retention

Language: en

🇬🇧 /rɪˈtɛnʃən/ 🇺🇸 /riːˈtɛnʃən/

📖 Definitions

  1. noun
    The act of retaining or the state of being retained; the continued possession, use, or control of something.; The ability to remember or recall information, experiences, or knowledge over time.; The continued holding or containment of a substance, fluid, or material within a system or structure.; In medicine, the abnormal accumulation or failure to expel a bodily substance, such as urine or feces.; In law, the right to keep possession of property or documents until a debt or obligation is fulfilled.; In business and marketing, the ability of a company to keep its customers over a specified period of time.; In hydrology or environmental science, the storage of water in a reservoir, basin, or soil for a period of time.; In accounting or finance, the portion of earnings not distributed as dividends but kept by the company for reinvestment.; In data management, the period for which data or records are kept before being deleted or archived.; In psychology, the persistence of learned behavior or information in memory over time.

🔗 Details

Word forms

uncountable

Collocations

retention ratecustomer retentionemployee retentionmemory retentionretention policydata retention

Derivatives

retainretentiveretentivelyretentivenessretentionist

Synonyms

preservationmaintenancekeepingconservationholding

Antonyms

releaselossdisposal

Commonly confused

detention
EN: 'Detention' refers to the act of detaining or holding someone (often in a legal or disciplinary context); 'retention' refers to the act of keeping or preserving something.
attention
EN: 'Attention' is the focus of the mind on something; 'retention' is the act of keeping or holding onto something.

Spelling tips

EN: Note that the verb 'retain' becomes 'retention' (not 'retainment'), with the 'ai' changing to 'e'. Don't confuse with 'detention'.

💬 Examples

  1. The company's employee retention rate improved significantly after the new benefits package was introduced.

  2. Students who use spaced repetition techniques tend to have better retention of the material they study.

  3. Water retention in the lower extremities can be a symptom of heart failure.

  4. The patient was diagnosed with urinary retention and required catheterization.

  5. The contractor exercised a right of retention over the building materials until payment was received.

  6. Customer retention is often more cost-effective than acquiring new customers.

  7. The retention pond was designed to manage stormwater runoff and reduce flooding in the neighborhood.

  8. The board voted to increase the retention of profits to fund the expansion into new markets.

  9. The company's data retention policy requires all financial records to be stored for at least seven years.

  10. The study measured retention of conditioned responses after varying intervals without reinforcement.