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Detain   Listen
verb
Detain  v. t.  (past & past part. detained; pres. part. detaining)  
1.
To keep back or from; to withhold. "Detain not the wages of the hireling."
2.
To restrain from proceeding; to stay or stop; to delay; as, we were detained by an accident. "Let us detain thee, until we shall have made ready a kid for thee."
3.
To hold or keep in custody.
Synonyms: To withhold; retain; stop; stay; arrest; check; retard; delay; hinder.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Detain" Quotes from Famous Books



... waving a telegram and told me I was under arrest. The drink-fuddled creature, thinking to "cut a dash" during his chief's absence, had wired to the police at Nikshitch, "A man dressed as a woman has come from across the Austrian frontier." The reply said, "Detain him till further orders." The telegraph station was eight hours' march distant, but he had sent some one in haste on horseback. There was a terrible row. The populace was on my side. My British passport was, of course, useless. ...
— Twenty Years Of Balkan Tangle • Durham M. Edith

... philo-Roman policy, declared war against King Perseus and denounced all sympathizers with Macedonia. This agitation induced the Romans to deport 1000 prominent Achaeans, and, failing proof of treason against Rome, to detain them seventeen years. These hostages, when restored in 150, swelled the ranks of the proletariate opposition, whose leaders, to cover their maladministration at home, precipitated a war by attacking Sparta in defiance of Rome. The federal troops were routed in central ...
— Project Gutenberg Encyclopedia

... were in the habit of lodging, during their stay on the New England shores. Widow Smith, he said, had a parlour for herself and her daughters, in which Lois might sit, while he went about the business that, as he had told her, would detain him in Boston for a day or two, before he could accompany her to her uncle's at Salem. All this had been to a certain degree arranged on ship-board; but Captain Holdernesse, for want of anything else that he could think of to talk about, recapitulated it as he and Lois walked along. It was ...
— Curious, if True - Strange Tales • Elizabeth Gaskell

... Tettaha is not so luxuriant and fruitful as the country about Matavai. As I saw nothing of consequence to detain me I made a present to Teppahoo and, after inviting him to visit me on board the ship, which he promised to do, I took leave. Tinah had remained all this time in the boat. I observed that no respect was shown to him at this place, nor was he able to procure a coconut or a breadfruit ...
— A Voyage to the South Sea • William Bligh

... We shall not detain the reader with a description of the captious discussions that occupied the court for the first two hours, Judge Temple had impressed on the jury, in his charge, the necessity for dispatch on their ...
— The Pioneers • James Fenimore Cooper

... fervid rays of the noonday sun fall on them! But I must not attempt to depict every variety of holdfast, or every provision for climbing with which it has pleased God to invest and beautify the different kinds of creeping-plants: it would detain us far too long; yet Mrs Grimshawe owes it to herself, to justify her devotion to the holdfast of the Virginian creeper (Ampelopsis hederacea), and that ...
— Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 454 - Volume 18, New Series, September 11, 1852 • Various

... Queen my mother having retired to her closet to finish some despatches which were likely to detain her there for some time, Madame de Nevers, your kinswoman, Madame de Rais, another of your relations, Bourdeille, and Surgeres asked me whether I would not wish to see a little of the city. Whereupon Mademoiselle de Montigny, ...
— Memoirs of Marguerite de Valois, Complete • Marguerite de Valois, Queen of Navarre

... detain Mr. Ledsam," Oliver Hilditch interposed, a little hastily. "He perhaps does not care to be addressed in public by a client who still carries with him the atmosphere of the prison. My wife and I wondered, Mr. Ledsam, whether you would be good enough to dine with us one night. I think I could ...
— The Evil Shepherd • E. Phillips Oppenheim

... to justify our handing you to the military officers in Kingston, who would, no doubt, detain ...
— Brandon of the Engineers • Harold Bindloss

... tense, bated voice—"last night Mr. Gordon saw the phantom of Bogue Holauba, Stop! Hush!"—for the girl had sprung half screaming from her chair. "This is important." He laid his hand on her arm to detain her. "We want ...
— The Phantom Of Bogue Holauba - 1911 • Charles Egbert Craddock (AKA Mary Noailles Murfree)

... intention to invite you to accompany me on a very interesting expedition. I knew that none of you had any ties of family or business to detain you, and I felt sure that you would readily consent. In case you should not, however, I had made up my mind to go alone. But you provoked me more than you knew, probably, at the club, and after we had entered the car, and, being myself hot-tempered, I determined to teach you a lesson. I ...
— A Columbus of Space • Garrett P. Serviss

... person," observed the officer. "If you can prove what you say, I will not detain you further. ...
— A Cigarette-Maker's Romance • F. Marion Crawford

... the World as pitiful man has grown stronger, So that the things we love are as easily kept as won, Therefore the ancient fight can engage and detain us no longer, And all too swiftly, alas, passion is ...
— India's Love Lyrics • Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (AKA Laurence Hope), et al.

