| 释义 |
▪ I. hold, v.|həʊld|
Pa. tense held; pa. pple. held, arch. holden |ˈhəʊld(ə)n|. Forms: see below.
[A Com. Teut. redupl. str. vb. OE. haldan, healdan, pa. tense heold, pple. halden, healden, corresp. to OFris. halda, helt, halden, OS. haldan, held, gihaldan (MLG. holden, MDu. houden), OHG. halten, hialt, gehaltan (Ger. halten, hielt, gehalten), ON. halda, helt, held-, haldenn, Goth. haldan, haihald, haldans. The Anglian form haldan remained in the north as hald, hauld, haud, but regularly gave in midl. and general Eng. hold; the WSax. healdan gave in the south a pres. stem heald, hæld, hyald, held in ME. The 2nd and 3rd pers. sing. had often umlaut and contraction in OE. and early ME. The pa. tense OE. heold (:—redupl. *hehold) became heeld, held, dial. hield, hyld, huld (-y-); rarely, with weak ending, hulte, holdede, in ME. The pa. pple. became holden, north. halden (hauden, hadden), south. healden, helden; also, with loss of suffix, yhalde, yholde, holde, etc.; in 16th c. holden began to be displaced by held from the pa. tense, and is now archaic, but preserved by its use in legal and formal language; weak forms holded, hoddit, are frequent from 16th c. in dial. or individual use.]
A. Inflexional Forms.
1. a. Present stem. (α) Anglian and north. 1–7 hald, (4–5 ald), 6–9 Sc. hauld, (6 hawd, 6– haud, had), 9 north. Eng. hod.
a900O.E. Chron. an. 874 Miercna rice to haldanne. c950Lindisf. Gosp. Mark v. 4 Næniᵹ monn mæhte hine halda. c1175Lamb. Hom. 41 Haldeð broþerreddene eow bitwenen. a1225Juliana 47 Hu derst tu halde me? a1300Cursor M. 4034 Aiþer might þam ald. Ibid. 28353, I þat cuth na mesur hald. 1375Barbour Bruce i. 514 To hald þat þai forspokyn haid. 1426Audelay Poems 33 And ald houshold oponly. 1500–20Dunbar Poems xlix. 42 Micht non him hawd. Ibid. lxix. 27 Quhy wald thow hald that will away? 1535Stewart Cron. Scot. II. 15 Ane pennyworth to had. 1724Ramsay Tea-t. Misc. (1733) I. 29 Twa good pocks..The t'ane to had the grots The ither to had the meal. 1777–1836J. Mayne Siller Gun in Chambers Pop. Hum. Scot. Poems (1862) 122 Nought could hauld them. 1781Burns My Nanie, O, vii, I'm as blythe that hauds his pleugh.
(β) 3– hold, (5 hoold, old, 5–7 hould).
c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 161 Hie sullen weie holden. 1297R. Glouc. (1724) 460 Ych hym holde vaste. c1400Destr. Troy 11648 Hold hit onone! c1460Fortescue Abs. & Lim. Mon. v. (1885) 119 We most holde [MS. Digby 145 (1532) houlde] it for vndouted. 1546J. Heywood Prov. (1867) 62 Who maie holde that will awaie?
(γ) WSax. and south. 1–4 heald-, 3 hæld-, 3–5 held-, (4 Kent. hyald-, hye(a)ld-).
971Blickl. Hom. 13 We..his bebodu healdan. c1000Sax. Leechd. I. 224 Heald hy mid þe. c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 31 Heald þin cunde. a1275Prov. ælfred 620 in O.E. Misc. 136 Þenne miȝt þu þi lond mit frendchipe helden. c1315Healde [see B. 23 c]. 1340Ayenb. 27 Zome þet me hyelde guode men. Ibid. 145 God of huam we hyealdeþ alle. Ibid. 220 [He] hyalde hit wyle þerhuyle hit ilest. 13..Coer de L. 2340 Al my lond I will of him held.
b. 2nd sing. 1 *hieltst, hyltst, 2 alst, 3–4 halst, 4 north. hald(e)s, 3– holdest; 3rd sing. 1 hielt, hęlt, hilt, hylt, 2–4 halt (alt), 4 halth, north. hald(e)s, 4–5 holt, 3– holdeth, 6– holds.
c897K. ælfred Gregory's Past. xxxiii. 220 Se wisa hilt his spræce. 970in Kemble Cod. Dipl. III. 466 Afene stream healt ðone norþ ende. c1000Sax. Leechd. II. 198 Sio..helt þa lendenbrædan. a1175Cott. Hom. 233 Hlaford..þe alste [= halst þe] hefenen þrimsettles. c1250Gen. & Ex. 924 Quo-so his alt him bi aȝt. a1300Cursor M. 2655 If þou halds mi techeyng. c1300Beket 1614 He halth me the meste wrecche. c1315Shoreham 90 Ȝef thou hys [hestes] halst man. 1340Ayenb. 259 Vor huo þet halt ald man uor child: he hine halt uor fol. c1386Chaucer Sqr.'s T. 53 And halt [v.r. holte] his feeste so solempne. c1400Mandeville (1839) xxvii. 270 Prestre Iohn holt fulle gret Lond.
