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''retainer'' ▫ᴱᴺ Entries

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''retainer'' ▫ᴱᴺ｜Definition｜1st｜20260609164652-00-⌔

retainer - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

Noun

retainer (plural retainers)

  • Any thing or person that retains.
  • A dependent or follower of someone of rank.
    • ✤ If they possessed the means to marshal labour, pile up food resources and provender armies of year-round retainers, what sort of royalty would consciously elect not to do so.1
  • A paid servant, especially one who has been employed for many years.
    • ✤ Of all this family lore I knew but little and vaguely; only what is to be gathered from the fireside talk of old retainers in the nursery.2
  • A fee one pays to reserve the other’s time for services.
    • ✤ This lawyer charges a retainer for his work.
  • (dentistry) A device that holds teeth in position after orthodontic treatment.
    • ✤ You give me head/It makes it worse/Take out your fuckin’ retainer/Put it in your purse3
  • (rail transport, mechanical engineering) A retaining valve.

Etymology

From retain + -er.

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ɹɪˈteɪn.ə/
    • Audio (Southern England): 🔊
  • (General American) IPA: /ɹɪˈteɪn.ɚ/, /ɹəˈteɪn.ɚ/
  • Rhymes: -eɪnə(ɹ)

Printed 2026-06-28.

(echo:: @ ⌗)

Footnotes

  1. 2021 October 19, David Graeber, David Wengrowr, “Unfreezing the ice age: the truth about humanity’s deep past”, in The Guardian, UK: ↩

  2. 1865, Sheridan Le Fanu, Uncle Silas: ↩

  3. 1981, “Too Drunk to Fuck”, performed by Dead Kennedys: ↩

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Secondary

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