Sekirov Dictionary

hold

UK /həʊld/US /hoʊld/

verb 27
noun 20
adjective 1
forms 11
phrases 20

verb27

•
to close the hands or arms around something and not let it go
- Hold the pencil like this.
•
To take place, to occur.
- He came into the hall where the wedding-festival had held […]. — 1824
•
To organise an event or meeting (usually in passive voice).
- Elections will be held on the first Sunday of next month.
•
To have and keep possession of something.
- Hold my coat for me.
- The general ordered the colonel to hold his position at all costs.
•
(slang) To 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
•
To contain or store.
- This package holds six bottles.
To maintain or keep to a position or state.
•
To 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.
•
To 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
•
To detain.
- Hold the suspect in this cell.
•
To impose restraint upon; to limit in motion or action; to bind legally or morally; to confine; to restrain.
- We cannot hold mortality's strong hand. — 1623
To remain continent; to control an excretory bodily function.
•
To cause to wait or delay.
- Hold the elevator.
•
To 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
•
Not to move; to halt; to stop.
- Lay on, Macduff, and damned him that first cries hold, enough! — 1606
To keep oneself in a particular state.
•
Not to give way; not to part or become separated; to remain unbroken or unsubdued.
- Our force by land hath nobly held. — 1623
•
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.
•
To be or remain valid; to apply (usually in the third person).
- The proposition holds.
•
To reserve.
- Hold a table for us at 7:00.
To maintain or keep to particular opinions, promises, actions.
•
To 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
•
To bear, carry, or manage.
- He holds himself proudly erect.
- Hold your head high.
•
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.
To win one's own service game.
•
(no longer used) To restrain oneself; to refrain; to hold back.
- His dauntless heart would fain have held / From weeping, but his eyes rebelled. — 1685
•
(no longer used) To derive right or title.
- My Crovvn is absolute, and holds of none. — 1665

noun20

•
A grasp or grip.
- Keep a firm hold on the handlebars.
•
An act or instance of holding.
- Can I have a hold of the baby?
•
A position or grip used to control the opponent.
- He got him in a tight hold and pinned him to the mat.
•
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.
•
The queueing system on telephones and similar communication systems which maintains a connection when all lines are busy.
- 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
•
Power over someone or something.
- The fad has gained a sure hold on every teenager.
•
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.
•
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
•
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
•
The property of maintaining the shape of styled hair.
- Sculpturing gels provide stiffer hold than styling gels, which provide better hold than mousses. — 2004
•
Something reserved or kept.
- We have a hold here for you.
An exercise involving holding a position for a set time
An instance of holding one's service game, as opposed to being broken.
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.
A region of airspace reserved for aircraft being kept in a holding pattern.
A fruit machine feature allowing one or more of the reels to remain fixed while the others spin.
•
(old-fashioned) A pause facility.
- A hold facility is available; H holds, and S restarts. — 1983
A place where animals are held for safety
•
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.
•
The wager amount, the total hold.
- As of Monday night the total Melbourne Cup hold was $848,015

adjective1

•
(no longer used) Gracious; friendly; faithful; true.
- at the proper moment, I stepped forward with a gay heart and a hold one — 1854

forms

held · holded · heldest · holden · yholde · holding · holdeth · holds · holdest · more hold · most hold

Phrases with hold

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