... detain the Landers till he could extort a large sum for their ransom. He demanded the sum of twenty bars (each equal to one slave or a cask of palm oil). The travellers had the prospect of being detained for an indefinite period, had not King Boy of Brass-town, Obie's son-in-law, undertaken ...
— Life and Travels of Mungo Park in Central Africa • Mungo Park

... the perfect Inflamability of common Brimstone, and would immediately kindle (at the Flame of a Candle) and burn blew like it. And though it seem'd that the long digestion wherein our Antimony and Menstruum were detain'd, did conduce to the better unlocking of the Mineral, yet if you have not the leasure to make so long a Digestion, you may by incorporating with powder'd Antimony a convenient Quantity of Oyl of Vitriol, and committing them immediately to Distillation, obtain a little Sulphur like unto ...
— The Sceptical Chymist • Robert Boyle

... allow me to conceal them from the maiden I love.... I am further bound to confess that I shall place the duties toward my fatherland in advance of those to my wife, and that, although I mean to be a tender husband, I shall be inexorable even to the tears of my wife, if they should ever try to detain me from performing my duties as a citizen, to their fullest extent. My wife shall be the confidant of my heart, the partner of all my most secret counsel. A great and holy simplicity shall reign in my house.... ...
— History of Education • Levi Seeley

... it, for she repeated rather sharply this time that she was discussing the boy's musical education, not her own. Then she added that there remained only the question of terms to discuss and she would detain ...
— The Music Master - Novelized from the Play • Charles Klein

... the populace, men of College's rank and station were useful to them. College had been in Oxford armed with sword and pistol during the sitting of the parliament; and this was made the foundation of his crime. It was pretended that a conspiracy had been entered into to seize the king's person, and detain him in confinement, till he should make the concessions demanded of him. The sheriffs of London were in strong opposition to the court; and it was not strange, that the grand jury named by them rejected the bill against College. The ...
— The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol.I., Part F. - From Charles II. to James II. • David Hume

... the dissemination of such principles, and to defeat such schemes, Pitt now asked leave to bring in a bill to empower his Majesty—acting, of course, through the Secretary of State—to secure and detain such persons as he should suspect of conspiring against the King's person and government. He admitted that the power which he thus proposed to confer amounted to a suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act in every ...
— The Constitutional History of England From 1760 to 1860 • Charles Duke Yonge

... city during the year 1793. Many motives contributed to detain me, though departure was easy and commodious, and my friends were generally solicitous for me to go. It is not my purpose to enumerate these motives, or to dwell on my present concerns and transactions, but merely ...
— Arthur Mervyn - Or, Memoirs of the Year 1793 • Charles Brockden Brown

... sir, I shall remain for the short time necessary to prepare for my journey, and beg I may detain you no longer. I'm afraid I have ...
— The Dramatist; or Stop Him Who Can! - A Comedy, in Five Acts • Frederick Reynolds

... would not, he said, detain the committee long. Indeed he was not able, weary and indisposed as he then felt himself, even if he had an inclination to do it; but as, on account of his other parliamentary duty, he might not have it in his power to attend the business now before them in its course, he would take ...
— The History of the Rise, Progress and Accomplishment of the Abolition of the African Slave Trade by the British Parliament (1808) • Thomas Clarkson

... bird of passage," she said, shaking her head. "You must not seek to detain me. I have taken my rest, and off I go to ...
— Stories By English Authors: Germany • Various

... been thinking for a long time of calling on you, and, as I was passing, I thought I might drop in for a few minutes. Where are you off to? I won't detain you long, only the time to smoke a cigarette, if ...
— The Continental Classics, Volume XVIII., Mystery Tales • Various

... lord-in-waiting addressed me when I arrived with the insolent words—'You are late, Monsieur Valdor!—You have kept the King waiting!' I replied—'Is that so? I regret it! But having kept his Majesty waiting, I will no longer detain him; au revoir!' And I returned straightway to the carriage in which I had come. Majesty did without his music that evening, owing to the insolence of his flunkey- man! Whether I ever play before him again or not, is ...
— Temporal Power • Marie Corelli

... her hand to detain her. "How are you, Watson?" said he, cordially. "I should never have known you under that moustache, and I dare say you would not be prepared to swear to me. This I presume is your celebrated ...
— Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes • Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

... hand, finger, wrist, fist, neaf[obs3], neif[obs3]. bird in hand; captive &c.754. V. retain, keep; hold fast one's own, hold tight one's own, hold fast one's ground, hold tight one's ground; clinch, clench, clutch, grasp, gripe, hug, have a firm hold of. secure, withhold, detain; hold back, keep back; keep close; husband &c. (store) 636; reserve; have in stock, have on hand, keep in stock &c. (possess) 777; entail, tie up, settle. Adj. retaining &c. v.; retentive, tenacious. unforfeited[obs3], ...
— Roget's Thesaurus • Peter Mark Roget

... there was a law against this sort of thing. He thought to himself, "If I were to wait until the owner returns, no doubt a man who smokes the Arcadia would feel for me." Then his fatal horror of explanations whispered to him, "The owner may be a stupid, garrulous fellow who will detain you here half the night explaining your situation." Scrymgeour, I want to impress upon the reader, was, like myself, the sort of a man who, if asked whether he did not think "In Memoriam" Mr. Browning's greatest poem, would say Yes, as ...
— My Lady Nicotine - A Study in Smoke • J. M. Barrie

... sorry to be obliged to detain you... [Karnin looks round in astonishment] Oh, I don't mean that I arrest you. Though that would make it easier to get at the truth, I shall not resort to such a measure. I only want to take Protsov's deposition in ...
— The Live Corpse • Leo Tolstoy

... his army, had selected a more secure place for his camp. Nor did he think that the affairs of the Volscians were in a better condition than those of the Roman people. That fortune and the night had occasioned a multitude of mistakes on both sides:" and then when he begged that they would not detain him, fatigued with toil and wounds, he was dismissed with high encomiums, not more on his bravery than his modesty. While these things were going on, the consul was at the temple of Rest on the road leading to Lavici. Waggons and other modes of conveyance were sent thither from the city, and took ...
— The History of Rome, Books 01 to 08 • Titus Livius

