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verb

retain

CEFR B1

to continue to hold or keep possession of

In a sentence

Six example sentences with retain, each labelled with its topic.

  • Deep-rooted grasses retain water through the dry months, which is why the restored slope no longer washes onto the road.

    Environment

  • Older runners retain more speed than expected if they keep sprinting once a week rather than only logging slow miles.

    Fitness

  • Firms that retain skilled staff through a downturn recover faster, because hiring and training replacements costs more than wages saved.

    Economics

  • The club chose to retain its coach despite the losing season, citing how far the young roster had come.

    Basketball

  • Students retain far more of a lecture when they test themselves the next day than when they simply reread.

    Psychology

  • The founders retained control of the board after the round, giving up only one of the five seats.

    Startups

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Found in these word lists

Found in 10 published word lists

Each source is a published word list that contains retain. No exam board publishes an official GRE, GMAT or SAT list; GMAT words come from GRE lists and the Academic Word List.

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