Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun An obsolete form of retinue.

Etymologies

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Examples

  • Appareil consistant en une lourde lame retenue entre des montants, qui glisse vers le bas pour décapiter un condamné à mort.

    Archive 2010-05-01 Rene Meertens 2010

  • This avowal, made without the least appearance either of shame or retenue, seemed to have a striking effect on the whole society.

    Saint Ronan's Well 2008

  • C'est le patron qui m'annonce que ma candidature a ete retenue pour passer a la deuxieme etape du recrutement.

    pinku-tk Diary Entry pinku-tk 2008

  • Pour autant que ma proposition soit retenue, j'y parlerai de l'importance du rôle des blogueurs polyglottes dans l'assouplissement des frontières linguistiques, des différentes stratégies que l'on peut mettre en place pour bloguer dans plus d'une langue, et des adaptations plugins à disposition pour nos outils fondamentalement monolingues.

    BlogTalk 2008 Proposal — Being Multilingual: Blogging in More Than One Language — Climb to the Stars 2007

  • But one cannot too early inculcate retenue and decorum to young ladies in a country where demoiselles seem for ever to forget that they are young ladies of condition.

    The Newcomes 2006

  • As I was better mounted than they, I said that in the event of my reaching our night-halt first I would order supper and beds for them, and they informed me that every house on the road had been retenue for me, so that I was really making quite a royal progress.

    The Romance of Isabel Lady Burton 2006

  • Prince, having less retenue than his French diplomatic colleague, insisted upon taking a turn with the charming creature, and twirled round the ball-room with her, scattering the diamonds out of his boot-tassels and hussar jacket until his Highness was fairly out of breath.

    Vanity Fair 2006

  • I hestitate to include the complete recipe, especially from such a newly released book from somebody with a retenue of more vigilant lawyers than I.

    Archive 2004-11-01 Niki 2004

  • Streets in Wall Street and lower Manhattan were blocked off to local traffic in the morning to allow US President Bill Clinton and his retenue to make its way to a helicopter that was to carry them to Hyde Park for a meeting with Russian President Boris Yeltsin.

    ANC Daily News Briefing 1995

  • Of the majority of Soviet soldiers it was true to say that, after their achievements and losses of the previous month, "Ils ... prenaient possession du pays con - quis, s'adonnant sans retenue à la récupération individuelle."

    Barbarossa Clark, Alan 1965

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