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Detain   /dɪtˈeɪn/   Listen
Detain

verb
(past & past part. detained; pres. part. detaining)
1.
Deprive of freedom; take into confinement.  Synonym: confine.
2.
Stop or halt.  Synonyms: delay, stay.
3.
Cause to be slowed down or delayed.  Synonyms: delay, hold up.  "She delayed the work that she didn't want to perform"



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"Detain" Quotes from Famous Books



... by his engagement concerning Palmyre; and, at the end of ten years, to his own astonishment, responded favorably to a letter from Honore's sister, irresistible for its goodness, good sense, and eloquent pleading, asking leave to detain Palmyre two years longer; but this response came only after the old master and his pretty, stricken Aurora had wept over it until they were weak and gentle,—and was not a response either, but only ...
— The Grandissimes • George Washington Cable

... a word to say to me? No answer? Not even a look?" She waited a moment more. A marked change came over her. She turned slowly to leave the summer-house. "I am sorry to have troubled you, Mr. Delamayn. I won't detain ...
— Man and Wife • Wilkie Collins

... thing and the other, with ugly words which would better suit the fish-market than the council chamber; and if this be all endured, His Honor will not rest yet unless he has his will. To demonstrate this by examples and proof, though easily done, would nevertheless detain us too long; but we all say and affirm that this has been his common practice from the first and still daily continues. And this is the condition and nature of things in the council on the part of the Director, who is its head and president. Let us now briefly ...
— Narrative of New Netherland • J. F. Jameson, Editor

... tries to rise, but is too weak, and the king bids her dispense with ceremony. While he expresses his happiness at having found his love reciprocated, one of the companions mutters something about "Kings having many loves," and Sakuntala herself exclaims: "Why do you detain the royal sage? He is quite unhappy because he is separated from his wives at court." But the king protests that though he has many women at court, his heart belongs to no other but her. Left alone with Sakuntala, ...
— Primitive Love and Love-Stories • Henry Theophilus Finck

... their faces grew anxious and concerned. They began to hold on "hard all," a yard from the end of the walk, and tug frantically to get themselves free. Sometimes the hook came out easily, in which case they fell backwards into the arms of their friends. At other times it stuck, and they had to detain the progress of the boat a minute or more to get it out. And sometimes it all but escaped them, and continued sticking up out of the water while the barge itself floated on. Happily, the last tragedy never quite came off, although ...
— The Cock-House at Fellsgarth • Talbot Baines Reed

... to have disturbed you. You could doubtless find a better employment for your time. I will not detain you. Rejoin him, since you are longing to ...
— The Red Lily, Complete • Anatole France

... monsieur, either to accompany us to the presence of the Colonel or to let us go alone. I do not see that you have any right to detain us. If harm comes to Captain Stephens you will remember that his blood must be upon your head. You are either stupid beyond words to describe, or bent upon showing your authority. Will you come, or let me go, ...
— Annette, The Metis Spy • Joseph Edmund Collins

... belonging to a Frenchman, and 128 tons in the Rose belonging to the, same person; but insisted that all the rest was laden by Peter Lewgues of Hamburgh, and consigned to Henry Summer of Campvere. After a long consultation, considering that to capture or detain them might lose our voyage, already too late, we agreed that each of our ships should take out as much as they could stow for necessaries, and that we should consider next morning what was farther to be ...
— A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Volume VII • Robert Kerr

... before, a wandering priest Express'd his wish with visage sad— 'Ah, why,' he cry'd, 'in Satan's waste, 'Ah, why detain so fine ...
— Travels in the United States of America • William Priest

... Japan, but its teeth have been drawn (1) by the enactment that "those who, with the object of causing a strike, seduce or incite others" shall be sentenced to imprisonment from one to six months with a fine of from 3 to 30 yen; (2) by the power given to the police (a) to detain suspected persons for a succession of twenty-four hour periods, and (b) summarily to close public meetings, and (3) by the franchise being so narrow that few trade unionists have votes. During the six years of the War there were as many as 141,000 strikers, but a not uncommon ...
— The Foundations of Japan • J.W. Robertson Scott

... Atkinson, my friend," he said. "Beg a mutual pardon and say 'Good night.' We need not detain him any longer." Then, as Atkinson rose somewhat doubtfully and gathered his hat and stick and went towards the garden gate, Father Brown said in a more serious voice: ...
— The Innocence of Father Brown • G. K. Chesterton

... waiting for a letter from Florence, not with perfect patience, though I could barely have one, even if you did arrive, as you intended, on the 12th; but twenty temptations might have occurred to detain you in that land of eye and ear sight; my chief eagerness is to learn that you have received at least some of my letters. I wish too to know, though I cannot yet, whether you would have me direct Par Paris, or as I did before. In this state of uncertainty I did not prepare this to depart this morning; ...
— Letters of Horace Walpole, V4 • Horace Walpole

... to detain your letter to make this appeal to your patriotism, not merely from common feelings of personal regard, but from the official opinion which makes me regard you as necessary to the service of the country in your present position."* (* O.R. volume ...
— Stonewall Jackson And The American Civil War • G. F. R. Henderson

... there, But, like exiled air thrust from his sphere, Set in a foreign place; and straight from thence, Alcides-like, by mighty violence, He would have chas'd away the swelling main, That him from her unjustly did detain. Like as the sun in a diameter Fires and inflames objects removed far, And heateth kindly, shining laterally; So beauty sweetly quickens when 'tis nigh, But being separated and remov'd, Burns where it cherish'd, murders where it lov'd. ...
— Hero and Leander and Other Poems • Christopher Marlowe and George Chapman

