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# retention

«retention» in Mova's school dictionary: **keeping something, or keeping it from being lost** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

noun (retention — usually uncountable)

### meaning for a pupil

1) Retention is keeping something, or keeping it from being lost. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/retention/#m1)

2) (UK school) Retention can mean keeping a pupil back a year. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/retention/#m2)

3) (science/health) Water retention is when the body holds too much water. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/retention/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

A formal word: in learning, «memory retention» is how much you remember. In science, soil with good water retention holds water. Phrases: «memory retention», «water retention», «heat retention».

### examples

- Revision helps the retention of facts. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/retention/#x1)
- Clay soil has good water retention. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/retention/#x2)
- The wool coat has good heat retention. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/retention/#x3)
- Staff retention is a problem for the company. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/retention/#x4)
- Swelling in the ankles can be caused by water retention. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/retention/#x5)

### note

Formal; noun of «retain» (keep). Uncountable. In US schools «retention» can mean having to repeat a grade.

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «retention» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/retention/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.