Emily Dickinson Lexicon

DE-TAIN', v.t. [L. detineo; de and teneo, to hold; Fr. detenir; Sp. detener. See Tenant.]

1. To keep back or from; to withhold; to keep what belongs to another. Detain not the wages of the hireling. – Taylor.
2. To keep or restrain from proceeding, either going or coming; to stay or stop. We were detained by the rain. Let us detain thee, till we have made ready a kid. – Judges xiii.
3. To hold in custody. – Blackstone.