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Resist vs Retain - What's the difference?

resist | retain |

In lang=en terms the difference between resist and retain

is that resist is to oppose while retain is to hold secure.

In obsolete|lang=en terms the difference between resist and retain

is that resist is (obsolete) to be distasteful to while retain is (obsolete) to belong; to pertain.

As verbs the difference between resist and retain

is that resist is to attempt to counter the actions or effects of while retain is to keep in possession or use.

As a noun resist

is a protective coating or covering oxford english dictionary , 2nd ed, 1989.

resist

English

Verb

(en verb)
  • To attempt to counter the actions or effects of.
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-28, author=(Joris Luyendijk)
  • , volume=189, issue=3, page=21, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Our banks are out of control , passage=Seeing the British establishment struggle with the financial sector is like watching an alcoholic who still resists the idea that something drastic needs to happen for him to turn his life around.}}
  • To withstand the actions of.
  • * '>citation
  • *, chapter=16
  • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=The preposterous altruism too!
  • To oppose.
  • (obsolete) To be distasteful to.
  • * 1608 , , II. iii. 29:
  • These cates resist me,

    Usage notes

    * This is a catenative verb that takes the gerund (-ing) . See

    Derived terms

    * resistance

    Synonyms

    * (l) * (l) * (l)

    Antonyms

    * obey * submit

    Derived terms

    * irresistible * irresistibly * resistance * resistant * resistantly * resistible * resistibly * resistive * resistively * resistless * resistlessly * resistor

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A protective coating or covering. Oxford English Dictionary , 2nd ed., 1989.
  • Anagrams

    *

    References

    retain

    English

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To keep in possession or use.
  • * Milton
  • Be obedient, and retain / Unalterably firm his love entire.
  • * 1856 : (Gustave Flaubert), (Madame Bovary), Part III Chapter XI, translated by Eleanor Marx-Aveling
  • A strange thing was that Bovary, while continually thinking of Emma, was forgetting her. He grew desperate as he felt this image fading from his memory in spite of all efforts to retain it. Yet every night he dreamt of her; it was always the same dream. He drew near her, but when he was about to clasp her she fell into decay in his arms.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham)
  • , title=(The China Governess) , chapter=1 citation , passage=The original family who had begun to build a palace to rival Nonesuch had died out before they had put up little more than the gateway, so that the actual structure which had come down to posterity retained the secret magic of a promise rather than the overpowering splendour of a great architectural achievement.}}
  • To keep in one's pay or service.
  • * Addison
  • A Benedictine convent has now retained the most learned father of their order to write in its defence.
  • To employ by paying a retainer.
  • To hold secure.
  • (obsolete) To restrain; to prevent.
  • (obsolete) To belong; to pertain.
  • * Boyle
  • A somewhat languid relish, retaining to bitterness.

    Synonyms

    * keep

    Anagrams

    * *