... adventure, when the expectation of 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

... was not home yet, and she was distressed at the thought of keeping dinner waiting. He usually came back from down town at five o'clock, and even earlier. To-day she had expected that quite possibly the business implied in the Liverpool cable of the morning might detain him, but surely he should be home by now; and as the minutes passed she listened more and more anxiously for the sound of hoofs on the driveway at the ...
— The Pit • Frank Norris

... be handed over to somebody else? She was about to beg to be excused, when it struck her a refusal would look too pointed. Besides, she did not fear Sidney now. It would be a test of her indifference. So she murmured instead, "What can detain him?" ...
— Children of the Ghetto • I. Zangwill

... less noise, and do myself less mischief." He made a step towards the door; the girl, hardly knowing what she was doing, tried to detain him; but he got loose from her and opened it. The moon was shining brightly into the yard; he heard no sound. He proceeded to the end of the wooden rail, and perceived the dungheap, which rose to a good height: the girl made the sign of the cross. The marquis listened once again, heard nothing, ...
— CELEBRATED CRIMES, COMPLETE - THE COUNTESS DE SAINT-GERAN—1639 • ALEXANDRE DUMAS, PERE

... first act Siegfried bids Bruennhilde fare well. His active soul thirsts for deeds, and Bruennhilde having taught him all she knows does not detain him. He gives her the fatal ring in token of remembrance, confiding her to the care of Loge. Then we are transported to the Gibichung's hall on the Rhine. Gunther and his sister Gutrune sit there, together with their gloomy half-brother Hagen. The latter advises his brother to ...
— The Standard Operaglass - Detailed Plots of One Hundred and Fifty-one Celebrated Operas • Charles Annesley

... pushing men who tried to detain him, and as he jumped clear of a last reaching hand he uttered a snarl like an angry dog. Manifestly the short while he had spent inside the saloon had been devoted to drinking and talking himself into ...
— The Lone Star Ranger • Zane Grey

... I also revolutionised one leading part at last of the theory of explosive engines. These things are to be found in the Philosophical Transactions, the Mathematical Journal, and less frequently in one or two other such publications, and they needn't detain us here. Indeed, I doubt if I could write about them here. One acquires a sort of shorthand for one's notes and mind in relation to such special work. I have never taught; nor lectured, that is to ...
— Tono Bungay • H. G. Wells

... muses' strain Swelled over that famed stream, whose gentle tide In their bright lap the Etrurian vales detain, Sweet, as when winter storms have ceased to chide, And all the new-leaved woods, resounding wide, Send out wild hymns upon the scented air. Lo! to the smiling Arno's classic side The emulous nations of the West repair, ...
— Poetical Works of William Cullen Bryant - Household Edition • William Cullen Bryant

... will put you into it and give you my arm down the stairs.' 'For heaven's sake, sir,' I exclaimed, 'don't attempt it! I am old, very lame, and my sight is imperfect; the consequence of your offering me your arm will be that, in my anxiety not to detain your royal highness, I shall hurry down and probably tumble from the top of the staircase to the foot.' 'Very likely,' answered he, 'but if you tumble, I shall tumble with you. Be assured, however, that I will have the ...
— Devon, Its Moorlands, Streams and Coasts • Rosalind Northcote

... place, and leaving his own marked by leaving the unfortunate book sprawling upon its face on the table, like a drunkard on the ground. He often kept her waiting five minutes for her ride, or twenty for dinner; would stop and detain her, in their walks, while he corrected the practical blunders of some superannuated hedger and ditcher; had a trick of whipping off the thistle-tops while driving her in the garden chair, to the imminent indignation of her ponies; was sometimes seen to nod after dinner, ...
— The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction - Volume 19. Issue 548 - 26 May 1832 • Various

... and thus stopping a reconciliation which she thought was inevitable between two fond lovers. Unfortunately, sleep had conquered her before your departure, and she only woke when the alarum struck, too late to detain you, for you had rushed with the haste of a man who is flying from some terrible danger. As soon as I saw her, I gave her the key, although I did not know what it meant, and my friend, heaving a deep sigh, told me that she would explain ...
— The Memoires of Casanova, Complete • Jacques Casanova de Seingalt

... Fecamp, and actually, of its own accord, undertook a voyage by sea, and landed, without the displacing of a single nail, upon the sea-coast near the town. All these contes devots, and many others, you will find recorded in the Neustria Pia[31]. I will only detain you with a few words more upon the subject of the precious blood, a matter too important to be thus hastily dismissed. It was placed here by Duke Richard I.; but was lost in the course of a long and turbulent period, ...
— Account of a Tour in Normandy, Vol. I. (of 2) • Dawson Turner

... of the vessel to which I was attached, during the blockade of Bahia, had his leg——" But by this time the fidgets had completely taken possession of his auditors, especially of the senior surgeons; and turning upon them abruptly, he added, "But I will not detain you longer, gentlemen"—turning round upon all the surgeons—"your dinners must be waiting you on board your respective ships. But, Surgeon Sawyer, perhaps you may desire to wash your hands before you go. There is ...
— White Jacket - or, the World on a Man-of-War • Herman Melville

