Contain Synonym List for Boxes, Lists, Fires and Feelings

Pick the meaning first

If you mix these up, the sentence still parses but says something odd. The report restrains three charts is clearly wrong; the report includes three charts is right.

Contains synonym choices for labels and lists

Product labels and descriptions lean heavily on the third-person form. Good options:

• Contains real fruit becomes made with real fruit or includes real fruit.
• The box contains six cups becomes the box holds six cups.
• The course contains ten modules becomes the course is made up of ten modules.
• The new version contains a dark mode becomes the new version features a dark mode.

On food labels, keep the plain word contains for allergens. Readers scan for it, and a fancier verb can hide important safety information.

Have, hold, include, feature, comprise: the formality strip

The chip row climbs from casual to formal. Have is the spoken, everyday pick. Hold is physical and concrete. Include is neutral and suggests the list may not be complete. Feature adds a selling tone, used for highlights. Comprise is formal and means these parts make up the whole.

That last point is easy to miss. The crew includes two pilots hints there may be others aboard; the crew comprises two pilots and a steward lists every person.

Contain synonym ideas for outbreaks, costs and emotions

The second big sense is keeping something in check. For a fire, flood, leak or disease, use control, curb, check or isolate. For spending, limit and restrict sound natural: we need to limit costs. Stronger action calls for prevent or stop, which mean it never starts.

For feelings, restrain and suppress are formal, while hold in and bottle up are casual. Bottle up often hints that holding it in is unhealthy.

Contained and containing in context

• The file contained errors becomes the file had errors.
• The virus was contained becomes the virus was brought under control.
• A drawer containing old letters becomes a drawer full of old letters.
• She contained her anger becomes she kept her anger in check.

For the self-contained sense, as in a self-contained apartment, try independent or separate.

Grammar traps to avoid

Comprise of is widely criticized; write comprises or is composed of. Consist of always needs of. Involve fits activities, not objects: a job can involve travel, but a box cannot involve shoes. Encompass suits broad areas or ideas, such as a course that encompasses three centuries of history, and sounds odd for a lunch box. See the encompass synonyms and involve synonyms pages for those words.

Antonyms for both main senses

For the part-of sense, the opposite is exclude, omit or lack: the basic plan excludes support. For the keep-in-check sense, the opposite is release, let out or spread: the gas spread through the room. Similar verbs live in our action verb collection.