keep in one's mind; "I cannot retain so much information"
secure and keep for possible future use or application; "The landlord retained the security deposit"; "I reserve the right to disagree"
allow to remain in a place or position; "We cannot continue several servants any longer"; "She retains a lawyer"; "The family's fortune waned and they could not keep their household staff"; "Our grant has run out and we cannot keep you on"; "We kept the work going as long as we could"
hold within; "This soil retains water"; "I retain this drug for a long time"
much greater than the normal; "abnormal profits"; "abnormal ambition"
not normal; not typical or usual or regular or conforming to a norm; "abnormal powers of concentration"; "abnormal amounts of rain"; "abnormal circumstances"; "an abnormal interest in food"
departing from the normal in e.g. intelligence and development; "they were heartbroken when they learned their child was abnormal"; "an abnormal personality"
caused by or altered by or manifesting disease or pathology; "diseased tonsils"; "a morbid growth"; "pathologic tissue"; "pathological bodily processes"