2. pa. tense. α 1 hiold, 1–4 heold, 1– held; 3 hield, (hel), 3–4 huld, 4 heeld, 4–5 heild, helt, 4–6 hild, hyld, 5 hueld, hold, hyllde.
c897K. ælfred Gregory's Past. Pref. 4 Ure ieldran ða þe ðas stowa ær hioldon. c1000ælfric Hom. I. 46 Judei..heoldon heora earan. a1132O.E. Chron. an. 1123 Fela oðre..helden here castles him to ᵹeanes. c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 165 Ðu helde mi riht hond. a1225Ancr. R. 66 Eue heold..longe tale mid te neddre. c1290S. Eng. Leg. I. 19/13 [The] taper..þat heo huld in hire hond. a1300Cursor M. 408 Þe seuend o werk he hild [v.rr. held, helde] him still. Ibid. 6038 Langer his forward heild he noght. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints, Laurentius 724 Mony feyndis hyld þare vay. 1382Wyclif Eccl. ii. 2 Laȝhing I heeld errour. c1400St. Alexius (Cott.) 315 He hyllde his hand so faste. c1420Chron. Vilod. st. 724 Seynt Wultrud hold hurr' ryȝt wel afrayde. c1450Merlin 64 Thus hilde the kynge that feeste. 1485Caxton Chas. Gt. 207 [An idol] helde in his ryght honde a grete keye. 1574tr. Marlorat's Apocalips 40 He hilde himselfe still vnder his fathers obedience. 1601Shakes. Jul. C. v. v. 65, I held the Sword. 1841Lane Arab. Nts. I. 93 A thing that thou heldest in thy hand.
(β) 5 hulte. (γ) 5 holdede.
c1420Chron. Vilod. st. 602 [He] hulte hym styll as he nouȝt rouȝt. Ibid. 937 His hond..so hulte he. 1432–50tr. Higden (Rolls) I. 89 The sonne of Mithridatis holdede that realme by xliij. yere.
3. pa. pple. (α) 1–2 (ᵹe)halden, 2–3 ihalden, 4–5 halden, -yn (alden, etc.), 4–6 haldin, (6 Sc. haldine, haulden, 9 Sc. hadden, north. hodden).
c950Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. ix. 17 æd-gædre biðon ᵹehalden. a1175Cott. Hom. 229 Þat naman ne mai bien ȝehalden. a1300Cursor M. 28470, I haue halden. 1413Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton) v. xiv. (1859) 80 The feste..is halden in this wyse. a1557Diurn. Occurr. (Bannatyne) 11 The Parliament to be haldin in Edinburgh. 1558Maitland Wynning of Calice viii. in Sibbald Chron. Scot. Poetry (1802) III. 94 Be ilk man haulden in reverence. 1609Skene Reg. Maj. 37 Lands haldin be the heire. Mod. Sc. He's ower fou hadden.
(β) 3–4 y-, i-holden, -yn, 3– holden, (4–5 -in, -yn, -un, olden).
a1240Lofsong in Cott. Hom. 205 Vuele i-holden treouðe. c1250Gen. & Ex. 2039 Holden harde in prisun. c1320Cast. Love 266 That never ȝet i-holdyn nes. 1377Langl. P. Pl. B. v. 281 Alle..Ben holden..to helpe þe to restitue. a1400Praier Ploweman in Harl. Misc. (1810) VI. 112 Ych am y-holden by charite to parte with hym of these goodes. 1411Rolls Parlt. III. 650/1 At the last Parlement..holden at Westm[inster]. 1868Lowell Under Willows, Wind-Harp 5 Only caught for the moment and holden.
(γ) 1 (ᵹe)healden, 3 ihealden, 4–6 helden.
c1000[see B. 6]. a1300Cursor M. 9504 He..helden had þir laghes tuin.
(δ) 4 ihalde, yholde, yhealde, halde, halt, 4–5 holde, hold, 6 Sc. hald.
c1330R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 8242 Þou hast halde þer lond wyþ wrong. 1340Ayenb. 165 Þe hestes..huerto hi byeþ y-hyealde. c1340Cursor M. 10493 (Trin.), I out of chirche..am don & for cursed holde. c1386Chaucer Wife's T. 168 Seyde he had holde his day. 1393Langl. P. Pl. C. iv. 269 For a man yholde. a1450Knt. de la Tour (1868) 32 Ye are moche holde to youre God. 1513Douglas æneis xii. iv. 9 Ane rych enornament Of cleyr Phebus, that was his grandschir hald.
