Emily Dickinson Lexicon

RE-TAIN-ER, n.

1. One who retains; as an executor, who retains a debt due from the testator. – Blackstone.
2. One who is kept in service; an attendant; as, the retainers of the ancient princes and nobility.
3. An adherent; a dependant; a hanger on. – Shak.
4. A servant, not a domestic, but occasionally attending and wearing his master's livery. – Encyc. Cowel.
5. Among lawyers, a fee paid to engage a lawyer or counselor to maintain a cause.
6. The act of keeping dependants, or being in dependence. – Bacon.