... sympathy). That is the worst of jam—it's apt to stain you. [To JOE, as he frantically endeavours to remove the traces of his crime. I see you're busy—so I'll not detain you! ...
— Punch, or the London Charivari Volume 98, January 4, 1890 • Various

... returning to Budapesth, and, Prince Ughtred, there is a revolver in the pocket of your coat also, not for use but for show. We must not be led into a disturbance with any one. Mind, it is the policy of every one to detain us if once the object of our journey is known. In Germany we shall not be safe, in Austria every moment will be perilous. But once across the frontier nothing will avail. I had news from Theos this morning. The people are on ...
— The Traitors • E. Phillips (Edward Phillips) Oppenheim

... conscious of a peculiar clinging tenderness for Mr. Lindsay, which rendered the prospect of his departure the keenest trial that had hitherto overtaken her; and when she thought of the immense distance that must soon divide them, the laborious nature of the engagement that would detain him perhaps a lifetime in the far East, her own dim uncertain future looked dark and dreary. The blazing sun went down at last, the fiery radiance of the pulpit window faded, and the birds that frequented the quiet sheltered enclosure sought their perches in the thickest foliage where ...
— Infelice • Augusta Jane Evans Wilson

... to see them, tho' unmoved and cold, Smile at the recollected Games, and then Depart, and mix in the Affairs of men; So Rachel looks upon the World, and sees It can no longer pain, no longer please: But just detain the passing Thought; just cause A little smile of Pity, or Applause— And then the recollected Soul repairs Her slumbering Hope, and heeds her ...
— Letters of Edward FitzGerald in Two Volumes - Vol. II • Edward FitzGerald

... rivers become absolutely impassable in this land of no bridges. On this account it is the custom of the wise traveller in these parts always to cross a river before camping, for otherwise a flood may come down and detain him and his caravan on the wrong side of the stream for perhaps a week. Of course when the rain ceases, the floods as quickly subside, the rivers and dongas dry up, and the country once more resumes ...
— The Man-eaters of Tsavo and Other East African Adventures • J. H. Patterson

... Fort Duquesne, I shall go to Niagara. Having taken that, if the season will permit, I shall proceed to Fort Frontenac. Fort Duquesne can hardly detain me more than three or ...
— Benjamin Franklin, A Picture of the Struggles of Our Infant Nation One Hundred Years Ago - American Pioneers and Patriots Series • John S. C. Abbott

... course not, and I quite see the dangers to which Fernand is exposed. But I must not detain you longer; I could talk to you about him till morning. You shall see him. I have told him to come at the hour the duke goes to the king's, and then we will question ...
— Vautrin • Honore de Balzac

... 20th. He and his Augsburg patrons began to suspect whether measures had not already been taken to detain him. They therefore had a small gate in the city wall opened in the night, and sent with him an escort well acquainted with the road. Thus he hastened away, as he himself described it, on a hard-trotting hack, ...
— The Great Events by Famous Historians, Volume 9 • Various

... the Horse was an ancient Hindu custom practised by kings exercising suzerain powers over surrounding kings. A horse was let free, and was allowed to wander from place to place, accompanied by the king's guard. If any neighbouring king ventured to detain the animal, it was a signal for war. If no king ventured to restrain the wanderer, it was considered a tacit mark of submission to the owner of the animal. And when the horse returned from its peregrinations, it was sacrificed with great pomp and splendour at a feast to which all neighbouring ...
— Maha-bharata - The Epic of Ancient India Condensed into English Verse • Anonymous

... allegatio," informs us that you detain from him a part of the property of his father Thomas. As it is proper that causes which concern you should first be remitted to you (so often employed as judges to settle the disputes of others), we call upon you to enquire into this claim, and ...
— The Letters of Cassiodorus - Being A Condensed Translation Of The Variae Epistolae Of - Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus Senator • Cassiodorus (AKA Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus Senator)

... him anonymous letters, threatening that he should be shot or stabbed if he dared to touch a hair of the prisoner's head. [778] On the morning of the eleventh of January he passed the bill. He at the same time passed a bill which authorised the government to detain Bernardi and some other conspirators in custody during twelve months. On the evening of that day a deeply mournful event was the talk of all London. The Countess of Aylesbury had watched with intense ...
— The History of England from the Accession of James II. - Volume 4 (of 5) • Thomas Babington Macaulay

... detain a heretic for ten days before delivering him to the bishop. The bishop might detain him for three months before his trial. Neither the secular judge nor the bishop had power to inflict indefinite imprisonment at will while the trial was delayed; ...
— History of England from the Fall of Wolsey to the Death of Elizabeth. Vol. II. • James Anthony Froude

... into our knapsacks, eyed us with a look of half pity, half contempt, and allowed us to pass unchallenged. We were, to him, only so many miserable "square-heads" (Germans) on our way to Paris. The curiosities of Strassburg need not detain me: the cathedral, and the wonderful clock; the theatre, which we visited; the fortifications, which we overlooked from the lofty spire; those things are set down in every traveller's guidebook, and the recollection of them is probably much more agreeable ...
— A Tramp's Wallet - stored by an English goldsmith during his wanderings in Germany and France • William Duthie

... old landlady. Or rather to say "Good night," as I had to start at one o'clock in the morning so as to have a couple, of hours before sunrise at "The Stones" on my way to Salisbury. Her latest effort to detain me a day longer had been made and there was no more ...
— Afoot in England • W.H. Hudson

