detention

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According to the judge, their detention was authorized by the

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Definitions (13)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (6)

  1. noun The act of detaining.
  2. noun The state or a period of being detained, especially:
  3. noun A period of temporary custody while awaiting trial.
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Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (4)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

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Examples (50)

  • Charousek stared deeply into his palms, as if the story of his detention might be there. —  BlackStaticHorrorMagazine#1
  • Hamden said a lawyer the family later hired to examine the court file said his detention was at the request of "outside influences."
  • MSF started providing medical services in Maltese detention centres in August 2008.
  • He was told by the country's Chief Justice that since the detention was an administrative order, the legal case had not been sent to the Supreme Court.
  • The reason for their detention wasn't clear, but the law students had been trying to interview prison guards about Pondexter. —  The Texas Observer: In the Current Issue
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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

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Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

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

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. from French détention = Provencal detention = Spanish detencion = Portuguese detenção = Italian detenzione, from Latin as if *detentio(n-), from detinere, past participle detentus, detain: see detain.
 

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/dəˈtɛnʃən/
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