English
hold
Pronunciation
  • (RP) enPR: hōld, IPA: /həʊld/, [həʊɫd]
  • (America) enPR: hōld, IPA: /hoʊld/, [hoəɫd]
Etymology 1
  • Western Frisian hâlde
  • Low German holden, holen
  • Dutch houden
  • German halten
  • Danish -
  • Norwegian Bokmål holde
  • Norwegian Nynorsk halda.

    Compare Latin celer, Tocharian B käl-, Ancient Greek κέλλω, Sanskrit कलयति.

Verb

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

  1. (transitive) To grasp or grip.
    Hold the pencil like this.
    Synonyms: clasp, grasp, grip, Thesaurus:grasp
    • 1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter 1, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC ↗:
      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 […].
    • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XXIII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →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.
  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, copulative) To be or remain valid; to apply (usually in the third person).
      to hold true
      The proposition holds.
      • 1726 October 27, [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 ↗:
        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.
      • 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 ↗:
        The rule holds in land as well as all other commodities.
    6. (intransitive, copulative) To keep oneself in a particular state.
      to hold firm
      • 1921, Ben Travers, chapter 2, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC ↗:
        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.
    7. (transitive) To impose restraint upon; to limit in motion or action; to bind legally or morally; to confine; to restrain.
      • 1646, Richard Crashaw, Vpon the Death of Mr. Herrys:
        Death! what do'st? O, hold thy blow.
      • 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 ↗:
        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; 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.
      • 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 ↗:
        He neuer hild but gracious thoughts of vvomen, yeat, I vvinne, / The fayreſt She he euer ſavv might quit his thoughts of ſinne.
      • 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.
      • 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 ↗:
        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.
    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.
      • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC ↗, Psalms 83:1 ↗:
        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.
      • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC ↗, 2 Thessalonians 2:15 ↗:
        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, published 2010, page 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.
    • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter V, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC ↗:
      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.
  8. (archaic) To derive right or title.
    • 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 ↗:
      My Crovvn is abſolute, and holds of none.
    • 1817, William Hazlitt, The Round Table:
      His imagination holds immediately from nature.
  9. (imperative) In a food or drink order at an informal restaurant etc., requesting that a component normally included in that order be omitted.
    One ham-and-cheese sandwich; hold the mustard.
    A martini, please, and hold the olive.
  10. (slang, intransitive) To be in possession of illicit drugs for sale.
    • 1933, Goat Laven, Rough Stuff: The Life Story of a Gangster, page 122:
      […] 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.
Synonyms Antonyms Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Noun

hold (plural holds)

  1. A grasp or grip.
    • 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter VII, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y., London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC ↗:
      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.
  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.
    • 2008, R. Michael Gordon, The Space Shuttle Program: How NASA Lost Its Way, page 98:
      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.
  5. Something reserved or kept.
    We have a hold here for you.
  6. Power over someone or something.
  7. The ability to persist.
    • 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC ↗, Canto XXVIII, page 45 ↗:
      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: […]
  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 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.
    • [1898], J[ohn] Meade Falkner, Moonfleet, London; Toronto, Ont.: Jonathan Cape, published 1934, →OCLC ↗:
      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.
  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.
  19. (aviation) A region of airspace reserved for aircraft being kept in a holding pattern.
Translations Translations Translations Etymology 2

Alteration (due to hold) of hole. Cognate with Dutch hol, Dutch holte.

Noun

hold (plural holds)

  1. (nautical, aviation) The cargo area of a ship or aircraft (often holds or cargo hold).
    We watched our luggage being loaded into the hold of the plane.
Translations Etymology 3

From Middle English hold, holde, from Old English hold, from Proto-Germanic *hulþaz, from Proto-Indo-European *kel-.

Cognate with German hold, Danish - and Swedish huld, Icelandic hollur, German Huld.

Adjective

hold

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


This text is extracted from the Wiktionary and it is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license | Terms and conditions | Privacy policy 0.002
Offline English dictionary