hold
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: hōld
ipa: /həʊld/
ipa: [həʊɫd]
ipa: /hæd/
ipa: /haʊɫd/
enpr: hōld
ipa: /hoʊld/
ipa: [hoəɫd]
ipa: [hoːɫd]
homophone: holed
rhymes: -əʊld
Forms: form: holds
Etymology: Derived from Middle English holden, derived from Old English healdan, derived from Proto-West Germanic *haldan, derived from Proto-Germanic *haldaną (“to tend, herd”), maybe derived from Proto-Indo-European *kel- (“to drive”). Doublet of halt.
Cognates
*West Frisian hâlde
*Low German holden, holen
*Dutch houden
*German halten
*Danish
*Norwegian Bokmål holde
*Norwegian Nynorsk halda.
Compare Latin celer (“quick”), Tocharian B käl- (“to goad, drive”), Ancient Greek κέλλω (kéllō, “to drive”), Sanskrit कलयति (kalayati, “to impel”).
Senses: examples: text: Old Applegate, in the stern, just set and looked at me, and Lord James, amidship, waved both arms and kept hollering for help. I took a couple of everlasting big strokes and managed to grab hold of the skiff's rail, close to the stern.
ref: 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter VII, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:
text: Keep a firm hold on the handlebars.
glosses: A grasp or grip.
examples: text: Can I have a hold of the baby?
glosses: An act or instance of holding.
glosses: A place where animals are held for safety
examples: text: Senator X placed a hold on the bill, then went to the library and placed a hold on a book.
text: Because there were no “launch commit criteria” regarding surface booster temperatures that might cause a hold on the launch, the ice team did not report the temperatures to the launch controllers.
ref: 2008, R. Michael Gordon, The Space Shuttle Program: How NASA Lost Its Way, page 98:
glosses: An order that something is to be reserved or delayed, limiting or preventing how it can be dealt with.
examples: text: We have a hold here for you.
glosses: Something reserved or kept.
examples: text: The Judge accepts the payment, the law no longer has a hold on you, and therefore you are free to walk out of the court a free man or woman.
ref: 2008, Christopher Clarke-Milton, Dawn of the Messiah - Book 1, →ISBN, page 199:
text: War has a hold on our cultural imaginations as an inevitable force, it is peace that has no benefactor.
ref: 2013, Wim Wenders, Mary Zournazi, Inventing Peace: A Dialogue on Perception, →ISBN, page 107:
glosses: Power over someone or something.
examples: text: This year I slept and woke with pain,
⁠I almost wish’d no more to wake,
⁠And that my hold on life would break
Before I heard those bells again: […]
ref: 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XXVIII”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 45:
text: Despite their seemingly strong hold on life, as indicated by the persistence of movement in decapitation tests, rattlers are relatively frail creatures and are easily killed.
ref: 1982, Laurence Monroe Klauber, Karen Harvey McClung, Rattlesnakes, Their Habits, Life Histories, and Influence, →ISBN, page 48:
glosses: The ability to persist.
examples: text: Sculpturing gels provide stiffer hold than styling gels, which provide better hold than mousses.
ref: 2004, Zoe Diana Draelos, Hair Care: An Illustrated Dermatologic Handbook, page 221:
glosses: The property of maintaining the shape of styled hair.
examples: text: He got him in a tight hold and pinned him to the mat.
topics: government
hobbies
lifestyle
martial-arts
military
politics
sports
war
wrestling
qualifier: self-defense
glosses: A position or grip used to control the opponent.
topics: exercise
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: An exercise involving holding a position for a set time
examples: text: The House Hold on the game is 10,000, this is the amount of decision or risk the house wishes to assume.
ref: 2002, "Reality", “The Scorecard For Bookmakers”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), archived from the original on 27 Apr 2015:
topics: gambling
games
glosses: The percentage the house wins on a gamble, the house or bookmaker's hold.
