What's the difference between obtain and retain?

Obtain


Definition:

  • (v. t.) To hold; to keep; to possess.
  • (v. t.) To get hold of by effort; to gain possession of; to procure; to acquire, in any way.
  • (v. i.) To become held; to gain or have a firm footing; to be recognized or established; to subsist; to become prevalent or general; to prevail; as, the custom obtains of going to the seashore in summer.
  • (v. i.) To prevail; to succeed.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) A former Labour minister, Nicholas Brown, said the public were frightened they "were going to be spied on" and that "illegally obtained" information would find its way to the public domain.
  • (2) Sperm specimens were obtained from 13 men participating in our in vitro fertilization program.
  • (3) As a consequence, similar response curves were obtained for urine specimens containing morphine or barbiturates.
  • (4) The nuclear origin of the Ha antigen was confirmed by the speckled nuclear immunofluorescence staining pattern given by purified antibody to Ha obtained from a specific immune precipitate.
  • (5) Manometric studies with resting cells obtained by growth on each of these sulfur sources yielded net oxygen uptake for all substrates except sulfite and dithionate.
  • (6) Although measurements are easily obtained with a tape measure, the validity of these measurements is not known.
  • (7) Multiple overlapping thin 3D slab acquisition is presented as a magnitude contrast (time of flight) technique which combines advantages from multiple thin slice 2D and direct 3D volume acquisitions to obtain high-resolution cross-sectional images of vessel detail.
  • (8) Since 1987, it has become possible to obtain immature ova from the living animal and to let them mature, fertilize and develop into embryos capable of transplantation outside the body.
  • (9) Symptomatic improvement was obtained in 14 of the 15 hands, and sensory-evoked response improved in 13 hands.
  • (10) These data indicate that RNA faithfully transfers "suppressive" as well as "positive" types of immune responses that have been reported previously for lymphocytes obtained directly from tumour-bearing and tumour-immune animals.
  • (11) These observations were confirmed by the killing curves in pooled serum obtained at peak and trough levels.
  • (12) The obtained results are used to study the relation between the acoustic characteristics of these vowels and the corresponding articulatory dimensions.
  • (13) Scatchard analyses of binding data obtained with synaptosomal preparations from 17-day-old embryos revealed two T3 binding sites.
  • (14) In the present study, respirometric quotients, the ratio of oral air volume expended to total volume expended, were obtained using separate but simultaneous productions of oral and nasal airflow.
  • (15) Maximal yields of lipid and aflatoxin were obtained with 30% glucose, whereas mold growth, expressed as dry weight, was maximal when the medium contained 10% glucose.
  • (16) Flow cytometric DNA analysis was performed on both fresh and on paraffin embedded samples obtained by gastroscopic biopsies in 5 patients with histologically normal gastric mucosa (20 specimens) and by radical gastrectomies in 9 cases of human gastric cancer (36 specimens).
  • (17) In experiments performed to determine whether PtdIns(4,5)P2 hydrolysis induced by TRH may have been caused by the elevation of [Ca2+]i, the following results were obtained: the effect of TRH to decrease the level of PtdIns(4,5)P2 was not reproduced by the calcium ionophore A23187 or by membrane depolarization with 50 mM K+; the calcium antagonist TMB-8 did not inhibit the TRH-induced decrease in PtdIns(4,5)P2; and, most importantly, inhibition by EGTA of the elevation of [Ca2+]i did not inhibit the TRH-induced decrease in PtdIns(4,5)P2.
  • (18) Variables included an ego-delay measure obtained from temporal estimations, perceptions of temporal dominance and relatedness obtained from Cottle's Circles Test, Ss' ages, and a measure of long-term posthospital adjustment.
  • (19) Data obtained with fenoldopam were corroborated with use of SK&F 38393, another dopamine D1-receptor agonist.
  • (20) Bipolar derivations with the maximum PSE always included the locations with the maximum PSE obtained from a linked ears reference.

Retain


Definition:

  • (v. t.) To continue to hold; to keep in possession; not to lose, part with, or dismiss; to retrain from departure, escape, or the like.
  • (v. t.) To keep in pay; to employ by a preliminary fee paid; to hire; to engage; as, to retain a counselor.
  • (v. t.) To restrain; to prevent.
  • (v. i.) To belong; to pertain.
  • (v. i.) To keep; to continue; to remain.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) The femoral component, made of Tivanium with titanium mesh attached to it by a new process called diffusion bonding, retains superalloy fatigue strength characteristics.
  • (2) But RWE admitted it had often only been able to retain customers with expired contracts by offering them new deals with more favourable conditions.
  • (3) Their particular electrophoretic mobility was retained.
  • (4) The cis isomer was retained longer in liver, particularly in mitochondria, but had low retention in that portion of the endoplasmic reticulum isolated as the rough membrane fraction.
  • (5) Despite this alteration in subcellular distribution, the mutant polypeptide retained the ability to induce fibroblast transformation by several parameters, including the ability to display anchorage-independent growth.
  • (6) They retained the ability to make this discrimination when the coloured stimuli were placed against a background bright enough to saturate the rods.3.
  • (7) By adjustment to the swaying movements of the horse, the child feels how to retain straightening alignment, symmetry and balance.
  • (8) ITV retained its quasi-feudal structure until the 1990s.
  • (9) This "paradox of redistribution" was certainly observable in Britain, where Welfare retained its status as one of the 20th century's most exalted creations, even while those claiming benefits were treated with ever greater contempt.
  • (10) Ultraviolet difference spectrophotometry indicates that the inactivated enzyme retains its capacity for binding the nucleotide substrates whereas the spectral perturbation characteristic of 3-phosphoglycerate binding is abolished in the modified enzyme.
  • (11) In a newspaper interview last month, Shapps said the BBC needed to tackle what he said was a culture of secrecy, waste and unbalanced reporting if it hoped to retain the full £3.6bn raised by the licence fee after the current Royal Charter expires in 2016.
  • (12) The most serious complications following operative treatment are retained bile duct calculi (2.8%), wound infection and biliary fistulae.
  • (13) Bivalent F(ab')(2) also retains its insulin-like effects.
  • (14) In this study, a technique is described by which large obturators can be retained with an acrylic resin head plate.
  • (15) At the end of the dusting period those animals treated with normally charged dust had significantly more chrysotile retained in their lungs than animals exposed to discharged dust.
  • (16) The fact that the security service was in possession of and retained the copy tape until the early summer of 1985 and did not bring it to the attention of Mr Stalker is wholly reprehensible,” he wrote.
  • (17) Formula fed infants retained more nitrogen and gained weight faster.
  • (18) As an extension of the previous study which indicated that mesoglea is a primitive basement membrane which has retained some characteristics of interstitial extracellular matrix, the present study was undertaken to analyze the role of mesoglea components during head regeneration in Hydra vulgaris.
  • (19) The resulting cell lines have a stable phenotype and retain the changes which result from transformation even after extended passaging.
  • (20) Protein synthesis in cell-free extracts from resistant or susceptible bacteria was equally susceptible to inhibition by Cd(2+), but spheroplasts from resistant bacteria retained their resistance.