hold

present singular third person holds · participle present holding · past held · participle past held · archaic participle past holden

1. transitiveTo grasp or grip.

   Hold the pencil like this.

   3 more examples

   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[…].

   1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter 1, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC

   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.

   1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XXIII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC

   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.

   2013 September-October, Henry Petroski, “The Evolution of Eyeglasses”, in American Scientist

   Synonyms: clasp, grasp, grip, beclasp, begrasp, begrip, belock, clasp

2. transitiveTo contain or store.

   This package holds six bottles.

3. To maintain or keep to a position or state.
   1. transitiveheadingTo have and keep possession of something.

      Hold my coat for me.

      2 more examples

      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.

      2011 December 14, Angelique Chrisafis, “Rachida Dati accuses French PM of sexism and elitism”, in Guardian

      Synonyms: own, have, own, possess

   2. transitiveheadingTo reserve.

      Hold a table for us at 7:00.

   3. transitiveheadingTo cause to wait or delay.

      Hold the elevator.

   4. transitiveheadingTo halt or delay (medication) temporarily.

      Patients who test positive for COVID-19 infection should be advised to hold their biologic dose until their infection clears.

      2020 June, Nicholas D. Brownstone, Quinn G. Thibodeaux, Vidhatha D. Reddy, Bridget A. Myers, Stephanie Y. Chan, Tina Bhutani, Wilson Liao, “Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) and Biologic Therapy in Psoriasis: Infection Risk and Patient Counseling in Uncertain Times”, in Dermatology and Therapy, volume 10, →DOI, page 346

      Synonyms: withhold

   5. transitiveheadingTo detain.

      Hold the suspect in this cell.

   6. copulativeintransitiveheadingTo be or remain valid; to apply (usually in the third person).

      to hold true

      4 more examples

      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.

      1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver’s Travels], volume I, London: […] Benj[amin] Motte, […], →OCLC, part I (A Voyage to Lilliput), pages 226–227

      The rule holds in land as well as all other commodities.

      1691, [John Locke], Some Considerations of the Consequences of the Lowering of Interest, and Raising the Value of Money. […], London: […] Awnsham and John Churchill, […], published 1692, →OCLC

      Free speech is a basic human right that holds even during a state of emergency.

      2021 July 20, Masayuki Yuda, “Foodpanda faces backlash after calling Thai protest 'terrorism'”, in Nikkei Asia, Nikkei Inc, retrieved 20 Jul 2021

   7. copulativeintransitiveheadingTo keep oneself in a particular state.

      to hold firm

      1 more example

      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.

      1921, Ben Travers, chapter 2, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC

   8. transitiveheadingTo impose restraint upon; to limit in motion or action; to bind legally or morally; to confine; to restrain.

      Death! what do'st? O, hold thy blow.

      1646, Richard Crashaw, Vpon the Death of Mr. Herrys

      2 more examples

      We cannot hold mortality's strong hand.

      1623, William Shakespeare, The Life and Death of King John (Act iv, scene 2)

      He hath not sufficient judgment and self-command to hold his tongue.

      1856 February, [Thomas Babington] Macaulay, “Oliver Goldsmith”, in T[homas] F[lower] E[llis], editor, The Miscellaneous Writings and Speeches of Lord Macaulay, new edition, London: Longman, Green, Reader, & Dyer, published 1871, →OCLC

   9. transitiveheadingTo bear, carry, or manage.

      Hold your head high.

      2 more examples

      He holds himself proudly erect.

      Let him hold his fingers thus, and through that cranny shall Pyramus and Thisby whisper .

      1595, William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream

   10. imperativeintransitiveheadingNot to move; to halt; to stop.

       Lay on, Macduff, and damned him that first cries hold, enough!

       1606, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Macbeth

       Synonyms: anchor, astand, blin, brake, cease, desist, draw up, grind to a halt

   11. intransitiveheadingNot to give way; not to part or become separated; to remain unbroken or unsubdued.

       Our force by land hath nobly held.