... by those who had known them longer than the good people of Norristown, and had a fair prospect of starvation opening before them. They removed again. This time there was no inducement to linger, for they had no local attachments to detain them. They crossed the mountains, and, descending into the vale of the Susquehanna, pitched their tent at Sunbury. Here the same temporary success excited the same hopes, only to be blighted in the bud ...
— Tales for Young and Old • Various

... my purpose to detain you with a long preface, because I am aware that long prefaces are seldom read; but I wish to inform you that I have written this book, in the humble hope of being useful to those in whom I am so anxiously interested. I am ...
— The World of Waters - A Peaceful Progress o'er the Unpathed Sea • Mrs. David Osborne

... he doesn't happen to be there?" she asked, smitten with a sudden fear. "Something might detain him, you know." ...
— In the High Valley - Being the fifth and last volume of the Katy Did series • Susan Coolidge

... Cheatham and Stewart, and Johnson's division of Lee's corps, had moved up the river five and one-half miles to Davis' ford, where he was laying his pontoons preparatory to crossing. His plan was to detain Schofield at the river by feinting with two divisions while he would lead seven divisions past the left flank and plant them across Schofield's line of retreat at Spring Hill, twelve miles north of Duck River. As Hood greatly outnumbered ...
— The Battle of Spring Hill, Tennessee - read after the stated meeting held February 2d, 1907 • John K. Shellenberger

... which Matthew seems to reckon as the second in the group, because he treats the two former as so closely connected as to be but one in numeration, need not detain us long. It is found only in this Gospel. The first point to be observed in it is the cry of these two blind men. There is something pathetic and exquisitely natural in the two being together, as is ...
— Expositions of Holy Scripture - St. Matthew Chaps. IX to XXVIII • Alexander Maclaren

... detain her. It was as though an invisible barrier cut her off from all but Peter. He followed her closely, forgetful of his wound, forgetful of everything but her pressing need. With dumb devotion he went after her, and they vanished beyond the flicker of ...
— The Lamp in the Desert • Ethel M. Dell

... officially declared war against the Emperor; and immediately several general and superior officers, and many French troops, who were in his service, abandoned him, and repaired to the headquarters of the Viceroy. Murat made endeavours to detain them; they replied, that as he had declared war against France, no Frenchman who loved his country could remain in his service. "Do you think," returned he, "that my heart is lees French than yours? On the contrary, I am much to be pitied. I hear of nothing but ...
— Memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte, Complete • Louis Antoine Fauvelet de Bourrienne

... poet has never as yet Esteemed it proper or fit To detain you with a long Encomiastic song On his own superior wit; But being abused and accused, And attacked of late As a foe of the State, He makes an appeal in his proper defense, To your voluble humor and temper and sense, With the following plea: Namely, that he Never attempted or ever meant ...
— Library Of The World's Best Literature, Ancient And Modern, Vol. 2 • Charles Dudley Warner

... of William Cutlep, a boy of sixteen, who is a picture of utter woe, with mind enough only left to know that he is in "awful pain," detain me too long; and when I must leave him, it is with the promise of coming up soon again, for he says he always did like to see "women folks around." His home is in Southern Virginia, whence he escaped to join the Union army; and he will never hear from ...
— Atlantic Monthly, Volume 20, No. 118, August, 1867 • Various

... of this aspect of the strategy would be imprudent, we will focus our efforts on three pillars. First, we will expand our law enforcement effort to capture, detain, and prosecute known and suspected terrorists. Second, America will focus decisive military power and specialized intelligence resources to defeat terrorist networks globally. Finally, with the cooperation of ...
— National Strategy for Combating Terrorism - February 2003 • United States

... stop his eating in the streets. Oh, he's swallowed it!" Misery choked violently, and looked with reproachful eyes at his mistress. "You sinner," patting the soft brown body, "come along—that is," addressing Lloyd, "if you do not wish to detain us ...
— The Lost Despatch • Natalie Sumner Lincoln

... with such wrongs dispense. I know his eye doth homage otherwhere; Or else what lets it but he would be here? Sister, you know he promis'd me a chain;— Would that alone, alone he would detain, So he would keep fair quarter with his bed! I see the jewel best enamelled Will lose his beauty; yet the gold 'bides still That others touch, yet often touching will Wear gold; and no man that hath a name By falsehood and corruption doth it shame. Since that my beauty cannot ...
— The Comedy of Errors • William Shakespeare [Collins edition]

... Night' herself. Nor did she come alone. Preceding her was Agon, the High Priest, arrayed in his most gorgeous vestments, and on either side were other priests. The reason for their presence was obvious — coming with them it would have been sacrilege to attempt to detain her. Behind her were a number of the great lords, and behind them a small body of picked guards. A glance at Sorais herself was enough to show that her mission was of no peaceful kind, for in place of ...
— Allan Quatermain • by H. Rider Haggard

... to stay a moment longer, for all the scene could be hers forever in memory—imperishable!—and Victor did not mean to detain her. But her face as she turned from the window, the hallowed setting of time and opportunity, and a heart-love hungering through hopeless, slow-dragging months, all had their own way with him. He put out ...
— A Master's Degree • Margaret Hill McCarter

... "Well, I thank you for your courtesy in informing me, Mr. Ashe. I will not detain you any longer ...
— Whirligigs • O. Henry

