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Glite Dictionary
🚔 Hold in custody 📄 Legal property claim 👮 Custody holder 🗝️ Keeps property
detainer

detainer

8.1
A person or authority that keeps someone in jail by legal order
  • noun
  • /dɪˈteɪnər/
  • Formal
translation icon : custodio
  • A detainer can prevent someone from leaving the facility.

Examples

  • A court order named the police as the official detainer in the case.

  • The lawyer questioned whether the detainer had the legal authority to hold her client.

  • The detainer was responsible for ensuring the suspect remained in custody until trial.

  • The detainer issued by the court was unexpected.

  • The detainer was issued by the court to ensure the suspect remained in custody until the trial.

  • After the judge signed the detainer, the police were ordered to hold the defendant until further notice.

  • Authorities must follow the detainer request to keep individuals in custody while awaiting their hearing.

Synonyms

jailer
vsdetainer
19 3.0

A person who guards prisoners in a jail or prison

holds people by legal authority rather than guarding them directly
jailor
vsdetainer
  • Archaic
2 4.2

A person who guards prisoners in a jail

acts through legal order rather than managing daily prisoner care
jailkeeper
vsdetainer
  • Archaic
1 4.4

A person who guards and manages people in a jail or prison

focuses on legal authority to hold people in custody rather than managing a facility
incarcerator
vsdetainer
1 8.8

A person or thing that puts someone in prison

has authority to hold someone under law rather than only doing the confining act

How Authoritative

warden
  • US
248 4.3
detainer
  • Formal
8.1
jailer
19 3.0
guard
∞ 1.2

Surface Forms

detainer singular
detainers plural

Morphology

detainer = detain (transparent) = detain + er

A straightforward agentive formation from 'detain' meaning 'one who detains or holds someone in custody'.

Etymology

Detainer comes from Latin de- and tenere, meaning 'to hold', the same root behind detain and holder. So a detainer can mean the person or authority who has the legal right to keep someone in custody.