examples: ref: 2012, Sarah Fortnum, “Melbourne Cup 2012 From The Bookie’s Perspective”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), archived from the original on 12 Nov 2012:
text: As of Monday night the total Melbourne Cup hold was $848,015
topics: gambling
games
glosses: The wager amount, the total hold.
topics: hobbies
lifestyle
sports
tennis
glosses: An instance of holding one's service game, as opposed to being broken.
examples: text: So I felt my way down the passage back to the vault, and recked not of the darkness, nor of Blackbeard and his crew, if only I could lay my lips to liquor. Thus I groped about the barrels till near the top of the stack my hand struck on the spile of a keg, and drawing it, I got my mouth to the hold.
ref: [1898], J[ohn] Meade Falkner, Moonfleet, London; Toronto, Ont.: Jonathan Cape, published 1934, →OCLC:
text: The beginner will instinctively try to stick his toe straight in in a foot hold, which is very tiring on the calf muscles.
ref: 1995, Turlough Johnston, Madeleine Halldén, Rock Climbing Basics, →ISBN, page 86:
glosses: The part of an object one is intended to grasp, or anything one can use for grasping with hands or feet.
glosses: A fruit machine feature allowing one or more of the reels to remain fixed while the others spin.
examples: text: A hold facility is available; H holds, and S restarts.
ref: 1983, New Generation Software, Knot in 3D (video game instruction leaflet)
text: SCREEN 5 — Perhaps the toughest — going like the clappers sometimes works but generally you'll have to be smarter than that. If things get a little too hectic and you don't even have time to reach the HOLD key, try taking a short rest below the top of the stairs.
ref: 1987?, Imagine Software, Legend of Kage (video game instruction leaflet)
topics: video-games
glosses: A pause facility.
examples: text: Given that there is an average on-hold time of more than five minutes while enquiries are being dealt with, the telephone hold system provided the best opportunity.
ref: 2003, Daniel Jackson, Paul Fulberg, Sonic Branding: An Essential Guide to the Art and Science of Sonic Branding, Palgrave Macmillan, →ISBN, page 6:
text: Even the "on-hold" messages on Southwest's telephone system are humorous, ensuring anyone inconvenienced by the hold is entertained.
ref: 2005, Lorraine Grubbs-West, Lessons in Loyalty: How Southwest Airlines Does it : an Insider's View, CornerStone Leadership Inst, →ISBN, page 56:
text: Note. After the device downloads its new configuration file, we can test placing a call on hold and the generic hold music will be heard.
ref: 2012, Tanner Ezell, Cisco Unified Communications Manager 8: Expert Administration Cookbook, Packt Publishing Ltd, →ISBN:
glosses: The queueing system on telephones and similar communication systems which maintains a connection when all lines are busy.
topics: ball-games
baseball
games
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: A statistic awarded to a relief pitcher who is not still pitching at the end of the game and who records at least one out and maintains a lead for his team.
topics: aeronautics
aerospace
aviation
business
engineering
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
glosses: A region of airspace reserved for aircraft being kept in a holding pattern.
Derived terms: a-hold
ahold
anchorhold
apron-string hold
baggage hold
breathhold
chokehold
choke hold
choke-hold
climbing hold
commonhold
copyhold
fiefhold
fingerhold
first-order hold
foothold
gangsta hold
get a hold of
get hold of
hand-hold
handhold
hold baggage
hold-departure order
holdless
hold luggage
holdman
hold time
household
jug hold
landhold
lay hold of
lay hold on
lay hold upon
leasehold
legal hold
leghold
lifehold
love hold
luggage hold
military hold
mini-hold
mishold
no holds barred
on hold
personal hold
pinhold
resthold
roothold
shorthold
sleeper hold
stokehold
stranglehold
stronghold
take hold
threshhold
throttlehold
toehold
toe-hold
toe hold
weapons hold
wind hold
windhold
wind-hold
winghold
zero-order hold
Related terms: behold