(ε) 6– held, 6 helde, hild.
1503Act 19 Hen. VII, c. 24 The Shire-Court..is held and kept in the City of Chichester. 1587Golding De Mornay ix. 125 If he had hild himselfe to that which he saith. 1590Shakes. Com. Err. v. i. 44 How long hath this possession held the man. 1593― Lucr. 1257 O, let it not be hild [rimes kill'd, fulfill'd] Poor women's faults. 1621Burton Anat. Mel. ii. iv. ii. iii, To be held and chewed in the mouth. 1893Field 11 Feb. 190/3 Their quarry got ‘held’ in a bit of bog.
(ζ) 6–7 holded, 9 dial. hoddit.
1590L. Lloyd Dial Daies Oct. 31 Which day amongst the antient Romans was holded a fortunate day for marriage. 1716B. Church Hist. Philip's War (1867) II. 71 A Court..which was holded before I came home.
B. Signification.
In Gothic, haldan is recorded only in the sense ‘to watch over, keep charge of, keep, herd, pasture (cattle)’. (Cf. the derivative behold = hold in observation.) This is generally accepted as the original sense in the Teutonic langs. (cf. Grimm, s.v. Halten, Verwijs & Verdam Middelndl. Wbk. s.v. Houden), whence have arisen the senses, ‘to rule (people), guard, defend, keep from getting away or falling, preserve, reserve, keep possession of, possess, occupy, contain, detain, entertain, retain, maintain, sustain’, in which it is now used. In some of these hold covers the same conceptual grounds as keep (which has superseded it in reference to cattle), in others it is a stronger synonym of have. But its typical current sense is ‘to have or keep in one's grasp’; uses into which this notion does not enter, literally or figuratively, having mostly become obsolete. Hence it is the English equivalent of L. tenēre, F. tenir, and so of contain, retain, etc., as above. The verb had already a wide development of sense in OE., as far as we can go back; uses akin to the Gothic are here placed as sense 1.
I. Transitive senses.
†1.
a. To keep watch over, keep in charge, herd, ‘keep’ (sheep, etc.); to rule (men). Only in OE. and early ME. Obs.
971Blickl. Hom. 45 Þære heorde þe hi ær Gode healdan sceoldan. c1000ælfric Gen. iv. 9 Sceolde ic minne broþor healdon? Ibid. xxxvii. 13 Þine ᵹebroþru healdaþ scep on Sichima. c1000― Hom. II. 230 Se ðe hylt Israhel. Ibid. 382 Ða weardas heoldon þæs cwearternes duru. c1050Laws of Cnut i. c. 20 (Schmid) Þe he his men rihtlice healde. a1100O.E. Chron. an. 1014 Gif he hi rihtlicor healdan wolde. a1175Cott. Hom. 219 He halt mid his mihte hefene and eorðe.
†b. To guard, defend, preserve (from hurt).
c1000Ags. Ps. (Th.) cxx. 4 Se þe sceal healdan nu Israela folc utan wið feondum [qui custodit Israel]. 13..Guy Warw. (A.) 7225 ‘God’, he seyd, ‘fader almiȝt, Þat..heldest Daniel fram þe lyoun, Saue me fram þis foule dragoun’.
2. a. To keep from getting away; to keep fast, grasp.
Often with advb. extension, as hold fast; see also IV. to hold one's sides: to press the hands against the sides, as in excessive laughter.
c1000ælfric Hom. I. 110 Iacob heold þone yldran broðer Esau be ðam fet. c1205Lay. 24752 ælc mid his honde heold his iuere. 1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. v. xviii. (1495) 123 Joab helde the chynne of Amasa as though he wold kysse hym. 1550Lyndesay Sqr. Meldrum 378 Ane quaif of gold to hald his hair. 1578Lyte Dodoens i. lviii. 85 The same decoction, holden and kept in the mouth. 1606Shakes. Tr. & Cr. v. iii. 59 Lay hold vpon him Priam, hold him fast. 1632Milton L'Allegro 32 Laughter holding both his sides. 1768Sterne Sent. Journ. (1778) I. 43 (In the Street), I continued holding her hand. 1892Chamb. Jrnl. 3 Sept. 561/2 A..boy rushed up..to hold the rector's horse.
b. Cricket. To catch (a ball): implying a difficult or skilful catch.
1744Laws [of Cricket] in New Dict. Arts & Sci. (1755) IV. 3459/1 If the ball be held before she touches ground, though she be hugged to the body, it is out. 1868Baily's Monthly Mag. July 127 Mr. Miles would have got ten wickets had there been any man in the field capable of holding a catch. 1882Daily Tel. 24 June, Hornby drove Giffen hard to mid-on, where Bannerman held the ball cleverly. 1903G. L. Jessop in H. G. Hutchinson Cricket v. 130 ‘Dolly’ catches are much more difficult to hold than those from hard drives.
c. Sporting colloq. To prove a match for, hold one's own against.
