hold
Part of speech: verb
noun
Morphological type: simple
Topics: aeronautics
aerospace
aviation
ball-games
baseball
business
engineering
exercise
gambling
games
government
heading
hobbies
lifestyle
martial-arts
military
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
politics
sports
tennis
video-games
war
wrestling
Etymology: Etymology tree
Proto-Germanic *haldaną
Proto-West Germanic *haldan
Old English healdan
Middle English holden
English hold
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”).
Inflected forms:
form: holds
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: holding
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: held
pos: verb
tags: past
form: held
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: holden
pos: verb
tags: archaic
participle
past
form: holds
pos: noun
tags: plural
Senses:
gloss: To grasp or grip.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: Hold the pencil like this.
But then I had the flintlock by me for protection. ¶ There were giants in the days when that gun was made; for surely no modern mortal could have held that mass of metal steady to his shoulder. The linen-press and a chest on the top of it formed, however, a very good gun-carriage; and, thus mounted, aim could be taken out of the window[…].
The slightest effort made the patient cough. He would stand leaning on a stick and holding a hand to his side, and when the paroxysm had passed it left him shaking.
The ability of a segment of a glass sphere to magnify whatever is placed before it was known around the year 1000, when the spherical segment was called a reading stone,[…]. Scribes, illuminators, and scholars held such stones directly over manuscript pages as an aid in seeing what was being written, drawn, or read.
gloss: To contain or store.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: This package holds six bottles.
gloss: To maintain or keep to a position or state.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: Hold my coat for me.
The general ordered the colonel to hold his position at all costs.
She was Nicolas Sarkozy's pin-up for diversity, the first Muslim woman with north African parents to hold a major French government post. But Rachida Dati has now turned on her own party elite with such ferocity that some have suggested she should be expelled from the president's ruling party.
gloss: To maintain or keep to a position or state.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: Hold a table for us at 7:00.
gloss: To maintain or keep to a position or state.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: Hold the elevator.
gloss: To maintain or keep to a position or state.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: Patients who test positive for COVID-19 infection should be advised to hold their biologic dose until their infection clears.
gloss: To maintain or keep to a position or state.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: Hold the suspect in this cell.
gloss: To maintain or keep to a position or state.
pos: verb
tags: copulative
intransitive
examples: to hold true
The proposition holds.
I remember, before the Dwarf left the Queen, he followed us one day into thoſe gardens, and my Nurſe having ſet me down, he and I being cloſe together, near ſome Dwarf Apple trees, I muſt need ſhew my Wit, by a ſilly Alluſion between him and the Trees, which happens to hold in their Language as it doth in ours.
The rule holds in land as well as all other commodities.
Free speech is a basic human right that holds even during a state of emergency.
gloss: To maintain or keep to a position or state.
pos: verb
tags: copulative
intransitive
examples: to hold firm
Mother[…]considered that the exclusiveness of Peter's circle was due not to its distinction, but to the fact that it was an inner Babylon of prodigality and whoredom, from which every Kensingtonian held aloof, except on the conventional tip-and-run excursions in pursuit of shopping, tea and theatres.
gloss: To maintain or keep to a position or state.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: We cannot hold mortality's strong hand.
Death! what do'st? O, hold thy blow.
He hath not sufficient judgment and self-command to hold his tongue.
gloss: To maintain or keep to a position or state.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: He holds himself proudly erect.
Hold your head high.
Let him hold his fingers thus, and through that cranny shall Pyramus and Thisby whisper .
gloss: To maintain or keep to a position or state.
pos: verb
tags: imperative
intransitive
examples: Lay on, Macduff, and damned him that first cries hold, enough!
gloss: To maintain or keep to a position or state.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: Our force by land hath nobly held.
gloss: To maintain or keep to a position or state.
pos: verb
examples: to hold one's bladder
to hold one's breath
gloss: To maintain or keep to particular opinions, promises, actions.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: She holds that passive index funds beat actively managed ones: she says that "set it and forget it," when done right, beats playing the market as a gambler.
