retention
/ri'tenʃn/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Noun:
- The act of keeping something in one's possession or control: The state or fact of retaining something.
- The ability to retain or hold something, especially liquid or information: The power of holding or containing.
- The continued possession, use, or control of something: The act of keeping something in existence or in a particular state.
- (Medical) The abnormal holding of a substance within the body: For example, the inability to void urine or feces.
Usage and Examples
- General Use (Act of Keeping):
- The retention of key documents is essential for the audit. (Keeping key documents is essential.)
- The company's data retention policy lasts for seven years. (The policy for keeping data lasts seven years.)
- Ability to Hold (Liquid/Information):
- This soil has excellent water retention. (This soil holds water very well.)
- The course aims to improve information retention. (The course aims to improve the ability to remember information.)
- Continued Possession/Control:
- Employee retention is a major goal for the HR department. (Keeping employees is a major goal.)
- Medical Context:
- The patient was suffering from urinary retention. (The patient was unable to empty their bladder.)
Advanced Usage
- "Retention rate": A metric, often expressed as a percentage, measuring the ability to keep members, customers, or employees over a period.
- The university boasts a high student retention rate.
- "Retention period": The length of time data or records are kept before being destroyed or archived.
- The legal retention period for tax records is six years.
Variants and Related Words
- Retain (verb): To keep or continue to have something.
- She retained a copy of the letter.
- Retentive (adjective): Having the ability to retain or remember.
- He has a retentive memory for details.
- Retentiveness / Retentivity (noun): The quality of being retentive.
- The retentivity of the material was tested.
Synonyms
- Keeping: The act of holding or retaining.
- Maintenance: The process of preserving or continuing a state.
- Preservation: The act of keeping something safe from harm or decay.
- Memory: The faculty by which the mind stores and remembers information (in the context of information retention).
Antonyms
- Release: The act of setting free or letting go.
- Loss: The fact or process of losing something.
- Forgetting: Failure to remember.
Related Phrases and Terms
- Customer retention: The activities and actions companies take to reduce customer defections.
- Selective retention: The process by which people are more likely to remember messages that are consistent with their pre-existing attitudes and beliefs.
Noun
- the power of retaining liquid
- moisture retentivity of soil
- the power of retaining and recalling past experience
- he had a good memory when he was younger
- the act of retaining something