withhold

present singular third person withholds · participle present withholding · past withheld · participle past withheld · archaic participle past rare withholden · alternative obsolete with-hold

1. transitiveTo keep (a physical object that one has obtained) to oneself rather than giving it back to its owner.

   The bank withheld her credit card.

   1 more example

   Us if he ſhall hear novv, hovv much leſs vvill he hear vvhen vve cry hereafter, vvho once deliver'd by him from a King, and not vvithout vvondrous Acts of his Providence, inſenſible and unvvorthy of thoſe high Mercies, are returning precipitantly, if he vvithold us not, back to the Captivity from vvhence he freed us.

   1660 February, John Milton, The Ready and Easy Way to Establish a Free Commonwealth, and the Excellence thereof, Compar’d with the Inconveniencies and Dangers of Readmitting Kingship in this Nation; republished in A Complete Collection of the Historical, Political, and Miscellaneous Works of John Milton, […], volume II, Amsterdam [actually London: s.n.], 1698, →OCLC, page 793

   Synonyms: retain

2. transitiveTo keep (information, assent, etc.) to oneself rather than revealing it.

   a withheld phone number

   1 more example

   withhold vital information

3. intransitiveTo stay back, to refrain.

   I’ll withhold from asking about it.

   3 more examples

   Do you wish to proceed with those down the line in that order? […] We’ll withhold for now.

   1971 October 26, William J. Randall, Hearings Before the Special Committee on the Utilization of Manpower in the Military […] House of Representatives, Ninety-Second Congress, First and Second Sessions, published 1972, page 12759

   On the assumption that a vast majority of readers also enjoy writing, I could not withhold from asking the expert for some advice.

   2015 February 25, “My day at Malorie Blackman's book launch”, in The Guardian

   Maria Goldberg, marketing director for Great Southern Restaurants, said The Fish House in Pensacola, so far, has been able to withhold from raising menu prices.

   2022 January 10, Brittany Misencik, “Pensacola seafood markets face no-win choice amid pandemic: Raise prices or cut stock”, in Pensacola News Journal

plural withholds · alternative obsolete with-hold

1. ScientologyAn immoral action or condition (an overt) that has not been disclosed to others; the consciousness of such an action or condition.

   Dianetics is concerned with purifying the individual of negative emotions, evil spirits, overts, and withholds.

   1976, Nathaniel Lande, Mindstyles, Lifestyles, →ISBN, page 133

   2 more examples

   I was afraid to go into review for the help I needed because of the withholds I had against the organization, withholds acquired at the franchise: our late evening discussions, our kidding around at the expense of other Scientologists.

   1972, Robert Kaufman, Inside Scientology: How I Joined Scientology and Became Superhuman, →ISBN, page 150

   The scientology theory is that marriages fail because one or both partners have undisclosed withholds, and when they confess these to their spouse their desire to end the relationship is dissipated and the marriage is saved.

   2022, Mike Rinder, A Billion Years: My Escape from a Life in the Highest Ranks of Scientology, →ISBN, pages 138–9