so that neither can leave.
Detain in a sentence
Example 1: The coach detained the team after practice to go over the plan for Sunday's match.
Example 2: Heavy fog detained our flight at Heathrow for three hours.
Example 3: I will not detain you long; I have only one question.
Fun Fact
The noun from detain drops the ai: detain becomes detention, in the same way that retain becomes retention.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell-o-Spell
Choose the correctly spelt word:
a) baggege
b) schedual
c) detain
d) pasport
Show answer
c) detain. Schedule ends in ule, passport has a double s and baggage ends in age; detain is spelt correctly.
Word Connection
Choose the antonym of the word: detain
a) release
b) enclose
c) confine
d) restrain
Show answer
a) release. To release someone is to let them go, the opposite of detaining them.
Mingle-Mangle
Form a meaningful word from the jumbled letters:
tniaed
a) detain
b) domain
c) attain
d) detail
Show answer
a) detain. Attain has no d, domain needs an m and an o, and detail an l; only detain uses these six letters.
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
The guards at the gate may ditain anyone who tries to enter the fort without a pass.
a) ditain
b) guards
c) enter
d) without
Show answer
a) ditain. The first part is de, as in delay, so ditain is wrong.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. If a traffic jam detains the school bus, the bus is ____.
a) sent by a shortcut
b) let through first
c) held up on the way
d) given a clear road
Show answer
c) held up on the way
2. A teacher who detains a pupil after class ____.
a) moves him to a new desk
b) asks him to stay back
c) lets him go home early
d) gives him a day off
Show answer
b) asks him to stay back