... this novel gentleness in the formerly so testy and proud companion, all now with a single mind desire him to stay, nay, refuse to let him go. He turns from them resolutely: "Detain me not! It would ill profit me to tarry! Never more for me repose! Onward and ever onward lies my way, to look backward were undoing!" He is hastening away, despite their entreaties, when Wolfram pronounces the name which brings him to ...
— The Wagnerian Romances • Gertrude Hall

... for our supper. This kind of travelling—forced marches—hard as it may appear, was what we liked best, for we felt that we were shortening the journey, and in doing so, shortening the risks of failure by disease, by war, by famine, and by mutiny. We had here no grasping chiefs to detain us for presents, nor had our men time to become irritable and truculent, concoct devices for stopping the ...
— The Discovery of the Source of the Nile • John Hanning Speke

... Napoleon (so writers said) when the winter changed the time of its appearance. The like might befall Markheim: the solid walls might become transparent and reveal his doings like those of bees in a glass hive; the stout planks might yield under his foot like quicksands and detain him in their clutch; ay, and there were soberer accidents that might destroy him: if, for instance, the house should fall and imprison him beside the body of his victim; or the house next door should fly on fire, and the firemen invade ...
— The Short-story • William Patterson Atkinson

... half! Go; Nina shall not detain thee one moment from those higher objects which make thee so dear to Nina. When—when shall ...
— Rienzi • Edward Bulwer Lytton

... I don't complain of poverty. Canto coram latrone. Well, Mr. Smith, don't let me detain you any longer in a sick room. Ha! that reminds me of a story I once heard in my younger days.' Here the vicar began a series of small private laughs, and Stephen looked inquiry. 'Oh, no, no! it is too bad—too bad to tell!' continued Mr. Swancourt in undertones of grim mirth. 'Well, ...
— A Pair of Blue Eyes • Thomas Hardy

... seemed least 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 ...
— Two Years with the Natives in the Western Pacific • Felix Speiser

... mended. A few days' knocking about, especially as I fancy we are going to have bad weather, will take the shine out of them, and, once off, take good care not to put it on again. A Boer with clean boots would be an anomaly indeed. Now, I will detain you no longer." ...
— With Buller in Natal - A Born Leader • G. A. Henty

... have the best classification extant of teas; and I will not detain you with any long descriptions of other kinds, seldom heard of by Americans, such as the "Sparrow's Tongue," the "Black Dragon," the "Dragon's Whiskers," the "Dragon's Pellet," the "Flowery Fragrance," and the ...
— Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 1, No. 4, February, 1858 • Various

... Foster was travelling from necessity and charity, and so within the exception of the statute. 2d, That the defendant could not justify himself as Constable unless he carried the person apprehended under the Sabbath law before a Justice. 3d, That as Constable he had no power to detain, and that he did not disclose his authority as Constable to arrest. And 4th, that the Sabbath law and ...
— The Olden Time Series, Vol. 5: Some Strange and Curious Punishments • Henry M. Brooks

... 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 truculent-looking Turk ...
— The Greville Memoirs - A Journal of the Reigns of King George IV and King William - IV, Volume 1 (of 3) • Charles C. F. Greville

... gentleman did not arrive by the very diligence which has just driven off full, and taken the same chamber the lady has just vacated; but more particularly if the only chaise in the place had not been hired by the lady's wicked persecutor on purpose to detain her. She, of course, returns to the twice-let chamber, and finds it occupied by ...
— Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 1, Complete • Various

... wrote to the authorities at Columbus, stating it as his opinion that there was a scheme on foot to detain Lieutenant Pennington until he was well enough to slip away. He was not aware that Doctor Hopkins had reported on the condition of his patient every week, and had already sent a letter saying he could be moved with safety, ...
— Raiding with Morgan • Byron A. Dunn

... of sword clattered in the fireplace, whither she hurled it. A moment she caught her face in her hands, and a sob shook her almost fiercely. Then she came past his lordship, across the room to Mr. Caryll, Rotherby making no shift to detain her. ...
— The Lion's Skin • Rafael Sabatini

... still assay. 32 In such proud lodging (friend) wouldst self denay? 14 Tell us where haply dwell'st thou, speak outright, Be bold and risk it, trusting truth to light, Say do these milk-white girls thy steps detain? If aye in tight-sealed lips thy tongue remain, All Amor's fruitage thou shalt cast away: Verbose is Venus, loving verbal play! 20 But, an it please thee, padlockt palate bear, So in your friendship I ...
— The Carmina of Caius Valerius Catullus • Caius Valerius Catullus

... that Stoddard desired to detain them in conversation, but Johnnie smilingly, yet with ...
— The Power and the Glory • Grace MacGowan Cooke

... nothing by it, and spoil your friend's dinner, in order to save yourself sixpence. Suppose you have a mile and a half to go, the fare is one shilling and sixpence; you will be about eighteen minutes going that distance, and for that sum you may detain the coach forty-four minutes. Always call a coach a quarter of an hour before you want it—i.e. if you do not wish to ...
— The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction - Vol. 13, No. 375, June 13, 1829 • Various

... the life-boats and pushing back the arms of those who wished to detain him, he exclaimed in an almost jubilant voice: "Let me go, let me go! We ...
— LOUISA OF PRUSSIA AND HER TIMES • Louise Muhlbach