... itch the more; the same curiosity flashing from my eyes more and more, for the shows and games of my elders. Yet those who give these shows are in such esteem, that almost all wish the same for their children, and yet are very willing that they should be beaten, if those very games detain them from the studies, whereby they would have them attain to be the givers of them. Look with pity, Lord, on these things, and deliver us who call upon Thee now; deliver those too who call not on Thee yet, that they may call on Thee, and Thou ...
— The Confessions of Saint Augustine • Saint Augustine

... anything. Among the Jews there were no liberal interests for the ideal to express. They had only elementary human experience—the perpetual Oriental round of piety and servitude in the bosom of a scorched, exhausted country. A disillusioned eye, surveying such a world, could find nothing there to detain it; religion, when wholly spiritual, could do nothing but succour the afflicted, understand and forgive the sinful, and pass through the sad pageant of life unspotted and resigned. Its pity for human ills would go hand in hand with a mystic plebeian insensibility to ...
— The Life of Reason • George Santayana

... conditions. If you are skilful and cautious you will not be molested. You may occasion danger, annoyance and great loss to honest men with very little danger to yourself unless you are clumsy and incautious; in which case you may be captured. If you are, we shall take possession of your person and detain you for so many months or years. During that time you will inhabit quarters better than you are accustomed to; your sleeping-room will be kept comfortably warm in all weathers; you will be provided with clothing better ...
— The Uttermost Farthing - A Savant's Vendetta • R. Austin Freeman

... by the post yesterday, and found that they had not yet returned from the police, and would not be till to-morrow. Before anybody is allowed to read their newspapers they must undergo examination, and if they contain anything which the censor deems objectionable they detain them altogether. After dinner I went to the public gardens, and into a theatre which is in them; there is no roof to it, and the acting is all by daylight, and in the open air. I only arrived at the end, just in time to see the deliverance of a Christian heroine and a very ...
— The Greville Memoirs - A Journal of the Reigns of King George IV and King William - IV, Volume 1 (of 3) • Charles C. F. Greville

... Claude returned to his work, still out of humour. He was not altogether happy in his mind about Enid. When he went down to the mill it was usually Mr. Royce, not Enid, who sought to detain him, followed him down the path to the gate and seemed sorry to see him go. He could not blame Enid with any lack of interest in what he was doing. She talked and thought of nothing but the new house, and most of her suggestions were good. He often ...
— One of Ours • Willa Cather

... will here detain you, So long as pulse of mine shall beat; Nor shall my heart grow cold and pain you, Till carried to your last retreat. You gaze at me in doubting fashion, Before the offered rapture dumb; Tears and still tears your sole expression: Bedew my ...
— Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern, Vol. 1 • Charles Dudley Warner

... man entered, premising that he would detain his host but a moment, and readily surrendering hat and umbrella. Kirkwood, putting the latter aside, invited his caller to the easy chair which Brentwick had occupied ...
— The Black Bag • Louis Joseph Vance

... he might detain it there Forever from that day, Our Co-ed shyly gave to him A Yale lock long ...
— Cap and Gown - A Treasury of College Verse • Selected by Frederic Knowles

... "put this and that together," and they will at once perceive the beneficial effect, which holding up the Latin Grammar to ridicule is likely to produce in the minds of youth. So much for the satisfaction of our senior readers. And now, no longer to detain our juvenile friends, let us proceed to business, or pleasure, or both:— we will not stand upon ceremony with respect ...
— The Comic Latin Grammar - A new and facetious introduction to the Latin tongue • Percival Leigh

... do not need to detain you any longer, nor to trouble you further in this affair. I thank you for coming to us so promptly. It has been of ...
— The Lamp That Went Out • Augusta Groner

... detain her. Good riddance; just see if they opened the door to her again. They had seen enough of her face. They didn't want other people's misery in their rooms, especially when that misery was so well deserved. They reveled in their ...
— L'Assommoir • Emile Zola

... pointed. I did not succeed at all in making a fire; the night was quite dark and moonless, and a fine rain penetrated everything. I have rarely passed a longer night or felt so lonely. The new day revived my spirits, breakfast did not detain me long, as I had nothing to eat, so I kept along the shore, jumping and climbing, and had to swim through several lagoons, swarming, as I heard afterwards, with big sharks! After a while the coral shore changed into a sand beach, and after having waded for some hours ...
— Two Years with the Natives in the Western Pacific • Felix Speiser

... "you had no right to detain them, Marquis. Except, perhaps, the father, John Castell," ...
— Fair Margaret • H. Rider Haggard

... of the pathetic and the ludicrous, set my mind at work upon the future; but I could find little interest in the study. Even the predictions of my sibyl failed to allure me, nor could life's prospect charm and detain ...
— The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. XXII (of 25) • Robert Louis Stevenson

... any notice of this before, but with reflecting what notice I am able to take of it now. You know, Sir," said I, "what circumstances I am in; I am bound to the East Indies, in a ship freighted by merchants, and to whom it would be an insufferable piece of injustice to detain their ship here, the men lying all this while at victuals and wages upon the owners' account. It is true, I agreed to be allowed twelve days here, and if I stay more I must pay 32 sterling per diem demurrage; nor can ...
— The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe (1808) • Daniel Defoe

