Detaining

noun, verb

noun, verb ·3 syllables ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A delay, hindrance, or impediment; the act of holding back.

    "The heavy rain was a detaining on their progress."

  2. 2
    The act by which someone is detained; detention.

    "The suspect’s detaining lasted several hours."

Verb
  1. 1
    present participle and gerund of detain form-of, gerund, participle, present

Synonyms

All synonyms
hindranceimpedimentretarding

Example

More examples

"It seemed as if her weight, slight as it was, proved too heavy for her young and athletic assistant, for, without feeling the temptation of detaining her in his arms even for a single instant, he again placed her on the stone from which she had risen."

More for "detaining"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.