1. The act of keeping, retaining, or maintaining something
   "The company's employee retention strategies helped reduce turnover";
   - keeping, holding
    
2. The power of retaining and recalling past experience
   "His remarkable retention helped him excel in history class";
   - memory, retentiveness, retentivity
    
3. The power of retaining liquid
   "moisture retention of soil";
   - retentiveness, retentivity
    
4. (medicine) the involuntary withholding of urine and faeces
   "The patient was experiencing urinary retention and required catheterization"

Derived forms: retentions

Type of: faculty, impermeability, impermeableness, mental faculty, module, ownership, possession

Encyclopedia: Retention