... people, unconscious of any crime, and full of concern for having incurred his Majesty's displeasure, petitioned Colonel Winslow for leave to visit their families, and entreated him to detain a part only of the prisoners as hostages; urging with tears and prayers their intention to fulfill their promise of returning after taking leave of their kindred and consoling them in their distresses and misfortunes. The answer of Colonel Winslow ...
— Acadia - or, A Month with the Blue Noses • Frederic S. Cozzens

... thine eyes shall see his tomb. He ceas'd, and I, afflicted as I was, Yet felt my spirit at that word refresh'd, And in wing'd accents answer thus return'd. Of these I am inform'd; but name the third Who, dead or living, on the boundless Deep Is still detain'd; I dread, yet wish to hear. So I; to whom thus Proteus in return. Laertes' son, the Lord of Ithaca— Him in an island weeping I beheld, 670 Guest of the nymph Calypso, by constraint Her guest, and from his native ...
— The Odyssey of Homer • Homer

... every voter who did not vote. If there are citizens of the State who think it unladylike or ungentlemanlike to take their part in the government, let them stay at home. But do not, I pray you, give them authority to detain wiser and better citizens ...
— History of Woman Suffrage, Volume II • Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, and Matilda Joslyn Gage

... go away despite Mme. Charman's attempts to detain her, when M. Lecoq thought it was ...
— The Mystery of Orcival • Emile Gaboriau

... we follow the road, we might be able to intercept the boy. I am very much obliged to this young lady. But in case you should see him after all,' he continued, 'allow me to give you this card. If you could manage to detain him while you communicate with me at Castlemore you ...
— Chatterbox, 1905. • Various

... himself, Jonathan bowed with such ease as his stiff and awkward joints might command, and thereupon withdrew from the presence of the charmer, who, with cheeks suffused with blushes and with eyes averted, made no endeavor to detain him. ...
— The Ruby of Kishmoor • Howard Pyle

... a moment looking at Miss Talboys, thinking that she would look up, that she would make some sign, or show some desire to detain him. ...
— Lady Audley's Secret • Mary Elizabeth Braddon

... one whom we could save from the general destruction, the young Alfgar, and we determined to detain him if possible by persuasion, keeping the truth from him, but in any case to detain him at ...
— Alfgar the Dane or the Second Chronicle of Aescendune • A. D. Crake

... poultry with rice, swimming in a sharp sauce made of vinegar and "malagueta;" a dish of spiced herbs, and cold cake sprinkled with cinnamon, formed enough to tempt a poor monk reduced to the ordinary meager fare of his parish. They tried all they could to detain him, and Yaquita and her daughter did their utmost in persuasion. But the Franciscan had to visit on that evening an Indian who was lying ill at Cocha, and he heartily thanked the hospitable family and departed, not without ...
— Eight Hundred Leagues on the Amazon • Jules Verne

... the Sultan is better; and from his servants we collect that he is not willing we should go on to Zinder unless escorted by himself. Certainly this arrangement would please us under ordinary circumstances; but we hear that it would detain us two or three months in Aheer, which will never do. To-day I made acquaintance with the round salt-cakes of Bilma. They consist of a very rough species of salt, like so many big round grains of the coarsest sandstone. One that I saw was of a dark ...
— Narrative of a Mission to Central Africa Performed in the Years 1850-51, Volume 1 • James Richardson

... redemptive brotherhood, a league of noble and free men enlisted in the radiant enterprise of working out in time the love and will of the Eternal. Who is sufficient to describe a spirit so benign? With what words may one ever hope to capture and detain that which belongs of right to the genius of poetry and song, by whose magic those elusive and impalpable ...
— The Builders - A Story and Study of Masonry • Joseph Fort Newton

... at sunrise, she dashed forth from the town again, though the generals, her hosts, and all the authorities who were in the plot endeavoured to detain her. "Stay with us, Jeanne," said the people with whom she lodged—official people, much above the rank of the Maid—"stay and help us to eat this fish fresh out of the river." "Keep it for this evening," she said, "and I shall return by the bridge and bring you some Goddens to have their ...
— Jeanne d'Arc - Her Life And Death • Mrs.(Margaret) Oliphant

... return to the house. But Ike, all his confidence suddenly merged into a volcanic heat, reached out a hand to detain her. His hand came into rough contact with the soft flesh of her shoulder, and, shaking it off, she faced him ...
— The Golden Woman - A Story of the Montana Hills • Ridgwell Cullum

... will give you one of his pamphlets, miss, to take away with you, and you will be convinced that slippers are serpents in disguise in winter weather! The wooden shoes of Germany rather! Ay, or even the sabot of France! You must not stir another step in those. Be seated, pray, and I will not detain you long, while I procure a substitute or protection for such shams, worth nothing in such Siberian weather.—Caleb, a word with you;" and he whispered to his apprentice, who glided away, to return in a trice with ...
— Sea and Shore - A Sequel to "Miriam's Memoirs" • Mrs. Catharine A. Warfield

... notice, and would have come to meet me at the station. In short, I am an ungrateful wretch. At least I might have fixed the hour of my imminent arrival, for I can not want to stop in Paris with nothing there to detain me. But no, not a sign, not a word of returning; simply the announcement that I have passed. This goes beyond the bounds of mere folly and carelessness. M. Mouillard, his most elementary notions of life shaken to their foundations, concludes ...
— Serge Panine • Georges Ohnet

