retention

The word “retention” means the ability to hold onto or remember information. In plain terms, holding onto something — knowledge, people, or, medically, fluid in the body.

“Retention” is pronounced rih-TEHN-shuhn (/ɹɪˈtɛnʃən/ in IPA).

Here is “retention” used in a sentence: “Repetition improves retention when studying new vocabulary.”

“Retention” is a noun.

“Retention” is a fairly common word in modern English, usually learned at around the C1 level.

“Retention” has 3 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: the ability to hold onto or remember information.

Retention refers to the ability to hold onto or remember information over time, while memory is the broader mental faculty that includes storing, retaining, and recalling information. Retention is essentially one function within the larger system of memory.

Water retention, also called fluid retention, is a build-up of fluid in the body that isn't being properly released, often causing swelling. It reflects the medical sense of retention as something being held in the body rather than expelled.

Employee retention refers to a company's ability to keep its staff rather than losing them to other jobs, matching the general sense of retention as the keeping of employees, customers, or something else that might otherwise be lost. High retention usually signals good workplace satisfaction, while low retention signals turnover problems.