English
hold
Pronunciation
  • (RP) enPR: hōld, IPA: /həʊld/, [həʊɫd]
  • (America) enPR: hōld, IPA: /hoʊld/, [hoəɫd]
Verb

hold (holds, present participle holding; past held, past participle held)

  1. (transitive) To grasp or grip.
    Hold the pencil like this.
    • 1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter 1, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], OCLC 752825175 ↗:
      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 […].
  2. (transitive) To contain or store.
    This package holds six bottles.
  3. (heading) To maintain or keep to a position or state.
    1. (transitive) To have and keep possession of something.
      Hold my coat for me.  The general ordered the colonel to hold his position at all costs.
    2. (transitive) To reserve.
      Hold a table for us at 7:00.
    3. (transitive) To cause to wait or delay.
      Hold the elevator.
    4. (transitive) To detain.
      Hold the suspect in this cell.
    5. (intransitive) To be or remain valid; to apply (usually in the third person).
      to hold true;  The proposition holds.
      • 1691, John Locke, Some Considerations of the Consequences of the Lowering of Interest and the Raising the Value of Money
        The rule holds in land as well as all other commodities.
    6. To keep oneself in a particular state.
      to hold firm;  to hold opinions
    7. (transitive) To 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.
      • 1911, Thomas Babington Macaulay, “[https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Goldsmith,_Oliver Goldsmith, Oliver]”, in 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica:
        He hath not sufficient judgment and self-command to hold his tongue.
    8. (transitive) To bear, carry, or manage.
      He holds himself proudly erect.  Hold your head high.
    9. (intransitive, mostly, imperative) Not to move; to halt; to stop.
    10. (intransitive) Not to give way; not to part or become separated; to remain unbroken or unsubdued.
    11. To remain continent#Etymology 2|continent; to control an excretory bodily function.
      to hold one's bladder;  to hold one's breath
  4. (heading) To maintain or keep to particular opinions, promises, actions.
    1. (transitive) To maintain, to consider, to opine.
      • 1776, Thomas Jefferson et al., United States Declaration of Independence:
        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.
    2. (transitive) To bind (someone) to a consequence of his or her actions.
      He was held responsible for the actions of those under his command.  I'll hold him to that promise.
    3. To maintain in being or action; to carry on; to prosecute, as a course of conduct or an argument; to continue; to sustain.
      • Bible, Psalms lxxxiii.1:
        Hold not thy peace, and be not still.
    4. To accept, as an opinion; to be the adherent of, openly or privately; to persist in, as a purpose; to maintain; to sustain.
      • Bible, Second Epistle to the Thessalonians ii.15:
        Stand fast and hold the traditions which ye have been taught.
    5. (archaic) To restrain oneself; to refrain; to hold back.
  5. (tennis, ambitransitive) To win one's own service game.
  6. To take place, to occur.
    • 1824, James Hogg, The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner, Oxford 2010, p. 9:
      He came into the hall where the wedding-festival had held […].
  7. To organise an event or meeting (usually in passive voice).
    Elections will be held on the first Sunday of next month.
  8. (archaic) To derive right or title.
    • My crown is absolute, and holds of none.
    • 1817, William Hazlitt, ''The Round Table (1817 book)
      His imagination holds immediately from nature.
  9. (heading) In a food or drink order at an informal restaurant, bar, or diner, requesting that a component normally included in that order be omitted.
    One ham-and-cheese sandwich, hold the mustard.
    A martini, and hold the olive.
Conjugation


conjugation of hold

infinitive hold
present participle holding
past participle held
simple progressive perfect perfect progressive
present I hold we hold I am holding we are holding I have held we have held I have been holding we have been holding
you hold you hold you are holding you are holding you have held you have held you have been holding you have been holding
he holds they hold he is holding they are holding he has held they have held he has been holding they have been holding
past I held we held I was holding we were holding I had held we had held I had been holding we had been holding
you held you held you were holding you were holding you had held you had held you had been holding you had been holding
he held they held he was holding they were holding he had held they had held he had been holding they had been holding
future I will hold we will hold I will be holding we will be holding I will have held we will have held I will have been holding we will have been holding
you will hold you will hold you will be holding you will be holding you will have held you will have held you will have been holding you will have been holding
he will hold they will hold he will be holding they will be holding he will have held they will have held he will have been holding they will have been holding
conditional I would hold we would hold I would be holding we would be holding I would have held we would have held I would have been holding we would have been holding
you would hold you would hold you would be holding you would be holding you would have held you would have held you would have been holding you would have been holding
he would hold they would hold he would be holding they would be holding he would have held they would have held he would have been holding they would have been holding
imperative hold

Synonyms Antonyms Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations
Noun

hold (plural holds)

  1. A grasp or grip.
    Keep a firm hold on the handlebars.
  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.
  5. Something reserved or kept.
    We have a hold here for you.
  6. Power over someone or something.
  7. The ability to persist.
  8. The property of maintaining the shape of styled hair.
  9. (wrestling) A position or grip used to control the opponent.
    He got him in a tight hold and pinned him to the mat.
  10. (exercise) An exercise involving holding a position for a set time
  11. (gambling) The 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. (gambling) The wager amount, the total hold.
    As of Monday night the total Melbourne Cup hold was $848,015
  13. (tennis) An instance of hold#Verb|holding one's service game, as opposed to being break#Verb|broken.
  14. The part of an object one is intended to grasp, or anything one can use for grasping with hands or feet.
    • 1898, J. Meade Falkner, Moonfleet Chapter 4
      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.
  15. A fruit machine feature allowing one or more of the reels to remain fixed while the others spin.
  16. (video games, dated) A pause facility.
    • 1983, New Generation Software, Knot in 3D (video game instruction leaflet)
      A hold facility is available; H holds, and S restarts.
    • 1987?, Imagine Software, Legend of Kage (video game instruction leaflet)
      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.
  17. The queueing system on telephones and similar communication systems which maintains a connection when all lines are busy.
    • 2003, Daniel Jackson, Paul Fulberg, Sonic Branding: An Essential Guide to the Art and Science of Sonic Branding, Palgrave Macmillan ISBN 9780230503267, page 6
      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.
    • 2005, Lorraine Grubbs-West, Lessons in Loyalty: How Southwest Airlines Does it : an Insider's View, CornerStone Leadership Inst ISBN 9780976252856, page 56
      Even the "on-hold" messages on Southwest's telephone system are humorous, ensuring anyone inconvenienced by the hold is entertained.
    • 2012, Tanner Ezell, Cisco Unified Communications Manager 8: Expert Administration Cookbook, Packt Publishing Ltd ISBN 9781849684330
      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.
  18. (baseball) 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.
Translations Translations Translations
  • Italian: presa
  • Russian: захва́т
  • Spanish: presa
Noun

hold (plural holds)

  1. (nautical, aviation) The cargo area of a ship or aircraft (often holds or cargo hold).
    Put that in the hold.
Translations
Adjective

hold

  1. (obsolete) Gracious; friendly; faithful; true.


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