... Mrs. Bellairs "tell him, please, that I want him to pay me a little visit to-morrow morning before he goes to the office. Say that it is very important and will only detain him a few minutes." ...
— A Canadian Heroine, Volume 1 - A Novel • Mrs. Harry Coghill

... revolution need not detain us. It is sufficient to recall that in many parts of Europe the divergence of creed tended to become if not identical with, at least closely to follow the boundaries of states and nations. In every land the school ...
— The Unity of Civilization • Various

... one day, he was giving me some account of his intended progress. "After taking Fort Duquesne," says he, "I am to proceed to Niagara; and, having taken that, to Frontenac, if the season will allow time; and I suppose it will, for Duquesne can hardly detain me above three or four days; and then I see nothing that can obstruct my march to Niagara." Having before revolv'd in my mind the long line his army must make in their march by a very narrow road, to be cut ...
— The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin • Benjamin Franklin

... behalf of the King, and by Lords Mountgarrett and Muskerry on behalf of the Confederates. It was necessary, it seems, to get the concurrence of the Viceroy to these terms, and accordingly the negotiators on both sides repaired to Dublin. Here, Ormond contrived to detain them ten long weeks in discussions on the articles relating to religion; it was the 12th of November when they returned to Kilkenny, with a much modified treaty. On the next day, the 13th, the new ...
— A Popular History of Ireland - From the earliest period to the emancipation of the Catholics • Thomas D'Arcy McGee

... taking my note for $20,000 with him. I made no effort to detain him, nor was I sorry to hear he had returned to the rectory to pass the night, whither his sister went with him. The next day he proceeded to New York, without sending me any message, retaining the note however; and, a day or two later, I heard of him on his way ...
— Miles Wallingford - Sequel to "Afloat and Ashore" • James Fenimore Cooper

... cultivated and pretty. At Seez the fine, delicate, elevated spires of the Cathedral mark the situation of the town long before and after it is reached; but, besides that, it possesses no attractions sufficient to detain the traveller. ...
— Barn and the Pyrenees - A Legendary Tour to the Country of Henri Quatre • Louisa Stuart Costello

... his audience is raised to the highest pitch, he breaks off abruptly and makes his escape, leaving both his hero or heroine and his audience in the utmost embarrassment. Those who happen to be near the door endeavour to detain him, insisting upon the story being finished before he departs; but he always makes his retreat good[FN302]; and the auditors suspending their curiosity are induced to return at the same time next day to hear the sequel. He has no sooner made his exit than the company in separate ...
— The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Volume 10 • Richard F. Burton

... gentleman and lady found nothing to detain them in the other room, for, after sauntering off to it, they sauntered back again, and placed themselves to talk just opposite her. Fleda had an additional screen now in the person of Miss Tomlinson, ...
— Queechy, Volume II • Elizabeth Wetherell

... situation and design, he did not approve of my taking a passage by sea, by reason of the danger of a winter voyage, which is very hazardous along that coast, as well as the precariousness of the wind, which might possibly detain me a great while, to the no small detriment of my fortune; whereas, if I would venture by land, he would bear me company, carry my baggage all the way, and if we should be fatigued before we could perform the journey it would be no hard matter for us ...
— The Adventures of Roderick Random • Tobias Smollett

... see any way of detaining him—or would it be better to detain Katharine?—he had taken his hat, stick, and was holding the door open for Katharine to pass out. The most that William could do was to stand at the head of the stairs and say good-night. He could not offer to go with them. He could not insist that she should stay. He watched ...
— Night and Day • Virginia Woolf

... These were in themselves interesting and thorny questions, especially the question of Persia, where the two powers established distinct spheres of interest and a sort of joint protectorate. But they need not detain us, because they had no direct bearing upon the events leading up to the war, except in so far as, by removing friction between two rivals of long standing, they made it possible for them to co-operate for ...
— The Expansion of Europe - The Culmination of Modern History • Ramsay Muir

... I shall not detain the reader with details of this catechism. His inquiries ranged from the system on which the house was lighted and the number of hours Myra averaged per week on the sea to the make of the engine in her motor-boat. ...
— The Mystery of the Green Ray • William Le Queux

... other motive," she went on, deliberately taking off her slate-coloured mittens, and rolling them up, "I have only to thank you for your visit, and to say that I will not detain you here any longer. Your information would be more satisfactory if you were willing to explain how you became possessed of it. However, it justifies me, I suppose, in going into mourning. There is not much alteration necessary in my dress, as you see. When I have changed my mittens, ...
— The Woman in White • Wilkie Collins

... people, must have been a pleasant companion to them. They had letters of introduction to the Gisbornes from Godwin. While here Mary made progress with Italian, reading Ariosto with her husband. Leghorn was not a sufficiently interesting place to detain the wandering Shelleys long, in spite of the attractions of the Gisbornes. On June 11 Mary, with her two children and Claire, follows Shelley to Bagni di Lucca, where he had taken a house. Here Mary much enjoyed the quiet after noisy Leghorn, as she wrote ...
— Mrs. Shelley • Lucy M. Rossetti

... going out to preach Cochrane's gospel through the country, this I know, and she was so truly religious, so burning with zeal, that had she fully believed in my father's mission she would have spurred him on, instead of endeavoring to detain him." ...
— The Story Of Waitstill Baxter • By Kate Douglas Wiggin

... a detachment of cavalry under Bacon, to Tash Pass, the gateway of the National Park, which Joseph would have to pass, with orders to detain him there until the rest could come up with them. Here is what General Howard says of the affair. "Bacon got into position soon enough but he did not have the heart to fight the Indians on account of their number." Meanwhile another incident had occurred. Right under ...
— Indian Heroes and Great Chieftains • [AKA Ohiyesa], Charles A. Eastman