1883Times 22 Oct. 10/2 It seems likely that she holds all the horses that ran in the Cesarewitch safe enough. 1891Sat. Rev. 10 Oct. 412/1 On the more level slope he begins to hold his pursuer. 1893Sat. Rev. 25 Mar. 323/1 Oxford rowed a slower stroke..than their opponents, and yet appeared to hold them fairly easily from post to finish.
d. To keep back, detain, delay.
1891F. H. Smith Col. Carter 135 ‘Where did you get this?’ he asked, aghast. ‘From the carrier. It [sc. a letter] was held for postage.’ 1904New York Times 20 Aug. 1 The railroad has issued an order..that trains shall not be held for the..taking of baggage after the regular time scheduled for stops has expired. 1970G. F. Newman Sir, You Bastard viii. 203 Sneed was greeted by Sergeant Waugh, who jumped back to try and hold the lift for him.
e. To detain in custody, keep under arrest. orig. U.S.
1903N.Y. Evening Post 19 Aug., The men were held for felonious assault, and the woman as a witness. 1906Springfield (Mass.) Weekly Republican 14 June 1 If the New York insurance officials cannot be held for larceny, they might evidently be held for forgery or perjury. 1922H. Titus Timber iii. 32 ‘Why did he arrest you?’ ‘Oh, I dropped a cigarette out here in summer an' started a fire,..an' he held me under the fire law.’ 1966J. Bingham Double Agent xii. 183 He spoke to the Maltese police inspector. ‘You would do me a personal favour if you would hold him for twenty-four hours.’ 1972J. Rathbone Trip Trap viii. 89 There were no convictions, but she had been held for questioning on three occasions.
f. Boxing. (See quot. 1954.)
1922N. Clark How to Box xii. 191 It must be understood that it takes two to make a clinch, and unless both men are holding, the referee has not the power to call ‘break-away’. 1923T. C. Wignall Story of Boxing 318 The referee shall have power to disqualify for..holding, butting, shouldering, [etc.]. 1954F. C. Avis Boxing Ref. Dict. 53 Hold, to grasp an opponent with the hands—not permitted. 1960Times 28 Sept. 16/7 The referee had to speak to both men for holding. 1961Times 8 Mar. 17/3 Spinks appeared to be palming and holding so flagrantly.
3. a. To keep from falling, to sustain or support in or with the hand, arms, etc.: applicable to any degree of exertion, from that involved in holding up (see sense 44) a heavy object, to that which does not differ from having in the hand, except by the mere implication of muscular action.
c1000ælfric Hom. I. 538 Ealle..healdende palm-twigu on heora handum. [Cf. I. 90 Hæbbende heora palm-twigu on handa.] c1290St. Dunstan 13 in S. Eng. Leg. I. 19 Seint Dunstones moder taper..þat heo hald on hire hond. a1300Floriz & Bl. 746 His swerd fel of his hond..Ne miȝte he it holde. c1320Seuyn Sag. (W.) 2009 Another ymage That held a mirour in his hond. a1366Chaucer Rom. Rose 939 Ten brode arowis hilde he there. 1583Hollyband Campo di Fior 25 Hold the basin high as you give water to ones handes. 1585T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. i. vi. 4 b, Holding in hys hande a long staffe of silver. 1613Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 371 Muttering their prayers, holding a bundle of small Tameriske-twigs. 1879‘Cavendish’ Card Ess. 191 My partner held good trumps. 1887Times (weekly ed.) 2 Sept. 14/3 Holding a brief for the National League. 1887Bowen Virg. æneid ii. 674 My wife..Holds our little Iulus before his father to see. Mod. Hold my book while I run back. The girl was holding the baby for her mother.
†b. fig. To uphold, support, maintain. Obs.
c1000Laws æthelred v. c. 35 Utan ænne cyne-hlaford holdlice healdan. 1340Ayenb. 35 Þe heȝe men..þet hyealdeþ and sosteneþ iewes and þe caorsins.
c. In pregnant sense: To hold so as to keep in position, guide, control, or manage, as to hold the sceptre, hold the reins, hold the plough.
1577B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. i. (1586) 6 He customably used himselfe to hold the Plow. 1590Spenser F.Q. i. iv. 41 Enraged wight, Whome great griefe made forgett the raines to hold Of reason's rule. 1621T. Williamson tr. Goulart's Wise Vieillard 49 Even as wee see Pilots..holding the Rudder. 1631Gouge God's Arrows v. xi. 421 More fit..to handle a mattocke then to hold a musket.
†d. To sustain, bear, endure, ‘stand’ (some treatment). Obs.
