Emily Dickinson Lexicon

RE-TAIN, v.t. [Fr. retenir; It. ritenere; Sp. retener; L. retineo; re and teneo, to hold.]

1. To hold or keep in possession; not to lose or part with or dismiss. The memory retains ideas which facts or arguments have suggested to the mind. They did not like to retain God in their knowledge. – Rom. i.
2. To keep, as an associate; to keep from departure. Whom I would have retained with use. – Phil. xiii.
3. To keep back; to hold. An executor may retain a debt due to him from the testator. – Blackstone.
4. To hold from escape. Some substances retain heat much longer than others. Metals readily receive and transmit heat, but do not long retain it. Seek cloths that retain their color.
5. To keep in pay; to hire. A Benedictine convent has now retained the most learned father of their order to write in its defense. – Addison.
6. To engage; to employ by a fee paid; as, to retain a counselor.