retain

From Wiktionary
retain is on the Academic Word List.

Pronunciation[change]

Verb[change]

Plain form
retain

Third-person singular
retains

Past tense
retained

Past participle
retained

Present participle
retaining

  1. (transitive) If you retain something, you keep it.
    After the election, the government retained control of the lower house, but lost the upper house.
    The company retains the right to change the price at any time.
    They joined the group but still managed to retain their independence at the same time.
  2. (transitive) If you retain someone (usually a professional), you pay them to do a job.
    Since being charged by police, Black has retained a lawyer.
    With better wages abroad it is becoming increasingly difficult to retain employees.