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Retain vs Reserve - What's the difference?

retain | reserve |

In obsolete terms the difference between retain and reserve

is that retain is to belong; to pertain while reserve is to make an exception of; to except.

As verbs the difference between retain and reserve

is that retain is to keep in possession or use while reserve is to keep back; to retain.

As a noun reserve is

restriction.

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

    Related terms

    * retainer, retention

    Anagrams

    * *

    reserve

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (label) Restriction.
  • # The act of reserving, or keeping back; reservation; exception.
  • .
  • # Restraint of freedom in words or actions; backwardness; caution in personal behavior.
  • That which is reserved, or kept back, as for future use.
  • # A natural resource known to exist but not currently exploited.
  • #*{{quote-magazine, date=2014-04-25, author= Martin Lukacs
    • , volume=190, issue=20, page=13, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Canada becoming launch-pad of a global tar sands and oil shale frenzy , passage=If Alberta’s reserves are a carbon bomb, this global expansion of tar sands and oil shale exploitation amounts to an escalating emissions arms race, the unlocking of a subterranean cache of weapons of mass ecological destruction.}}
  • # A tract of land reserved, or set apart, for a particular purpose; as, the Connecticut Reserve in Ohio, originally set apart for the school fund of Connecticut; the Clergy Reserves in Canada, for the support of the clergy.
  • # (label) A tract of land set apart for the use of an Aboriginal group; Indian reserve (compare US (reservation).)
  • # (label) A body of troops kept in the rear of an army drawn up for battle, reserved to support the other lines as occasion may require; a force or body of troops kept for an exigency.
  • # (label) Funds kept on hand to meet planned or unplanned financial requirements.
  • # Wine held back and aged before being sold.
  • (label) Something initially kept back for later use in a recreation.
  • # (label) A member of a team who does not participate from the start of the game, but can be used to replace tired or injured team-mates.
  • # (label) A group or pile of cards dealt out at the beginning of a patience or solitaire game to be used during play.

    • Synonyms

    * reservation, res * (restraint of freedom in words or actions) self-restraint, reticence, taciturnity * substitute * (tract of land for Aboriginal peoples) rez

    Derived terms

    * Federal Reserve * Federal Reserve System * nature reserve * reserve bank * reserve price * wildlife reserve

    Related terms

    * reservist

    Verb

  • To keep back; to retain.
    • We reserve the right to make modifications.
  • To keep in store for future or special use.
    • This cake is reserved for the guests!
  • * Jonathan Swift
    • Reserve your kind looks and language for private hours.
  • To book in advance; to make a reservation.
    • I reserved a table for us at the best restaurant in town.
  • (obsolete) To make an exception of; to except.

    • Anagrams

    * * * ----