1592Greene Upst. Courtier (1881) 237 The shoomaker cares not if his shooes hold the drawing on. 1606W. Crawshaw Romish Forgeries A ij a, If the matter will not hold plea, and if my proofe be not substantiall. 1607Shakes. Cor. iii. ii. 80 Now humble as the ripest Mulberry, That will not hold the handling. 1664Waller Poems, To Sir T. Higgins, Their small gallies may not hold compare With our tall ships.
4. To keep (the body, or a member) in a particular position or attitude; to ‘carry’, sustain, bear.
a1300Cursor M. 4196 Godd hald ouer him his holi hand! 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 229 A man sittynge þeron..halt his riȝt hond as þouȝ he spake to þe peple. 1545R. Ascham Toxoph. ii. (Arb.) 145 An other holdeth his necke a wrye. 1592Shakes. Rom. & Jul. v. iii. 4 Holding thy eare close to the hollow ground. 1613Beaum. & Fl. Coxcomb v. ii, Be not fearful, for I hold My hands before my mouth. 1885D. Russell On Golden Hinges II. xi. 165 She held herself like a queen. 1890W. C. Russell Ocean Trag. I. iii. 52 She held her face averted. 1892Longm. Mag. Jan. 230 She held her head as proudly as ever.
5. a. To have or keep within it; to retain (fluid, or the like), so that it does not run out; esp. to contain (with reference to amount or quantity); to be capable of containing, have capacity for.
c1000ælfric Hom. II. 56 Ða wæter-fatu, sume heoldon twyfealde ᵹemetu, sume þryfealde. a1300Cursor M. 5924 Ne was in hus na vessel fre Þat watur hild, o stan ne tre. 1388Wyclif Jer. ii. 13 Cisternes distried, that moun not holde watris. c1400Mandeville (1839) v. 54 That yle [Cycile] holt in compas about cccl frensche myles. c1480Lit. Childr. Lit. Bk. 30 in Babees Bk. 18 Put not thy mete..In-to thy Seler that thy salte halte. 1531–2Act 23 Hen. VIII, c. 4 §4 Euery barrell for bere shall conteine and holde .xxxvi. gallons. 1590Shakes. Mids. N. v. i. 9 More diuels then vaste hell can hold. 1720De Foe Capt. Singleton xii. (1840) 206 He stored the sloop as full as she could hold. 1736Fielding Pasquin i. i, I'll make the house too hot to hold you. 1805W. Saunders Min. Waters 225 The animal and vegetable matters which it holds in solution. 1847Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. VIII. i. 66 Peat holds water like a sponge. 1872Black Adv. Phaeton xii, Cannot the phaeton hold five? Mod. This jug holds two pints.
b. spec. Of a theatre: to have capacity for (freq. with reference to the size of a theatre's seating capacity expressed in terms of the takings).
1740C. Cibber Apology for Life xii. 240 Spectators, who may remember what Form the Drury-Lane Theatre stood in, about forty Years ago, before the old Patentee, to make it hold more Mony, took it in his Head to alter it. 1812Dramatic Censor 1811 Apr. 218 Which..will, at the old prices, hold as much money as the modern excessively large Theatres. 1894G. B. Shaw Let. 20 Mar. (1965) 421 The Avenue [theatre] holds, when full, {pstlg}200. 1946― Matter with Ireland (1962) 13 It [sc. the theatre] held more money per square foot of ground than the classical Royal.
6. a. To have or keep as one's own absolutely or temporarily; to own, have as property; to be the owner, possessor, or tenant of; to be in possession or enjoyment of.
to have and to hold: see have v. 1 c.
a855O.E. Chron. an. 611 Her Cynegils feng to rice..and heold xxxi wintra. c897[see A. 2]. c1000Ags. Ps. (Th.) cxxii[i]. 1 Þu þe heofon-hamas healdest and wealdest [habitas in cælo]. a1200Moral Ode 55 in Trin. Coll. Hom. 221 Se þe aihte wile holde wel. c1200Ormin 2225 Þatt illke kinesæte Þatt Daviþþ king hiss faderr held. c1330R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 14 If any Breton were fonden holdand lond. 1362Langl. P. Pl. A. ii. 38 Sir Simonye is of-sent to asseale þe Chartres, Þat Fals oþur Fauuel by eny [fyn] heolden. c1400Destr. Troy 13697 Pirrus..Weddit þat worthi, & as wif held. c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) i. 4 Þe kyng..haldes grete and mykill land. For he haldes þe land of Hungary, Sauoy, Comany [etc.]. 1470–85Malory Arthur xx. ii, Syr Launcelot holdeth your quene and hath done longe. 1574tr. Littleton's Tenures 15 b, If an house be let to holde at will. 1651Hobbes Leviath. ii. xxvi. 148 By which he acquireth and holdeth a propriety in land, or goods. 1810Scott Lady of L. ii. xxxvii, My Sovereign holds in ward my land. 1844Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. V. i. 177 Farms are held on a variety of tenure. 1881Gardiner & Mullinger Study Eng. Hist. i. vii. 135 No man who taught the contrary was to be allowed to hold a benefice.
b. To possess, have, occupy (a position, office, quality, etc.).
