Definition of retainer

• n. - One who, or that which, retains.
• n. - One who is retained or kept in service; an attendant; an adherent; a hanger-on.
• n. - Hence, a servant, not a domestic, but occasionally attending and wearing his master's livery.
• n. - The act of a client by which he engages a lawyer or counselor to manage his cause.
• n. - The act of withholding what one has in his hands by virtue of some right.
• n. - A fee paid to engage a lawyer or counselor to maintain a cause, or to prevent his being employed by the opposing party in the case; -- called also retaining fee.
• n. - The act of keeping dependents, or the state of being in dependence.