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art with, or dismiss; to retrain from departure, escape, or the like. "Thy shape invisibleretain." Shak. Be obedient, and retain Unalterably firm his love entire. Milton. An executor may retain a debt due to him from the testator. Blackstone.

Capable of being retained.

The act of retaining; retention.

One who, or that which, retains.

The act of retaining; retention. Dr. H. More.

a denial; a renunciation. With abnegation of God, of his honor, and of religion, they may retain the friendship of the court. Knox.

To shorten or contract by using fewer words, yet retaining the sense; to epitomize; to condense; as, to abridge a history or dictionary.

A point or mark which may be retained or omitted in a coat of arms.

The impression of a vivid sensation retained by the retina of the eye after the cause has been removed; also extended to impressions left of tones, smells, etc.

riginates in the same way as the lungs of air-breathing vertebrates, and in the adult may retain a tubular connection with the pharynx or esophagus.

An ancient name of England, still retained in poetry. In that nook-shotten isle of Albion. Shak.

word in a sentence or clause, at the beginning of the next, with an adjunct idea; as, "He retained his virtues amidst all his misfortunes -- misfortunes which no prudence could foresee or prevent."

ain), and which, being cast overboard, lays hold of the earth by a fluke or hook and thus retains the ship in a particular station.

Loss of the power of speaking, while retaining the power of writing; -- a disorder of cerebral origin.

tached side by side along the upper jaw, and form a fringelike sieve by which the food is retained in the mouth.

pivot of a spherical form, which permits lateral deflection of the arbor or shaft, while retaining the pivot in its socket. Knight. -- Ball lever, the lever used in a ball cock. -- Ball of the eye, the eye itself, as distinguished from its lids and socket; -- formerly, the pupil of the eye. -- Ball valve (Mach.), a…

the bissextile day at the end of every century which is not divisible by 400, while it is retained at the end of those which are divisible by 400.

by plunging into boiling water and afterwards into cold, so as to harden the surface and retain the juices.

ich, at the time of the passage of the Reform Bill of 1832, contained but few voters, yet retained the privilege of sending a member to Parliament.

Something deposited as security; a pledge; a surety; a hostage. [Obs.] Ye may retain as borrows my two priests. Sir W. Scott.