He neuer hild but gracious thoughts of vvomen, yeat, I vvinne, / The fayreſt She he euer ſavv might quit his thoughts of ſinne.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
In the old days, to my commonplace and unobserving mind, he gave no evidences of genius whatsoever. He never read me any of his manuscripts, […], and therefore my lack of detection of his promise may in some degree be pardoned. But he had then none of the oddities and mannerisms which I hold to be inseparable from genius, and which struck my attention in after days when I came in contact with the Celebrity.
It's a terrible thought / To have and hold
gloss: To maintain or keep to particular opinions, promises, actions.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: He was held responsible for the actions of those under his command.
I'll hold him to that promise.
You don't have to look so worried. I won't hold you to it.
gloss: To maintain or keep to particular opinions, promises, actions.
pos: verb
examples: Hold not thy peace, and be not still.
Seedtime and harvest, heat and hoary frost, / Shall hold their course.
gloss: To maintain or keep to particular opinions, promises, actions.
pos: verb
examples: Stand fast and hold the traditions which ye have been taught.
These reasons mov'd her starlike husband's heart, But still he held his purpose to depart:
gloss: To maintain or keep to particular opinions, promises, actions.
pos: verb
tags: archaic
examples: His dauntless heart would fain have held / From weeping, but his eyes rebelled.
gloss: To win one's own service game.
pos: verb
tags: ambitransitive
gloss: To take place, to occur.
pos: verb
examples: He came into the hall where the wedding-festival had held […].
gloss: To organise an event or meeting (usually in passive voice).
pos: verb
examples: Elections will be held on the first Sunday of next month.
Here, in the transept and choir, where the service was being held, one was conscious every moment of an increasing brightness; colours glowing vividly beneath the circular chandeliers, and the rows of small lights on the choristers' desks flashed and sparkled in front of the boys' faces, deep linen collars, and red neckbands.
gloss: To derive right or title.
pos: verb
tags: archaic
examples: My Crovvn is abſolute, and holds of none.
His imagination holds immediately from nature.
gloss: In a food or drink order at an informal restaurant etc., requesting that a component normally included in that order be omitted.
pos: verb
tags: imperative
examples: One ham-and-cheese sandwich; hold the mustard.
A martini, please, and hold the olive.
gloss: To be in possession of illicit drugs for sale.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
slang
examples: […] first thing clients would say to me would be 'Are you holding?' I'd say yes if we had our supply and no if it was dangerous.
gloss: A grasp or grip.
pos: noun
examples: 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.
Keep a firm hold on the handlebars.
gloss: An act or instance of holding.
pos: noun
examples: Can I have a hold of the baby?
gloss: A place where animals are held for safety
pos: noun
gloss: An order that something is to be reserved or delayed, limiting or preventing how it can be dealt with.
pos: noun
examples: Senator X placed a hold on the bill, then went to the library and placed a hold on a book.
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.
gloss: Something reserved or kept.
pos: noun
examples: We have a hold here for you.
gloss: Power over someone or something.
pos: noun
examples: 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.
War has a hold on our cultural imaginations as an inevitable force, it is peace that has no benefactor.
gloss: The ability to persist.
pos: noun
examples: 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: […]
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.
gloss: The property of maintaining the shape of styled hair.
pos: noun
examples: Sculpturing gels provide stiffer hold than styling gels, which provide better hold than mousses.
gloss: A position or grip used to control the opponent.
pos: noun
examples: He got him in a tight hold and pinned him to the mat.
gloss: An exercise involving holding a position for a set time
pos: noun
gloss: The percentage the house wins on a gamble, the house or bookmaker's hold.
pos: noun
examples: The House Hold on the game is 10,000, this is the amount of decision or risk the house wishes to assume.
gloss: The wager amount, the total hold.
pos: noun
examples: As of Monday night the total Melbourne Cup hold was $848,015
gloss: An instance of holding one's service game, as opposed to being broken.
pos: noun
gloss: The part of an object one is intended to grasp, or anything one can use for grasping with hands or feet.
pos: noun
examples: 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.
