Definition
to detain (somebody): to arrest, to hold, to confine (somebody); to delay, to keep, to stop (somebody)
I won't detain you any longer, I know that you have to catch a bus.
to be detained for questioning: to be arrested, held in order to be questioned or interrogated
- "The retail magnate was detained and jailed early yesterday morning after park ranger Ernest Marshall discovered a shotgun shell lodged in the hindquarters of a bear cub near Warbuckle's ranch."
- "Security detained Horatio in the airport jail until I found the snake's passport."
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