Synonyms of detaining

detaining

verb

present participle of detain

1

as in arresting

to take or keep (someone) in confinement by authority of law

Police detained the suspect.

Related Words

• arresting
• apprehending
• seizing
• restraining
• jailing
• imprisoning
• incarcerating
• confining
• restricting
• limiting
• pinching
• nicking
• committing
• shutting
• capturing
• holding
• nabbing
• constraining
• nailing
• running in
• grabbing
• pulling in
• collaring
• locking (up)
• snatching
• busting
• interning
• trapping
• barring
• picking up
• handcuffing
• gating
• snaring
• jugging
• catching
• bagging
• grappling
• hooking
• immuring
• snapping (up)
• binding
• landing
• remanding
• shackling
• fettering
• getting
• enchaining
• manacling
• trammeling
• rearresting

Dissimilar Words

• releasing
• freeing
• springing
• loosening
• emancipating
• liberating
• loosing
• discharging
• unchaining
• unbinding

2

as in delaying

to keep (someone or something) from proceeding or progressing

She sent word that she had been unavoidably detained.

The plane was detained for hours due to inclement weather.

Related Words

• delaying
• slowing
• blocking
• hindering
• retarding
• keeping
• impeding
• obstructing
• suspending
• blockading
• snagging
• stalling
• stemming
• extending
• pausing
• halting
• hesitating
• holding
• prolonging
• balking
• lengthening
• clogging
• deferring
• baffling
• holding back
• holding up
• setting back
• damming
• stretching (out)
• arresting
• terminating
• protracting
• repressing
• remitting
• holding over
• bottlenecking
• shelving
• concluding
• ending
• discontinuing
• cutting off
• holding off (on)
• suppressing
• stopping
• putting over
• putting off
• checking
• staying
• squashing
• stunting
• turning back
• laying over
• squelching
• stilling
• calling
• catching
• reining (in)
• pulling up
• bringing up
• stanching
• drawing up
• choking off
• fetching up

Dissimilar Words

• continuing
• persisting
• keeping (on)
• carrying on
• proceeding
• moving
• advancing
• keeping up
• running on
• marching
• progressing
• pushing
• stirring
• driving
• going along
• actuating
• following through (with)
• propelling
• spurring
• faring
• impelling
• wending
• goading
• budging

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of detaining

Police surrounded the demonstrators outside the Caglayan courthouse before detaining them. — ABC News, 15 Sep. 2026

Nearly 500 federal, state and local officers descended on the sprawling plant, detaining 475 workers, mostly South Koreans. — Hanna Park, CNN Money, 15 Sep. 2026

One day, her teen-age daughter, on the way to choir practice, witnessed ICE detaining someone outside her bus; Bre sent her children to stay with relatives in the suburbs. — Emily Witt, New Yorker, 31 Aug. 2026

According to witnesses of the raid, local police and Canyon County sheriff’s deputies assisted ICE agents by zip-tying children and detaining people without asking about their immigration status. — Rachel Spacek, Los Angeles Times, 28 Aug. 2026

Other images and videos show immigration agents forcefully detaining men on the street. — Tony Aiello, CBS News, 28 Aug. 2026

The court ruled that assigning an egregiously high bail, despite a defendant’s income declaration, was just a way of detaining them. — Evelyn Ronan, Sacbee.com, 20 Aug. 2026

Collins lifted his shirt, and investigators removed a handgun from his waistband before detaining him. — Caroline Zimmerman, Kansas City Star, 14 Aug. 2026

That’s when four cars suddenly stopped at the spot, and six masked and armed federal agents emerged and converged, detaining the men without immediately identifying themselves, according to the initial lawsuit. — Staff and Wire Reports, Daily News, 13 Aug. 2026