The beginner will instinctively try to stick his toe straight in in a foot hold, which is very tiring on the calf muscles.
gloss: A fruit machine feature allowing one or more of the reels to remain fixed while the others spin.
pos: noun
gloss: A pause facility.
pos: noun
tags: dated
examples: A hold facility is available; H holds, and S restarts.
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.
gloss: The queueing system on telephones and similar communication systems which maintains a connection when all lines are busy.
pos: noun
examples: 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.
Even the "on-hold" messages on Southwest's telephone system are humorous, ensuring anyone inconvenienced by the hold is entertained.
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.
gloss: 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.
pos: noun
gloss: A region of airspace reserved for aircraft being kept in a holding pattern.
pos: noun
Antonyms: release
Related words: behold
Derived words: behold
be left holding the baby
buy and hold
catch hold
don't hold your breath
forhold
grab hold
holdable
hold a candle
hold a candle for
hold accountable
hold against
hold a grudge
hold a gun to someone's head
hold a light
hold-all
holdall
hold all of the aces
hold all of the cards
hold all the aces
hold all the cards
hold a mirror to
hold a mirror up to
holdase
hold a torch for
hold back
holdback
hold back on
hold by the button
hold cheap
hold come what may
hold court
hold dear
hold down
hold-down
hold down the fort
holder
holdfast
hold fast
hold fire
hold firm
hold for ransom
hold forth
hold good
hold hands
hold hard
hold harmless
hold hostage
hold in
hold in contempt
hold in derision
holding
hold in hand
hold it
hold it down
hold it in
hold it together
hold my beer
hold my milk
hold off
hold on
hold one's alcohol
hold one's breath
hold one's drink
hold oneself together
hold one's fire
hold one's ground
hold one's head above water
hold one's head high
hold one's horses
hold one's jaw
hold one's liquor
hold one's mouth right
hold one's nerve
hold one's nose
hold one's nose up
hold one's own
hold one's peace
hold one's pee
hold one's piece
hold one's piss
hold one's tongue
hold one's water
hold on for
hold on to
hold onto
hold onto your hat
hold out
hold over
hold over someone's head
hold ransom
hold serve
hold short
hold someone's feet to the fire
hold someone's hand
hold space
hold still
hold sway
hold tack
hold that thought
hold the aces
hold the book
hold the cards
hold the floor
hold the fort
hold the line
hold the phone
hold the purse strings
hold the reins
hold the ring
hold the road
hold the stage
hold tight
hold to
hold to account
hold together
hold to ransom
hold true
hold-up
hold up
hold up a mirror to
hold up as
hold up one's end
hold-upper
hold-up play
hold-ups
hold up to
hold water
hold with
hold with the hare and run with the hounds
hold yew hard
hot hold
inhold
let someone hold
offhold
Omaha hold 'em
one can't hold two watermelons in one hand
one hand can't hold two watermelons
onhold
outhold
overhold
speak now or forever hold your peace
Texas hold 'em
to have and to hold
too hot to hold
underhold
uphold
withhold
held and holding
forehold
mishold
a-hold
ahold
anchorhold
apron-string hold
baggage hold
basket hold
breathhold
choke-hold
chokehold
choke hold
