Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Contain

Contain , transitive verb

[Old English contenen, conteinen, French contenir, from Latin continere, -tentum; con- + tenere to hold. See Tenable, and compare Countenance.]

1.
To hold within fixed limits; to comprise; to include; to inclose; to hold.
Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens can not contain thee; how much less this house! — 2 Chron. vi. 18
When that this body did contain a spirit. — Shakespeare
What thy stores contain bring forth. — Milton
2.
To have capacity for; to be able to hold; to hold; to be equivalent to; as, a bushel contains four pecks.
3.
To put constraint upon; to restrain; to confine; to keep within bounds. [Obsolete, exept as used reflexively.]
The king's person contains the unruly people from evil occasions. — Spenser
Fear not, my lord: we can contain ourselves. — Shakespeare

Contain , intransitive verb

To restrain desire; to live in continence or chastity.
But if they can not contain, let them marry. — 1 Cor. vii. 9