Translation entretener in the Spanish-English Collins dictionary

entretener

a vt

1 (=divertir) to entertain, amuse
nos entretuvo con sus chistes mientras esperábamos he kept us entertained o amused with his jokes while we were waiting
hacer punto la entretiene she amuses herself by knitting

2 (=retener) to keep, detain más frm
pues no le entretengo más  then I won't keep o más frm detain you any longer
una vecina me entretuvo hablando en las escaleras  a neighbour kept me talking on the stairs

3 (=distraer)
entretener a algn  to distract sb's attention
uno de los ladrones entretuvo a la dependienta  one of the thieves distracted the shop assistant's attention
entretener algo: entretuvieron la espera leyendo  they whiled away the time by reading
me tomé una tapa para entretener el hambre  I had a snack to take the edge off my hunger

4 (=dar largas a)
me está entreteniendo con mentiras para no pagarme he's putting me off with lies so as not to pay me

5 (=mantener)
[+ilusiones] to nourish
[+fuego] to maintain

b vi
la tele entretiene mucho TV is very entertaining

c entretenerse vpr

1 (=divertirse) to amuse o.s.
se entretenían contando historias they amused themselves by telling stories, they kept themselves amused by telling stories

2 (=tardar) to hang about
¡no te entretengas! don't hang about!