entretener
verbo:transitivo
1 (divertir) to entertain; amuse
nos entretuvo con sus chistes mientras esperábamos he kept us entertained amused with his jokes while we were waiting;o hacer punto la entretiene she amuses herself by knitting
2 (retener) to keep; detain; (formal)
pues no le entretengo más then I won't keep detain you any longer;o (formal) 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