... "I tried to detain him, but suspecting some discovery he forced his way out, sword in hand, and has gone I do not know in what direction; but he cannot be far—saddle all the horses in my stable and pursue the sacrilegious wretch. ...
— The Pacha of Many Tales • Captain Frederick Marryat

... have not leisure to relate occasions me to send you this by a special messenger. You will most probably receive a letter express from me before he arrives, but if not detain him carefully. Hint not a word of the matter, but make a pretext of urgent business concerning me, for the issue of which he must wait. At all events do not let him escape, till you ...
— Anna St. Ives • Thomas Holcroft

... other methods, and possessing always a charm of grace and power exclusively its own; yet, in its slightness addressing itself, purposefully, to the casual glance, and common thought—eager to arrest the passer-by, but careless to detain him; or detaining him, if at all, by an unexplained enchantment, not by continuance of teaching, or development of idea. But the work of Holbein is true and thorough; accomplished, in the highest as the most literal ...
— On the Old Road Vol. 1 (of 2) - A Collection of Miscellaneous Essays and Articles on Art and Literature • John Ruskin

... from him and handed them to Neil. "Don't let us detain you any longer, Mr. Collins. I know you're awful busy ...
— Bucky O'Connor • William MacLeod Raine

... time, the men of the city were under strict injunctions from Romulus to treat their guests in the most respectful manner, leaving them entirely at liberty to go and come as they pleased, except so far as they could detain them by treating them with kindness and attention, and devising new sports and amusements for them from day to day. Things continued in this state for two or three weeks, during all which time the ...
— Romulus, Makers of History • Jacob Abbott

... her approach, was careful to keep his distance. He suspected her of a design to detain him ...
— The Huntress • Hulbert Footner

... thus far of the facts which have contributed to detain me for the present in Paris, and I have said nothing to you about the ulterior plans which I have in my head; for you take for granted, I suppose, that I merely look upon this as a transitory situation, pending the completion of my studies. It is upon the more remote ...
— Recollections of My Youth • Ernest Renan

... suppressions of newspapers by the fiat of the Home minister. Ultimately it became necessary to enact a law empowering the police to banish persons of doubtful character from Tokyo without legal trial, and even to arrest and detain such persons on suspicion. In 1887, the Progressist leader, Okuma, rejoined the Cabinet for a time as minister of Foreign Affairs, but after a few months of office his leg was shattered by a bomb and he retired ...
— A History of the Japanese People - From the Earliest Times to the End of the Meiji Era • Frank Brinkley and Dairoku Kikuchi

... any rate; for he would not be false to his oath. But if Mesu, from whom we may expect anything, should detain him by force, the boy will be of service to us; for Hosea loves him, his people value his life, and he belongs to one of their noblest tribes. In any case Pharaoh must threaten the lad; we will guard him, and that will unite his uncle to us by fresh ...
— Uarda • Georg Ebers

... understand art. Well, then, imagine a man who wants to paint pictures; give him a palace to live in; place every pleasure at his call, imposing only one condition—that he is not to paint. His appetites may detain him in the palace for a while, but sooner or later he will cry out, 'All these pleasures are nothing to me; what I want is to paint pictures.'" She could see that the parable had convinced him, or nearly. He had said he was afraid she was hopeless. But a moment after, drawing ...
— Evelyn Innes • George Moore

... free give and take with a haphazard savage of the wilds, interrupted in the interest of propriety. "I'll not detain you any longer, my man. You may get ...
— The Highgrader • William MacLeod Raine

... white arms that held him very close, And ever closer as he drew him back Reluctantly, the loose gold-colored hair A thousand delicate fibres reaching out Still to detain him; then some twenty steps Of iron staircase winding round and down, And ending in a narrow gallery hung With Gobelin tapestries—Andromeda Rescued by Perseus, and the sleek Diana With her nymphs bathing; at the farther end A door that gave upon a starlit ...
— The Sisters' Tragedy • Thomas Bailey Aldrich

... sorry," she added as she recognized him. "I did not know it was you." As soon as she had spoken she became confused and tried to pass on; but he made a movement to detain her. ...
— One Man in His Time • Ellen Glasgow

... unquiet and fitful doze, he heard steps approaching: he started up, and perceived two men, one a peasant, the other in the dress of a hermit. They were the first human beings the wanderers had met; and when Falkland gave the alarm to Riego, who slept beside him, it was immediately proposed to detain them as guides to the town of Carolina, where Riego had hopes of finding effectual assistance, or the means of ultimate escape. The hermit and his companion refused, with much vehemence, the office imposed upon them; but Riego ...
— Falkland, Complete • Edward Bulwer-Lytton

... I shall not detain the Senate long. I do not feel satisfied, when a measure so important to the people of this country and to humanity is about to be submitted to a vote of the ...
— The History of Woman Suffrage, Volume IV • Various

... might not have done in this line of work had his health remained unimpaired. The later novels, in which he came near to joining forces with the naturalists and hence to losing some of the vogue his eclecticism gave him, need not detain us. ...
— The Nabob • Alphonse Daudet

... speak no English, the other could speak no Dutch; and in his fury at seeing us slip out through the gates behind the two great barges, he could do nothing but stammer with rage, and try to push past the stout form which strove to detain him for argument. ...
— The Chauffeur and the Chaperon • C. N. Williamson