... objects, pictures, bronzes, vases, and the rest, did not detain Mr. Richard Venner very long, whatever may have been his sensibilities to art. He was more curious about books and papers. A copy of Keats lay on the table. He opened it and read the name of Bernard C. Langdon on the blank leaf. An envelope ...
— Atlantic Monthly, Vol. VI.,October, 1860.—No. XXXVI. - A Magazine Of Literature, Art, And Politics • Various

... healthful exercise—but we will not detain you, ma'am; the pleasure of seeing you is something we had not reckoned on!" The judge's speech was thick and unctuous with good feeling. He wished that Mahaffy might have been there to note the reserve and dignity ...
— The Prodigal Judge • Vaughan Kester

... made coming upstairs," she made excuse; but they said, "Not we! It is the whole place that is in an uproar searching for the beautiful stranger. Young master he tried to detain her; but she slipped from him like an eel. But he declares he will find her; for if he doesn't he will die of ...
— English Fairy Tales • Flora Annie Steel

... forward with great pleasure to the performance. Success to your efforts! You will have plenty to do, so I won't detain you any longer. ...
— Tom and Some Other Girls - A Public School Story • Mrs. George de Horne Vaizey

... his chair, and this time she made no effort to detain him. He seemed to have recovered his self-composure, and it struck her painfully, humiliatingly almost, that he should have spoken in that light way of the expedition to Fontainebleau on the morrow.... Well, men ...
— The Glimpses of the Moon • Edith Wharton

... year 183-, Mr. Maverick writes to his friend Johns that the disturbed condition of public affairs in France will compel him to postpone his intended visit to America, and may possibly detain him for a long time to come. He further says,—"In order to prevent all possible hazards which may grow out of our revolutionary fervor on this side of the water, I have invested in United States securities, for the benefit ...
— The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 15, No. 92, June, 1865 • Various

... call to succeed in Brooklyn, N.Y., the Rev. Dr. Broadhead, the Chrysostom of the American pulpit, a call at a large salary; and there would have been nothing impossible to my brother in the way of religious work or Christian achievement had he tarried in his native land. But nothing could detain him from the work to which God called him long before he ...
— T. De Witt Talmage - As I Knew Him • T. De Witt Talmage

... and loud, And take two steeds with trappings proud, And take the youth whom thou lov'st best To bear thy harp, and learn thy song, And clothe you both in solemn vest, And over the mountains haste along, Lest wandering folk, that are abroad, Detain you on the ...
— Poems of Coleridge • Coleridge, ed Arthur Symons

... the company began to steal away by degrees to their repose. On his observing the society diminish, he discovered manifest signs of uneasiness; he therefore gave new force to his spirits, and new charms to his conversation, in order to detain the remaining few some time longer. This had some little effect; but the period could not be long delayed when he was to be conducted to his chamber. The remains of the company retired also; but they had scarce closed their eyes, when the house was alarmed ...
— The Mysteries of All Nations • James Grant

... in the ruin of the English power in France need not detain us long. Despite his successes, Du Guesclin persevered in his policy of wearing down the English by delays and by avoiding pitched battles. He turned his attention to Brittany, where Duke John, in difficulties with ...
— The History of England - From the Accession of Henry III. to the Death of Edward III. (1216-1377) • T.F. Tout

... in a wet mass at his feet, and walked away without attempting to detain or comfort the stricken husband. He too believed Elizabeth dead, and had no heart to offer consolation. Indeed, the pang of sorrow that this conviction brought took away ...
— A Noble Woman • Ann S. Stephens

... policy which appears to have commended itself to Mr. Fink-Nottle. He darted rapidly away, and the cabman, endeavouring to detain him, snatched at his overcoat. Mr. Fink-Nottle contrived to extricate himself from the coat, and it would seem that his appearance in the masquerade costume beneath it came as something of a shock to the cabman. Mr. Fink-Nottle informs me that he heard a species of whistling gasp, ...
— Right Ho, Jeeves • P. G. Wodehouse

... in France, while I should go with Mac to Germany to act as his second there. To keep entirely clear myself, but at the same time to watch everything, to exchange the German notes he obtained and to be ready to help if any one should attempt to detain him. ...
— Bidwell's Travels, from Wall Street to London Prison - Fifteen Years in Solitude • Austin Biron Bidwell

... offers them wine. But Sir Guyon, knowing a drop of it would have a baleful effect upon the drinker, boldly dashes it out of his hand. Then, threading his way through the Bower of Bliss, he reaches its innermost grove, although Phaedria tries to detain him by offering him sundry pleasures. Pressing onward, Sir Guyon finally catches a glimpse of Acrasia herself, reposing upon a bed of flowers, and holding on her lap the head of an innocent youth, who is helpless owing to her spell. Silently ...
— The Book of the Epic • Helene A. Guerber

... had heard and ventured on some pleasantry at which she laughed, and on my proposing that we should go for a walk she consented. She had left the commercial traveler, it came out in conversation, and we went on talking and walking, one idea only in my mind now; could I detain her till dark? Dolly, who was very pretty indeed, amused herself with me for hours, playing hot and cold, snubbing me one minute, encouraging me with her eyed another. Hour after hour went and she found this ...
— Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume 4 (of 6) • Havelock Ellis

... took some twenty minutes to reach its unexpected conclusion, and then, there being nothing to detain me any longer on the summit of the slope, I descended, rejoined Piet where he was patiently awaiting me within the shadow of the rock, remounted, and rode forward, our appearance at once putting the plucky little victor to precipitate flight. ...
— Through Veld and Forest - An African Story • Harry Collingwood