       1623, William Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra

       1 more example

       The canvas was punctured by the little balls, but held.

       2015, Karl W Heffelfinger, Headlong Into Hell

       Synonyms: abide, astand, bear up, carry on, continue, endure, follow up, hang in there

   12. headingTo remain continent; to control an excretory bodily function.

       to hold one's breath

       1 more example

       to hold one's bladder

4. To maintain or keep to particular opinions, promises, actions.
   1. transitiveheadingTo maintain, to consider, to opine.

      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.

      4 more examples

      He neuer hild but gracious thoughts of vvomen, yeat, I vvinne, / The fayreſt She he euer ſavv might quit his thoughts of ſinne.

      1602, William Warner, “The Seventh Booke. Chapter XXXVI.”, in Albions England. A Continued Historie of the Same Kingdome, from the Originals of the First Inhabitants thereof: […], 5th edition, London: […] Edm[und] Bollifant for George Potter, […], →OCLC, page 173

      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.

      1776, Thomas Jefferson et al., United States Declaration of Independence

      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.

      1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter I, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC

      It's a terrible thought / To have and hold

      2023, Sufjan Stevens, “Javelin (To Have and To Hold)”, in Javelin

      Synonyms: have it

   2. transitiveheadingTo bind (someone) to a consequence of his or her actions.

      I'll hold him to that promise.

      2 more examples

      He was held responsible for the actions of those under his command.

      You don't have to look so worried. I won't hold you to it.

      1953, Dalton Trumbo, Ian McLellan Hunter, John Dighton, Roman Holiday, spoken by Princess Ann (Audrey Hepburn)

   3. headingTo maintain in being or action; to carry on; to prosecute, as a course of conduct or an argument; to continue; to sustain.

      Hold not thy peace, and be not still.

      1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms 83:1

      1 more example

      Seedtime and harvest, heat and hoary frost, / Shall hold their course.

      1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book II

   4. headingTo accept, as an opinion; to be the adherent of, openly or privately; to persist in, as a purpose; to maintain; to sustain.

      Stand fast and hold the traditions which ye have been taught.

      1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 2 Thessalonians 2:15

      1 more example

      These reasons mov'd her starlike husband's heart, But still he held his purpose to depart:

      1700, Ovid (John Dryden), Ceyx and Alcyone

   5. archaicheadingTo restrain oneself; to refrain; to hold back.

      His dauntless heart would fain have held / From weeping, but his eyes rebelled.

      1685, John Dryden, Threnodia Augustalis: A Funeral Pindaric Poem

      Synonyms: absist, belay, blin, break off, cease, cess, cheese it, come to an end

5. ambitransitivehobbiesTo win one's own service game.
6. To take place, to occur.

   He came into the hall where the wedding-festival had held […].

   1824, James Hogg, The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner, Oxford, published 2010, page 9

   Synonyms: bechance, befall, behap, belimp, betide, betime, beworth, chance

7. To organise an event or meeting (usually in passive voice).

   Elections will be held on the first Sunday of next month.

   1 more example

   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.

   1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter V, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC

8. archaicTo derive right or title.

   My Crovvn is abſolute, and holds of none.

   1665 (first performance), John Dryden, The Indian Emperour, or, The Conquest of Mexico by the Spaniards. […], London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for H[enry] Herringman […], published 1667, →OCLC, Act I, scene ii, page 12

   1 more example

   His imagination holds immediately from nature.

   1817, William Hazlitt, The Round Table

9. imperativeIn a food or drink order at an informal restaurant etc., requesting that a component normally included in that order be omitted.

   A martini, please, and hold the olive.

   1 more example

   One ham-and-cheese sandwich; hold the mustard.

10. intransitiveslangTo be in possession of illicit drugs for sale.

    […] 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.

    1933, Goat Laven, Rough Stuff: The Life Story of a Gangster, page 122

plural holds

1. A grasp or grip.

   Keep a firm hold on the handlebars.

   1 more example

   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.

   1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter VII, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC

2. An act or instance of holding.

   Can I have a hold of the baby?

