retaining
re·tain·ing/ɹɪˈteɪnɪŋ/adjective, noun, verb
retaining is spelled R-E-T-A-I-N-I-N-G: 9 letters and 3 syllables (re·tain·ing). It appears 6.0 times per million words in written English, the 9,878th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, retaining means “Of or pertaining to something that retains something else, as with a retaining wall” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in retaining?
| Letters | 9: R-E-T-A-I-N-I-N-G |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: re·tain·ing |
| In writing | 6.0 times per million words; the 9,878th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is retaining?
Retaining appears 6.0 times per million words in written English, the 9,878th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce retaining?
- /ɹɪˈteɪnɪŋ/
Retaining has 3 syllables, split re·tain·ing in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-retaining.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of retaining
- retainings plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does retaining mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Of or pertaining to something that retains something else, as with a retaining wall.
noun
- 1
The act by which something or someone is retained; a retention.
verb
- 1
present participle and gerund of retain
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).