... Erasmus himself, i.e. one that had the same Felicity of Expression that he had; but I hope it will appear that I have kept my Author still in my Eye, tho' I have followed him passibus haud aequis, and could seldom come up to him. I shall not detain you any longer; but subscribe my self, yours to ...
— Colloquies of Erasmus, Volume I. • Erasmus

... realms of Frost, Or in the wilds of Ether lost. Far happier thou! 'twas thine to soar, Careering on the winged wind. Thy triumphs who shall dare explore? Suns and their systems left behind. No tract of space, no distant star, No shock of elements at war, Did thee detain. Thy wing of fire Bore thee amidst the Cherub-choir; And there awhile to thee 'twas giv'n Once more that Voice [Footnote 2] belov'd to join, Which taught thee first a flight divine, And nurs'd thy infant years with many ...
— Poems • Samuel Rogers

... the success of Schulze was due to his working in comparatively pure air, but even in such air his experiment is a very risky one. Germs will pass unwetted and unscathed through sulphuric acid unless the most special care is taken to detain them. I have repeatedly failed, by repeating Schulze's experiments, to obtain his results. Others have failed likewise. The air passes in bubbles through the bulbs, and to render the method secure, the passage of the air must be so slow as to cause the whole ...
— Fragments of science, V. 1-2 • John Tyndall

... think that would detain him long, Mr. Lindsay. He has only to march them into other territories, with permission to plunder, and they would be quite satisfied. He certainly can have no liking for the Rajahs of Berar or Kolapoore, for both of them assisted Nana to regain ...
— At the Point of the Bayonet - A Tale of the Mahratta War • G. A. Henty

... and extended survey of the life and actions of Elizabeth which has made the principal business of these pages, it would be a trespass alike on the patience and the judgement of the reader to detain him with a formal review of her character;—let it suffice to complete the portrait by ...
— Memoirs of the Court of Queen Elizabeth • Lucy Aikin

... not detain him. She noticed the wealth of odours that his fluttering gown had left behind, and ...
— The Lion's Brood • Duffield Osborne

... dispose of those places," said Louis, "for they do not belong to me; the princes and the Christian orders, in whose hands they are, can alone keep or surrender them." The sultan, in anger, threatened to have the king put to the torture, or sent to the Grand Khalif of Bagdad, who would detain him in prison for the rest of his days. "I am your prisoner," said Louis; "you can do with me what you will." "You call yourself our prisoner," said the Mussulman negotiators, "and so, we believe you ...
— A Popular History of France From The Earliest Times - Volume II. of VI. • Francois Pierre Guillaume Guizot

... the authors of the following Treatise have said in their preface, the Editor judges it unnecessary for him to detain the reader long with any observations of his upon the subject. He, however, could sincerely wish that the friends of Christ would pay that attention to the government and discipline of his Church which it justly deserves. Although this subject should not be placed among the things essential ...
— The Divine Right of Church Government • Sundry Ministers Of Christ Within The City Of London

... leaning on his children, Gotzkowsky crossed the room. No one dared to detain him. Shame and remorse, anger and terror, kept them all spell-bound. "Let us go, let us go; I have a horror of this house, ...
— The Merchant of Berlin - An Historical Novel • L. Muhlbach

... for juggles. They affected to discover all of a sudden that they had acted illegally in matriculating female students. They would, therefore, not give back their fees, and pay them two hundred pounds apiece for breach of contract, but detain their fees and stop their studies until compelled by judicial decision to keep faith. Observe, it was under advice of the lord-justice-general they had matriculated us, and entered into a contract with us, for fulfilling which it was not, and is not, in ...
— The Woman-Hater • Charles Reade

... his aides and Mr. Forrest, boarded the train in Southern Kansas. Allison invited them all into the private car and proposed making them his guests on the homeward run. The chief declined for himself and staff, saying that they had other matters to detain them, but it transpired that Mr. Forrest was to go right on. He had his berth engaged in an adjoining sleeper, but spent several hours with the railway party, and on their arrival in Chicago the Allisons had insisted ...
— A Tame Surrender, A Story of The Chicago Strike • Charles King

... on High, William, and it has been accorded to me," she replied in a low sweet voice. "I can now speak to you. It is not to weary you with supplications or reproaches that I thus detain you. I have something to impart to you, and I am sure you will eagerly listen to it. Come nearer, that we ...
— The Star-Chamber, Volume 1 - An Historical Romance • W. Harrison Ainsworth

... stood pausing before telling her of his exceeding happiness; that very pain made her think that opposition would be selfish. She must go some time or other, and it was foolish to defer the struggle; she must not detain her parents in an infected place, nor keep her mother from Charles. She therefore consented, and let them do what they pleased,—only insisting on Arnaud's being ...
— The Heir of Redclyffe • Charlotte M. Yonge

... It is only what the law terms prima facie evidence; that is, good until contradicted or explained. Thus, if A sends wares or merchandise to B, with a receipt, as a hint that the transaction is intended to be for ready money, and B detain the receipt without paying the cash, A will be at liberty to prove the circumstances and to recover his claim. The evidence to rebut the receipt must, however, be clear and indubitable, as, after all, written evidence is of a stronger nature than ...
— The Book of Household Management • Mrs. Isabella Beeton

... maidens sore: "Wilt thou detain us here the live-long night, Or must we, stripling, proffer ...
— Romantic Ballads - translated from the Danish; and Miscellaneous Pieces • George Borrow