climbing hold
commonhold
copyhold
fiefhold
fingerhold
first-order hold
foothold
gangsta hold
get a hold of
get hold of
handhold
hand-hold
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
no holds barred
octopus hold
on hold
personal hold
pinhold
resthold
roothold
shorthold
sleeper hold
stokehold
stranglehold
stronghold
take hold
threshhold
throttlehold
toe-hold
toehold
toe hold
weapons hold
wind hold
wind-hold
windhold
winghold
zero-order hold
Translations:
lang: Albanian
word: maj
lang: Armenian
word: պահել
roman: pahel
lang: Basque
word: eduki
lang: Bengali
word: ধরা
roman: dhora
lang: Bulgarian
word: владея
roman: vladeja
lang: Catalan
word: sostenir
lang: Dutch
word: bijhouden
lang: Finnish
word: pitää
lang: Finnish
word: säilyttää
lang: French
word: garder
lang: French
word: tenir
lang: Hindi
word: रखना
roman: rakhnā
lang: Hungarian
word: tart
lang: Irish
word: coinnigh
lang: Irish
word: coimeád
lang: Italian
word: mantenere
lang: Italian
word: tenere
lang: Italian
word: serbare
lang: Japanese
word: 持つ
roman: motsu
lang: Japanese
word: 保持する
roman: hojisuru
lang: Japanese
word: 所持する
roman: shojisuru
lang: Latin
word: habeo
lang: Latin
word: teneo
lang: Latin
word: possideo
lang: Latin
word: sedeo
lang: Lithuanian
word: turėti
lang: Māori
word: mau
lang: Māori
word: pupuri
lang: Polish
word: dzierżyć
lang: Portuguese
word: ter
lang: Portuguese
word: possuir
lang: Portuguese
word: deter
lang: Romanian
word: ține
lang: Spanish
word: sujetar
lang: Spanish
word: detentar (illegitimately)
lang: Sundanese
word: cepeng
lang: Tagalog
word: humawak
lang: Tagalog
word: hawakan
lang: Tagalog
word: tumangan
lang: Tagalog
word: tangnan
lang: Telugu
word: ఉంచు
roman: uñcu
lang: Albanian
word: ruajt
lang: Bengali
word: রাখা
roman: rakha
lang: Bulgarian
word: запазвам
roman: zapazvam
lang: Catalan
word: reservar
lang: Catalan
word: guardar
lang: Danish
word: bestille
lang: Danish
word: reservere
lang: Esperanto
word: rezervi
lang: Finnish
word: pitää
lang: Finnish
word: varata
lang: French
word: garder
lang: Hungarian
word: fenntart
lang: Italian
word: tenere
lang: Italian
word: prenotare
lang: Japanese
word: 予約する
roman: yoyaku-suru
lang: Latin
word: assigno
lang: Lithuanian
word: išlaikyti
lang: Portuguese
word: segurar
lang: Portuguese
word: guardar
lang: Romanian
word: ține
lang: Romanian
word: rezerva
lang: Swedish
word: reservera
lang: Telugu
word: భధ్రించు
roman: bhadhriñcu
lang: Bengali
word: মনে করা
roman: mone kora
lang: Danish
word: anse
lang: Finnish
word: pitää
lang: French
word: soutenir
lang: Ancient Greek
word: ἡγέομαι
roman: hēgéomai
lang: Ancient Greek
word: νομίζω
roman: nomízō
lang: Italian
word: trattenere
lang: Italian
word: tenere
lang: Lithuanian
word: išlaikyti
lang: Māori
word: whakanonoi
lang: Occitan
word: sosténer
lang: Occitan
word: téner
lang: Polish
word: utrzymywać
lang: Portuguese
word: considerar
lang: Portuguese
word: sustentar
lang: Romanian
word: menține
lang: Swedish
word: anse
lang: Tagalog
word: magpalagay
lang: Tagalog
word: ipalagay
lang: Bulgarian
word: хващане
roman: hvaštane
lang: Finnish
word: ote
lang: Italian
word: presa
lang: Luxembourgish
word: Grëff
lang: Malayalam
word: പിടി
roman: piṭi
lang: Plautdietsch
word: Hool
lang: Spanish
word: agarre
lang: Tagalog
word: hawak
lang: Tagalog
word: tangan
lang: Tagalog
word: kapit