... chief, a friend of Mr Forster's, who had hitherto called himself an Earee, and would have been much offended if any one had called his title in question; also three women, his wife and daughter, and the mother of the late Toutaha. These, together with the canoes, I resolved to detain, and to send the chief to Otoo, thinking he would have weight enough with him to obtain the return of the musket, as his own property was at stake. He was, however, very unwilling to go on this embassy, and made various excuses, one of which ...
— A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Volume 14 • Robert Kerr

... the so-called accidents of life,—I may be detained long beyond my appointed time of absence. I trust, however, that you will each have confidence in me; and, should illness to myself or others detain me, that you will all ...
— Allegories of Life • Mrs. J. S. Adams

... to the rank of commander, and appointed to the command of the Harpy. The admiral informed Captain Wilson that he must detain the Aurora until the arrival of another frigate, hourly expected, and then she would be sent down to Mahon for him to take the command of her. Further, he intimated that a supply of live bullocks would be very agreeable, and begged that he ...
— Mr. Midshipman Easy • Captain Frederick Marryat

... figure out how he got through them suburbs is that parties wanted to have him arrested or shot, or something, but wouldn't let him stick round long enough to get it done; they was in two minds about him, I guess: they wished to detain him, but also wished harder to have ...
— Ma Pettengill • Harry Leon Wilson

... the correspondence which has recently taken place between the American minister at the Court of St. James, Mr. Stevenson, and the minister of foreign affairs of that Government on the right claimed by that Government to visit and detain vessels sailing under the American flag and engaged in prosecuting lawful commerce in the African seas. Our commercial interests in that region have experienced considerable increase and have become an object of much importance, and it is ...
— Complete State of the Union Addresses from 1790 to the Present • Various

... to detain our teachers to-morrow, girls," said Agnes, at parting, "we shall do just as well, I hope. So please all ...
— A Dear Little Girl • Amy E. Blanchard

... too, Sam," Mrs. Nancy lamented, as she accompanied her visitor to the gate. She was too conscientious to detain the man from ...
— Peak and Prairie - From a Colorado Sketch-book • Anna Fuller

... spoke, not with any sign of haste or embarrassment, but as if gracefully recognizing the desire of mother and son to be alone together; but Amherst, rising also, made a motion to detain her. ...
— The Fruit of the Tree • Edith Wharton

... Rappahannock and sack Washington. My implicit order that Washington should, by the judgment of all the commanders of army corps, be left entirely secure, had been neglected. It was precisely this that drove me to detain McDowell. ...
— Abraham Lincoln, Vol. II • John T. Morse

... confessed the astonishment and apprehension of the conqueror. A Spartan would have praised and pitied the virtue of these heroic slaves; but the tedious warfare and alternate success of the Roman and Persian arms cannot detain the attention of posterity at the foot of Mount Caucasus. The advantages obtained by the troops of Justinian were more frequent and splendid; but the forces of the great king were continually supplied, till they amounted to eight elephants and seventy thousand men, including twelve thousand ...
— The History of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire - Volume 4 • Edward Gibbon

... Social-house he had been three days without food, and was insane with hunger. He had but two ideas in his disordered brain—to eat, and to kill. He must do the first in order to gain strength for the second. Even the actual sight of his enemy, before the door of the refreshment room, could not detain him from the food that he had caught sight of through the door. His hunger partly appeased, he had started out boldly to find Murfree, who fled for home on seeing him. Finding no one there, however, and afraid to ...
— Joyce's Investments - A Story for Girls • Fannie E. Newberry

... delivered 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

... construed a sentence from one end to the other. Still, when they took the trouble to "mug" a question up, they expected to be believed. It hurt them a good deal to be informed that they knew nothing; and to detain them or set them impositions because of a difference of opinion on an historical, classical, or theological question seemed grossly unjust. When, for instance, Sir Digby Oakshott, Baronet, on an early day of the term, publicly stated that the chief features of Cromwell's ...
— The Master of the Shell • Talbot Baines Reed

... they have not been out of espionage and close espionage. So long as they are in a taxi, or at the Rataplan, there is no danger of the document getting away if either of them has it; but until we are certain that they have it, we won't detain them; we want the document to aid us in running down the traitor. I'm not at all sure that Snodgrass is aware of the character of the document. He probably stipulated not to know; he will be content with a division ...
— The Cab of the Sleeping Horse • John Reed Scott

... door the girl caught up with her. "But there's nothing to tell: why should there be? I've explained that I simply want to be quiet." Her look seemed to detain Mrs. Leath. ...
— The Reef • Edith Wharton

... manifold support from the Jewish peasants who were settled in this part of Egypt. The Egyptians, with the young king Ptolemy now at their head, whom Caesar had released to his people in the vain hope of allaying the insurrection by his means, despatched an army to the Nile, to detain Mithridates on its farther bank. The army fell in with the enemy even beyond Memphis at the so-called Jews' camp, between Onion and Heliopolis; nevertheless Mithridates, trained in the Roman fashion of manoeuvring and encamping, amidst successful conflicts gained the opposite ...
— History Of Egypt From 330 B.C. To The Present Time, Volume 10 (of 12) • S. Rappoport