1340Hampole Pr. Consc. 8129 If endlesnes any end moght hald, Þan war it endlesnes unproperly cald. c1400Apol. Loll. 5 In dede þei hald not, ne do his office. c1430Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 174 Wheresoevere thou hoold residence. 1583Stubbes Anat. Abus. ii. (1882) 104 They may also lawfully hold superioritie ouer their brethren. 1631Weever Anc. Fun. Mon. 242 He might well haue holden place with the worthiest. 1757Beattie Wolf & Sheph. 10 One With whom wit holds the place of reason. 1809Kendall Trav. I. v. 40 Their places, therefore, are practically holden during good behaviour. 1827Scott Surg. Dau. i, Doctor Grey (he might hold the title by diploma for what I know). 1890T. F. Tout Hist. Eng. fr. 1689. 137 Catholics could hold rank up to that of colonel.
c. Const. of or from (the superior from whom the title to an estate or office is derived). Also fig.
c1205Lay. 29377 And aȝef heom sone al þis ærd, of him to heoldenne. c1290Beket 2000 in S. Eng. Leg. I. 163 Þe baronie al-so, Þat þou halst of him in chef. 1495Act 11 Hen. VII, c. 48 §1 The same Castelles..be holden of your Highnes in Chief as of youre Crowne. 1604Shakes. Oth. i. iii. 118 The Trust, the Office, I do hold of you. 1636Massinger Bashf. Lover iv. iii, I hold my dukedom from you, as your vassal. 1703Rowe Ulyss. iv. i, I have learnt to hold My Life from none, but from the Gods who gave it. 1818Cruise Digest (ed. 2) I. 68 It has been contended that the word feodum signifies land holden of a superior lord, by military or other services.
d. Mil. To keep forcibly against an adversary, defend; to keep possession of, occupy.
1154O.E. Chron. an. 1135 And [he] held Execestre aᵹenes him. 1573J. Sandford Hours Recreat. (1576) 173 They tooke and held the Citie with force. 1593Shakes. Rich. II, ii. iii. 164 To Bristow Castle, which they say is held By Bushie, Bagot, and their Complices. 1649J. Taylor (Water P.) West. Voy. to Mount Wks. (1872) 18 The main Island is held for the Prince, by one Captain..called Sir John Grenville. 1667Milton P.L. v. 723 With what Arms We mean to hold what anciently we claim Of Deitie or Empire. 1867J. B. Rose tr. Virgil's æneid 40 The foeman holds the wall. 1869W. Longman Hist. Edw. III, I. xvii. 319 The bridge was held for some time..at last the French fled.
e. To occupy, be in (a place); also, in stronger sense, To remain in, retain possession or occupation of.
1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 7166 He ber þe croune & huld þe deis mid oþer atil also. 13..K. Alis. 1154 Alisaundre heold the deys. c1590Greene Fr. Bacon ix. 124 As if science held her seat Between the circled arches of thy brows. 1634Milton Comus 94 The star, that bids the shepherd fold, Now the top of heaven doth hold. 1704J. Trapp Abra-Mulé ii. i. 456 One who holds the very next Apartment. 1885C. L. Pirkis Lady Lovelace II. xxix. 123 For the nonce lighter questions held his brain. 1892Illustr. Lond. News 7 May 559/3 His first piece..long held the boards.
f. fig. Of disease, error, etc.: To have in its power, possess, affect, occupy.
a1300Cursor M. 11829 Ydropsi held him sua in threst. 1420Proclam. Hen. V in Rymer Foedera (1710) 917 Our sayd Father is holden wyth divers Sekeness. 1577Hanmer Anc. Eccl. Hist. (1619) 241 The detestable heresie of Arius, which held their minds of a long time. 1610Shakes. Temp. v. i. 116 Th' affliction of my minde amends, with which I feare a madnesse held me. 1711Hearne Collect. (O.H.S.) III. 122 A Feaver that held him for about a Fortnight. 1886Seeley Short Hist. Napoleon I, iv. §i. 118 The intoxication of the Marengo campaign still held him.
g. Phr. to hold the stage (or house): to command the attention of a theatre audience.
1889Barrère & Leland Dict. Slang, Hold the stage, to (theatrical), is said of an experienced actor who is fully at home on the stage, and always commands the attention of the audience. 1893Farmer & Henley Slang, To hold the stage, to have the chief place on the boards and the eye of the audience. 1916To-day 22 July 368/1 You do not need to be a very experienced playgoer to know when an actress is holding a house. 1967‘La Meri’ Sp. Dancing (ed. 2) viii. 98 Many dancers assisted by only a pianist held the stage alone for the two hours of a complete evening's performance.
h. to hold the line: to maintain telephonic connection during a break in conversation. (Cf. 40 g.) Also fig.
