Meaning of retain In English

• 0 to keep or continue to have something:

  • She has lost her battle to retain control of the company.

  • He managed to retain his dignity throughout the performance.

  • She succeeded in retaining her lead in the second half of the race.

  • I have a good memory and am able to retain (= remember) facts easily.

  • The sea retains the sun's warmth longer than the land.

• 1 to keep or continue to have something:

  • Francis retained control of the company.

  • His capacity to retain (= remember) facts was as keen as ever, but he had trouble remembering people’s names.

• 2 to keep or continue to have something, especially a position or money, or control of something:

  • Salespeople have developed novel ways to use the Web to reach or retain customers.

  • You retain the right to take legal action if you do not accept his decision.

  • retain control/ownership/possession The group will retain control of the business.

  • retain a stake/an interest The family retains a minority stake in the company.

  • retain your job/post Atkinson retained his post in the enlarged banking group.

• 3 to continue to employ people in a company or organization:

  • retain staff/talent/employees We will retain all of the employees currently employed at the plant.

  • Companies will achieve a competitive advantage by attracting and retaining the best talent.

  • Recruiting and retaining good staff will be among his top priorities.

• 4 to employ a lawyer, consultant (= someone paid to give expert advice or training), etc. by paying them before you need them:

  • The contractor had failed to disclose that he had retained an outside lobbyist.

  • Smith had retained a lawyer and filed a complaint with the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

  • retain sb as sth Van Hellemond resigned, though the NHL has retained him as a consultant.

• 5 to keep a record, document, etc. that might be needed in the future:

  • The office must retain all e-mails pertaining to audits for at least 11 years.

  • He said he protected himself by retaining all the records on the project.

  • Please retain your receipt for future reference.