... emotions, cannot quickly disentangle itself from the web of its own weaving, and return to its Parent Mind, the source of its own being. Hence a considerable delay in the world of transition, in Kamaloka, while the desires wear out and fade away to a point at which they can no longer detain the ...
— Death—and After? • Annie Besant

... the same time Mercedes reappeared, paler than before, but with that imperturbable expression of countenance which she sometimes wore. She went straight to the group of which her husband formed the centre. "Do not detain those gentlemen here, count," she said; "they would prefer, I should think, to breathe in the garden rather than suffocate here, since ...
— The Count of Monte Cristo • Alexandre Dumas, Pere

... 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 brown colour, extremely dirty, ...
— Narrative of a Mission to Central Africa Performed in the Years 1850-51, Volume 1 • James Richardson

... also walked away, as if fearing our commander would detain him with yet further questions, and the powwow, to take part in which three hundred men had marched so many miles, was come to an end without other result than the knowledge that the Mohawk chief would harry us of the valley to the best ...
— The Minute Boys of the Mohawk Valley • James Otis

... power to the said fifteen to press waggons, carts, and horses, oxen and men, and detain them to work a certain limited time, and within certain limited space of miles from their own dwellings, and at a certain rate of payment. No men, horses, or carts to be pressed against their consent during the times of hay-time or harvest, or upon market-days, ...
— An Essay Upon Projects • Daniel Defoe

... Further, wisdom denotes knowledge of Divine things, as stated above (A. 1). Now one in mortal sin may have knowledge of the Divine truth, according to Rom. 1:18: "(Those men that) detain the truth of God in injustice." Therefore wisdom is compatible ...
— Summa Theologica, Part II-II (Secunda Secundae) • Thomas Aquinas

... 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 wished ...
— One of Ours • Willa Cather

... months after his son's return, Mr. Elliot was obliged by some business of importance, to take a journey that he thought might detain him about a fortnight from home. He embraced the children at parting, desired them to behave well, and at his return ...
— A Week of Instruction and Amusement, • Mrs. Harley

... of the fortunes of the Empire in the East need not detain us long at this point of our history. This monarchy lasted over a thousand years—from the accession to power of Arcadius, A.D. 395, to the capture of Constantinople by the Turks, A.D. 1453. It will thus be seen that the greater part of its history belongs ...
— A General History for Colleges and High Schools • P. V. N. Myers

... harm you; you fear me, and think me mad; yes, I have been mad, but I'm not now; and I have come to save you from being as I have been. Nay, Florence, 't is useless for you to try to escape me; I will detain you but a short time. I heard your angry words as I was gathering herbs, and saw you fling your book away. I heard all. Listen to me, Florence Drew, and I will tell you a story by which ...
— Small Means and Great Ends • Edited by Mrs. M. H. Adams

... unblushing falsehood," says Mr Gardiner, they in other respects lied to the English Parliament. On May 19 Charles bade Montrose leave the country, which he succeeded in doing, despite the treacherous endeavours of his enemies to detain him till his day of ...
— A Short History of Scotland • Andrew Lang

... Although it was broad day in the other parts of the city, it was scarce dawn yet in Alsatia; and none of the sounds of industry or occupation were there heard, which had long before aroused the slumberers in any other quarter. The prospect was too tiresome and disagreeable to detain Lord Glenvarloch at his station, so, turning from the window, he examined with more interest the furniture and appearance of the apartment ...
— The Fortunes of Nigel • Sir Walter Scott

... King's hand, and sought to detain him. 'Beau pere, beau pere,' she said, 'you will not believe ...
— Two Penniless Princesses • Charlotte M. Yonge

... President, 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 Senate, ...
— The History of Woman Suffrage, Volume IV • Various

... and we cannot detain the reader longer, listening to those honest kindly voices, which have, perhaps, spoken quite as much as he is willing to give ear to. Let us hope, that in consideration of their kindness and simplicity, ...
— The Last of the Foresters • John Esten Cooke

... the moment came when the bell fixed at the door sounded sharply, and he saw the sleek head and chubby red face he had been so anxiously expecting. He was busy with a customer; but that could not detain him then, and he rushed quickly into the outer shop. "Well, William," he said, breathlessly, "a nice time you've been over that message! I gave you ...
— The Tinted Venus - A Farcical Romance • F. Anstey

... I shall detain the reader no longer than to inform him, that I am indebted for many of the most popular passages in this play to the inimitable performer, who, in the character of the Gamester, exceeded every idea I had conceived of it ...
— The Gamester (1753) • Edward Moore

... must not detain you longer," said Caroline, knowing that Mrs. Trigg did not like to be put past her tea-hour. "Mamma says that, if convenient, we are to drink tea with you some night soon, and my cousins are quite ...
— Carry's Rose - or, the Magic of Kindness. A Tale for the Young • Mrs. George Cupples

... my mother and you as to a certain matter," he said, answering Prince Michael with apparent nonchalance. "I shall not detain you very long. Beliani, Julius, and Monsieur Nesimir are in the building, and then we only await Stampoff—with whom, by the way, I almost succeeded in ...
— A Son of the Immortals • Louis Tracy



Words linked to "Detain" :   cage, confine, bind over, buy time, jail, remand, slow up, put away, jug, incarcerate, slow, detention, rush, put behind bars, imprison, slow down, straiten, retard, stall, decelerate, immure, intern, catch, stonewall, pin down, keep in, check, keep, free, trap, cage in, lag, gaol



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