1912Beerbohm Christmas Garland 6 It was with a certain sense of his rashness in the matter, therefore, that he now, with an air of feverishly ‘holding the line’, said ‘Oh, as to that.’ 1915Punch 10 Nov. 390/1 Such are some of the miseries of holding the line. 1931Wodehouse Big Money i. 24 ‘Hold the line,’ he said in a low, strained voice.
7. a. To keep, preserve, retain; not to lose, let go, part with, or emit; to detain; to arrest, rivet the attention of. Also hold it!: stay as you are; do not go on!; steady on!
c1000Ags. Gosp. Matt. ix. 17 Hiᵹ doð niwe win on niwe bytta, and æᵹðer byþ ᵹe-healden [Lindisf. ᵹehalden]. c1020Rule St. Benet (Logeman) 98 Him sylfum na healdende of eallum. a1225Ancr. R. 50 Þe blake cloð..halt his heou betere. 1258Proclam. Hen. III, We senden ȝew þis writ..to halden a manges ȝew inehord. a1300Cursor M. 13409 ‘Quarfor’, said he, ‘þus has þou Halden þe god wine to now?’ 1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. x. vii. (1495) 378 Cole rake in asshes holdeth and kepyth fyre. 1486Bk. St. Albans C vij b, If she holde it past the secunde day after, she shall be hoole. 1577B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. i. (1586) 7 b, But I holde you to long with commendation of that..I pray you let us goe to dinner. 1613Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 333 Might..dive in as long as they could hold their breath. 1861Temple Bar Mag. III. 335 Constant changes of scene and method hold the attention. 1885E. F. Byrrne Entangled II. i. xxiv. 130 She..found herself held by his eyes. 1926A. Huxley Jesting Pilate iv. 262 That's good. Hold it. 1930Auden Poems 23 Moisten the lips and start afresh. Hold it. 1948M. Allingham More Work for Undertaker xiii. 160 Oh, I say, hold it... I don't think you ought to go as far as that. 1962A. Christie Mirror Crack'd xv. 167 ‘That'll do. Hold it. We'll have one more... It looks smashing,’ said the photographer. 1973E. Berckman Victorian Album 20 ‘Let's go and talk to her quickly, quickly—.’ ‘Hold it, darling,’ she interrupted.
b. With extension or complement: To keep in a specified place, state, condition, or relation; to oblige to adhere to (a promise or the like: cf. 10).
971Blickl. Hom. 189 Þa heht Petrus and Paulus on bendum healdon. c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 179 Heald me þe wrache. c1205Lay. 1044 Ȝe..haldeð me inne bende. a1300Cursor M. 3183 Abraham..hald still þin arm, And to þi sun do þou no harm. Ibid. 14405 Pharaon..þat þam in seruage held lang. c1374Chaucer Anel. & Arc. 339 Thus holdithe me my destenye a wrechche. c1400Destr. Troy 8083 To hold hym in hope & hert hym the bettur. 1482Monk of Evesham (Arb.) 26 Beyng holde in a certeyn stupour and wondyr of mynde. 1545R. Ascham Toxoph. i. (Arb.) 83 Suche a rable of shoters..as wolde holde vs talkyng whyles tomorowe. 1607Shakes. Cor. ii. iii. 202 His gracious Promise, which you might..haue held him to. 1754Richardson Grandison (1820) II. 286 The captain is desirous to hold you to it. 1872C. E. Maurice Stephen Langton iii. 213 John's army was held in check. 1892Temple Bar Mag. Nov. 360 He was held at bay.
c. refl. To keep oneself; to adhere, remain, keep.
c1230Hali Meid. 25 Moni halt him til an make. 1297R. Glouc. (1724) 379 ‘Þe kyng’, he seyde, ‘of Engelond halt hym to hys bedde’. a1300Cursor M. 6521 Moyses him hild awai. Ibid. 10413 Quen þat he heild him fra hame. 1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xx. 245 Holdeþ ȝow in vnyte. c1475Rauf Coilȝear 373 For thy, hald ȝow fra the Court. a1533Ld. Berners Huon lv. 187 Euery man praysed gretely Huon that he helde hym selfe so fermely. 1535Coverdale Job xxxvi. 2 Holde the still a litle. 1571Campion Hist. Irel. ii. vii. (1633) 98 Richard held himselfe in Ireland. 1861Temple Bar Mag. I. 340 They held themselves aloof from the popular current.
†d. To continue to occupy; to remain in (a place); not to move from or leave; to ‘keep’. Obs.
c1386Chaucer Man of Law's T. 623 She halt hire chambre. a1450Knt. de la Tour (1868) 64 Had they holde the highe waye. 1513Douglas æneis iii. iii. 84 The schippis haldand the deip see. a1547Surrey æneid ii. Poems (1831) 131 Holding alway the chief street of the town. 1795Osbaldiston Brit. Sportsm. 477 If it be rainy, then the hare will hold the highways more than at any other time.
e. Hunting. To keep going; to lead or drive (hounds). Cf. 24.