3. A place where animals are held for safety
4. An order that something is to be reserved or delayed, limiting or preventing how it can be dealt with.

   Senator X placed a hold on the bill, then went to the library and placed a hold on a book.

   1 more example

   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.

   2008, R. Michael Gordon, The Space Shuttle Program: How NASA Lost Its Way, page 98

5. Something reserved or kept.

   We have a hold here for you.

6. Power over someone or something.

   The fad has gained a sure hold on every teenager.

   2 more 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.

   2008, Christopher Clarke-Milton, Dawn of the Messiah - Book 1, →ISBN, page 199

   War has a hold on our cultural imaginations as an inevitable force, it is peace that has no benefactor.

   2013, Wim Wenders, Mary Zournazi, Inventing Peace: A Dialogue on Perception, →ISBN, page 107

7. The ability to persist.

   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: […]

   1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XXVIII”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 45

   1 more example

   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.

   1982, Laurence Monroe Klauber, Karen Harvey McClung, Rattlesnakes, Their Habits, Life Histories, and Influence, →ISBN, page 48

8. The property of maintaining the shape of styled hair.

   Sculpturing gels provide stiffer hold than styling gels, which provide better hold than mousses.

   2004, Zoe Diana Draelos, Hair Care: An Illustrated Dermatologic Handbook, page 221

9. self-defensegovernmentA position or grip used to control the opponent.

   He got him in a tight hold and pinned him to the mat.

10. exerciseAn exercise involving holding a position for a set time
11. gamblingThe percentage the house wins on a gamble, the house or bookmaker's hold.

    The House Hold on the game is 10,000, this is the amount of decision or risk the house wishes to assume.

12. gamblingThe wager amount, the total hold.

    As of Monday night the total Melbourne Cup hold was $848,015

13. hobbiesAn instance of holding one's service game, as opposed to being broken.
14. The part of an object one is intended to grasp, or anything one can use for grasping with hands or feet.

    The beginner will instinctively try to stick his toe straight in in a foot hold, which is very tiring on the calf muscles.

    1995, Turlough Johnston, Madeleine Halldén, Rock Climbing Basics, →ISBN, page 86

    1 more example

    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.

    [1898], J[ohn] Meade Falkner, Moonfleet, London; Toronto, Ont.: Jonathan Cape, published 1934, →OCLC

15. A fruit machine feature allowing one or more of the reels to remain fixed while the others spin.
16. datedvideo gamesA pause facility.

    A hold facility is available; H holds, and S restarts.

    1983, New Generation Software, Knot in 3D (video game instruction leaflet)

    1 more example

    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.

    1987?, Imagine Software, Legend of Kage (video game instruction leaflet)

17. The queueing system on telephones and similar communication systems which maintains a connection when all lines are busy.

    Even the "on-hold" messages on Southwest's telephone system are humorous, ensuring anyone inconvenienced by the hold is entertained.

    2005, Lorraine Grubbs-West, Lessons in Loyalty: How Southwest Airlines Does it : an Insider's View, CornerStone Leadership Inst, →ISBN, page 56

    2 more 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.

    2003, Daniel Jackson, Paul Fulberg, Sonic Branding: An Essential Guide to the Art and Science of Sonic Branding, Palgrave Macmillan, →ISBN, page 6

    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.

    2012, Tanner Ezell, Cisco Unified Communications Manager 8: Expert Administration Cookbook, Packt Publishing Ltd, →ISBN

18. ball gamesA 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.
19. aeronauticsA region of airspace reserved for aircraft being kept in a holding pattern.

plural holds

1. aeronauticsThe cargo area of a ship or aircraft (often holds or cargo hold).

   We watched our luggage being loaded into the hold of the plane.

comparative more hold · superlative most hold

1. obsoleteGracious; friendly; faithful; true.

   at the proper moment, I stepped forward with a gay heart and a hold one

   1854, Nathaniel Hawthorne, “Passages from a Relinquished Work”, in Mosses from an Old Manse