RETAINER • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Retainer

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/rɪtˈeɪnər/ /ritˈeɪnər/ Listen

noun

Retainer n.

One who, or that which, retains.

One who is retained or kept in service; an attendant; an adherent; a hanger-on.

Hence, a servant, not a domestic, but occasionally attending and wearing his master's livery.

(Law)

(a)

The act of a client by which he engages a lawyer or counselor to manage his cause.

(b)

The act of withholding what one has in his hands by virtue of some right.

(c)

A fee paid to engage a lawyer or counselor to maintain a cause, or to prevent his being employed by the opposing party in the case; called also retaining fee.

The act of keeping dependents, or the state of being in dependence.

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Etymology of 'Retainer'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Retainer" Quotes from Famous Books

... son's!' gasped the lady, and sank for a moment of overwhelming joy against the faithful retainer, while the shaggy ...

— The Herd Boy and His Hermit • Charlotte M. Yonge

... reasonable compromise to procure a stay of proceedings. The lady's version of the suit and the subsequent negotiations is as follows: "The suit was never placed on the calendar. It was arranged with Mr. James to allow the case to proceed a certain length and then obtain a release. Mr. James got no retainer, but took my case on speculation, with the understanding that he was to have one thousand dollars at the end of the suit, if there were any proceeds from the same. He continuously urged me to go to Europe with ...

— Danger! A True History of a Great City's Wiles and Temptations • William Howe

... the original house the embellished mouldings of a doorway, carried the mind back to [Picture: Doorway] the days of Charles I., and, standing within which, imagination depicted the figure of a jolly Cavalier retainer, with his pipe and tankard; or of a Puritanical, formal servant, the expression of whose countenance was sufficient to turn the best-brewed October into vinegar. The old carved door leading into this apartment is ...

— A Walk from London to Fulham • Thomas Crofton Croker

... Gramineae seem to be destroyed by fire with remarkable facility at one season of the year; and it is well that this is the case; for, whether as a retainer of miasma, a shelter for wild beasts, both carnivorous and herbivorous, alike dangerous to man, or from their liability to ignite, and spread destruction far and wide, the grass-jungles are most serious ...

— Himalayan Journals (Complete) • J. D. Hooker

... name was not Adolphe, but Thomas. As this, however, had created some confusion between him and the cat, my great-grandmother had named him afresh, after a retainer of the de Vandaleurs in days gone by, whose faithful service was ...

— Six to Sixteen - A Story for Girls • Juliana Horatia Ewing

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