1SCKEEP somebody IN A PLACEto officially prevent someone from leaving a place 留置,扣押,拘留
Two suspects have been detained by the police for questioning.
两名嫌疑人被警方拘留审问。
She was detained in hospital with a suspected broken leg.
她因腿部疑似骨折而被留医。
2DELAY formal to stop someone from leaving as soon as they expected 耽搁,阻留SYN delay
He was detained in Washington on urgent business.
他因紧急事务耽搁在了华盛顿。
nGrammar
Detain is often passive in this meaning.
Examples from the Corpus
detain• When Stephen reaches Winchester safely, the Earl of Gloucester will be released and his sondetained.• Mr Jones should be here, but I'm afraid he's been unavoidably detained.• His body was found in the sportscomplex where police had taken those detained.• Three men from the ship have been detained for questioning by the HarbourAuthorities.• All are detained in Darlington MemorialHospital.• Mrs. Flanagan was detained in Washington on urgent business.• George had a tendency to be detained or shot at for sketchingcoastalinstallations in strategic areas.• The police are now allowed to detainterroristsuspects for as long as a week.• The officer later detained the man after a struggle, but needed ten stitches to the wound.• Police detained two suspects for questioning.• Since 1981 hundreds of people have been detained under this law, some for more than eight years.• I won't detain you for much longer, Miss Reid. There are just a few more questions that I need to ask you.
detained ... for questioning• The captain was detained for questioning.• At the islands' police headquarters they were detained for questioning for four and a halfhours.
Origindetain
(1400-1500)Old Frenchdetenir, from Latindetinere, from tenere“to hold”