Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The act of detaining.
  • noun The state or a period of being detained, especially.
  • noun A period of temporary custody while awaiting trial.
  • noun A holding of a person in custody or confinement by authorities for political or military reasons.
  • noun A form of punishment by which a student is made to stay after regular school hours.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The act of detaining or keeping back; a withholding or keeping of what belongs to or is claimed by another.
  • noun The state of being detained or held back; restraint; confinement.
  • noun Forced stoppage; hindrance; delay from necessity or on account of obstacles.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The act of detaining or keeping back; a withholding.
  • noun The state of being detained (stopped or hindered); delay from necessity.
  • noun Confinement; restraint; custody.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun uncountable The act of detaining or the state of being detained.
  • noun countable A temporary state of custody or confinement, especially of a prisoner awaiting trial, or of a student being punished.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a state of being confined (usually for a short time)
  • noun a punishment in which a student must stay at school after others have gone home

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English detencioun, act of withholding, from Anglo-Norman, from Latin dētentiō, dētentiōn-, from dētentus, past participle of dētinēre, to detain; see detain.]

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Examples

  • Government need only allege an individual kept in detention, is an Unprivileged Enemy Belligerent suspected of; having engaged in hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners; or has purposefully and materially supported hostilities against the United States; its coalition partners; or against U.S. civilians.

    The Volokh Conspiracy » Peter Spiro on Lieberman’s Citizenship-Stripping Legislation 2010

  • In its definitions section, the order specifies that the term detention facilities does not include "facilities used only to hold people on a short-term, transitory basis."

    FindLaw Writ - Recent Articles 2009

  • In its definitions section, the order specifies that the term detention facilities does not include "facilities used only to hold people on a short-term, transitory basis."

    FindLaw Writ - Recent Articles 2009

  • In its definitions section, the order specifies that the term detention facilities does not include "facilities used only to hold people on a short-term, transitory basis."

    FindLaw Writ - Recent Articles 2009

  • On August 3, 1992, the day after Roy Gutman's first, highly graphic story on Omarska appeared in Newsday, the State Department deputy spokesman, Richard Boucher, faced reporters and announced that administration officials had not only been aware "that the Serbian forces are maintaining what they call detention centers" but that "abuses and torture and killings [were] taking place."

    America and the Bosnia Genocide Danner, Mark 1997

  • They could not see how this very kind of detention is itself a blight on humanity.

    Think Progress » A list of ‘reliably documented’ techniques 2006

  • “Ex” wife phoned the school and was advised by the secretary that he was not being held in detention by any of his teachers.

    Want Some Free Legal Advice? : Law is Cool 2009

  • In fact, he was referring to her detention by the government there.

    Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Bill Maher Face Off On 'The View' (VIDEO) 2011

  • And with no long-term detention facility at the ready, they worry about missing chances to gather intelligence from suspects.

    Clarity Sought on Detainees Julian E. Barnes 2011

  • Previously Russell Gordon spent 48 hours in detention after breaking a window of a court in Sopot as he was enraged because the judge did nothing to ensure his wife's safety during a court session.

    Global Voices in English » Serbia: Blogging for Justice and Protection 2009

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