Sentence:  Somehow managing to get out a cool , poised , `` Wo n't you <WSD>hold</WSD> on a second , please '' , I covered up the mouthpiece , and with more warmth and less poise , gave a quick lecture on crime and punishment , mostly the latter , including Devil 's Island and the remoter reaches of Siberia . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  hold the phone line open