detainer
Americannoun
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a writ for the further detention of a person already in custody.
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the wrongful detaining or withholding of what belongs to another.
noun
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the wrongful withholding of the property of another person
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the detention of a person in custody
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a writ authorizing the further detention of a person already in custody
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Other Word Forms
- predetainer noun
Etymology
Origin of detainer
1610–20; < Anglo-French detener (noun use of infinitive), variant of Old French detenir; detain
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
US immigration authorities had placed a detainer on him as part of that case, which is a request for someone who is a non-US citizen to be taken into their custody should they be released.
From BBC
On the day he was to be released, records show, Hernández had an immigration detainer — a request for law enforcement agencies to hold noncitizens for pickup by Immigration and Customs Enforcement — in place.
From Salon
But in Hernández’s case, the Federal Bureau of Prisons scrambled to get his detainer removed so he could walk free.
From Salon
In Hernández’s case, records show immigration agents sent the prison notice of a detainer in February 2025, two months after he was sentenced in court.
From Salon
For several hours on the night of his release, prison officials scrambled to get the detainer removed so he could walk free, according to several sources familiar with the situation.
From Salon
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