... but commonly harmless. They are not foreign invaders like the more violent pathogenic species, such as those of Asiatic cholera, but may be compared to domestic enemies at hand. It is these ever-present bacteria which the surgeon must guard against. The methods by which he does this need not detain us here. They consist essentially in bacteriological cleanliness. The operation is performed with sterilized instruments under most ...
— The Story Of Germ Life • H. W. Conn

... protested, as she hurriedly came forth. "We are just as much obliged to you, Mr. Gleason, but—not to-day." And with that they resumed their homeward stroll. Once through the gate Mr. Gleason slackened the pace, so as to detain his fair companion ...
— Marion's Faith. • Charles King

... the arts of the Eusebian faction would have been confounded, if they had not aggravated the guilt of the primate, by the dexterous supposition of an unpardonable offence; a criminal design to intercept and detain the corn-fleet of Alexandria, which supplied the subsistence of the new capital. The emperor was satisfied that the peace of Egypt would be secured by the absence of a popular leader; but he refused to fill the ...
— The History of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire - Volume 2 • Edward Gibbon

... her, and, smiling mournfully as she passed him by, glided from the chamber; and he did not dare to detain her. ...
— Zanoni • Edward Bulwer Lytton

... particularly, his admirable commentary on the 13th chapter of the First Epistle to the Corinthians, wherein he outstrips all that went before him and, in fine, he enforces the exercise of this grace with the most convincing argument and the most powerful motives. And now, not to detain the reader from the perusal, it is earnestly wished that the end of the publication may, by the blessing of God, be obtained, which is, that Christians in our days may be as the primitive ones,—of one mind ...
— The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning • Hugh Binning

... of a compromise. Something of ideal truth is sacrificed for the sake of the representation, and something in the exactness of the representation is sacrificed to the ideal. Still, works of art have a permanent element; they idealize and detain the passing thought, and are the intermediates ...
— The Republic • Plato

... them, and told the mother that she and her sons had been legally made free by being brought by their master into a free State. After some delay, Jane rose to leave the boat. Wheeler endeavored to detain her. Williamson held Wheeler back, and the woman went on shore, a number of colored persons taking up the boys and carrying them from the boat. They were enabled to escape. ...
— The Fugitive Slave Law and Its Victims - Anti-Slavery Tracts No. 18 • American Anti-Slavery Society

... Stephanie arose at length with a feeling that she must go up into the sunshine and face the future. The thought of meeting Pierre even could not ultimately detain her below, though it kept her there considerably longer than usual. After all, was she not bound to meet him? Of what use was it ...
— The Swindler and Other Stories • Ethel M. Dell

... to depart just yet nor thus. To the surprise of all, Dennis himself now appeared in the doorway and held up his hand to detain her. Until then, he had showed but slight interest in her, and his strange staring at Bonny had been unnoticed by his wife. Now his face wore a puzzled expression and he passed his hand across his eyes as if he wished to clear his sight. He gazed with ...
— A Sunny Little Lass • Evelyn Raymond

... cattle get among the dread Tzetse flies, and die off in a few hours; the horses catch the "paardsikte" (a kind of murrain), or tumble into pitfalls; wagons break down, servants run away with guns, native chiefs detain the wagons for weeks, together with a host of minor drawbacks. Still, if a man is worthy of the name of hunter, and boldly faces these difficulties, he will pay himself well, provided that his health holds out—there ...
— Happy Days for Boys and Girls • Various

... pained girl, the tears starting to her eyes, in spite of her efforts to restrain them, "I do not exactly know what can detain him. Perhaps he is not at the farm," and here her tears forced their way—"you know, dearest mamma, that he is very fond ...
— Hardscrabble - The Fall of Chicago: A Tale of Indian Warfare • John Richardson

... PEACE! and underneath thy feet See sudden flowers adorn the rugged soil? In bleak Siberia blows, Waked by thy genial breath, the balmy rose? Waved over by thy magic wand, Does life inform fell Lybia's burning sand? Or does some isle thy parting flight detain, Where roves the Indian through primaeval shades; Haunts the pure pleasures of the sylvan reign, And, led by Reason's light, the path ...
— The Minstrel; or the Progress of Genius - with some other poems • James Beattie

... or Uther's, blameless lord, True knight, who died for those thou couldst not save When the Round Table brake their plighted word,— The lord of song hath set thee in thy grace And glory, rescued from the phantom world, Before us face to face; No more Avilion bowers the King detain; The mystic child ...
— The Visions of England - Lyrics on leading men and events in English History • Francis T. Palgrave

... "What can detain him thus? will he deceive me?" she murmured to herself. "Oh! how foolish—worse than foolish—mad—to confide in the promise of a professed bandit! The jewels are worth a thousand times the reward ...
— Wagner, the Wehr-Wolf • George W. M. Reynolds

... to detain her for a little chat. "Well," said he, "it's a good hospital—for you folks with money. Of course, for us poor people it's different. You couldn't hire ...
— Susan Lenox: Her Fall and Rise • David Graham Phillips

... silently fixed her large dreamy eyes upon him for a few moments and then, picking some flowers, she said with emotion, "Go, I won't detain you longer! In a few days we shall see each other again. Lay these flowers on the ...
— The Social Cancer - A Complete English Version of Noli Me Tangere • Jose Rizal



Words linked to "Detain" :   retard, detainee, jail, catch, slow, intern, imprison, straiten, stonewall, pin down, jug, immure, cage, delay, slow down, remand, stall, check



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