1891Field 21 Nov. 792/2 We found Mark..holding the hounds up the common again. 1891Ibid. 19 Dec. 954/2 Laurance..held his hounds across the valley.
f. to hold the road: to continue to occupy the road; to keep to the road without skidding, etc.
1926T. E. Lawrence Let. 27 Sept. (1938) 500 The S.S. 100 holds the road extraordinarily. 1971P. D. James Shroud for Nightingale ii. 43 [She] wondered whether her small car would hold the road.
8. a. To keep together, to keep in being, existence, or operation, to carry on; to convoke and preside over (a meeting, assembly, council, or the like); to go through formally, perform (any proceeding or function); to keep, observe, celebrate (a festival); to carry on, sustain, or have (communication, intelligence, conversation); to keep (company, silence, etc.); to use (language) habitually or constantly; = have v. II.
a1100O.E. Chron. an. 1075 Hi ne dorstan nan ᵹefeoht healdan wið Willelm cynge. Ibid. an. 1085 Her se cyng bær his corona and heold his hired. c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 85 Sein[t] nicholas..þat wune heold to his liues ende. c1205Lay. 4766 Belin in Euerewic huld eorlene husting. a1225Ancr. R. 22 Vrom þet, efter Preciosa, holdeð silence. a1300Cursor M. 10215 A mikel fest.. þat Iues held. c1340Ibid. 13363 (Trin.) A bridale was þere on I halde. 1375Barbour Bruce i. 410 The king Eduuard..Come to strevillyne. For till hald thar ane assemble. c1450Merlin 2 The fendes helden a gret conseill. 1485Caxton Paris & V. 8, I wyl holde you companye thyder. a1535More Edw. V (1641) 3 The Parliament holden the thirtieth yeere of King Henry the Sixth. 1579Spenser Sheph. Cal. July 29 To holden chat with seely shepherds swayne. 1654tr. Scudery's Curia Pol. 41 Had he held intelligence with the King of Granada. 1726Swift Gulliver i. v, [They] can hold conversation in both tongues. 1769Blackstone Comm. IV xix. 267 Any county, wherein the assises are held. 1814Cary Dante, Par. xxvi. 93, I pray thee hold Converse with me. 1840J. Quincy Hist. Harvard Univ. I. 91 The first meeting of the Corporation..was holden on the 13th of the ensuing July. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. vi. I. 667 Several opulent gentlemen were accused of holding conventicles.
b. Mus. † (a) To perform (a particular part in concerted music); = bear v.1 20. Obs. (b) To sustain (a note, esp. in one part while the other parts move).
1885‘Rita’ Like Dian's Kiss xxiv. 180 The vocal thunder, having terminated in a prolonged holding of the low E, is followed by loud applause. 1889E. Prout Harmony xix. §501 A suspension may be very simply defined as a note of one chord held over another of which it forms no part. 1934C. Lambert Music Ho! iii. 205 When a guitar hung in every negro barber's shop, and a client who was waiting would vamp about on the instrument until at a lucky trouvaile everyone would shout ‘Hold that chord’.
†9. To keep unbroken or inviolate; to observe, abide by (a command, vow, promise, faith, etc.); the opposite of to break or violate. Obs.
971Blickl. Hom. 35 We sceolan þa ten bebodu healdan. Ibid. 45 Gif hi nellaþ healdan Godes æwe. c1175Lamb. Hom. 89 Ne we ne moten halden moyses e. 1258Proclam. Hen. III, Þæt heo stedefæstliche healden and swerien to healden..þo isetnesses þæt beon imakede. a1300Cursor M. 10698 Hu Sco moght hir mari and hald hir vou. a1366Chaucer Rom. Rose 266 Feith ne trouth holdith she To freend ne felawe, bad or good. c1400Sowdone Bab. 610, I aske nowe of the To holde covenaunte in this cas. c1475Rauf Coilȝear 449, I sall hald that I haue hecht. 1598Shakes. Merry W. v. v. 260 To Master Broome, you yet shall hold your word. a1625Fletcher Women Pleased v. i. Wks. (Rtldg.) II. 200/1 'Tis fit you hold your word, sir.
10.
†a. To oblige, bind, constrain; in later use, chiefly in pa. pple. holden. Obs. or arch.
c1205Lay. 9459 Þe to fehte heom scolde halden. 1382Wyclif 2 Kings iv. 8 Ther was there a grete womman, that heelde hym, that he ete brede. c1385Chaucer L.G.W. 1443 Hypsip., Thanne were I holde to quyte thy laboure. a1400Praier of Ploweman in Harl. Misc. (1810) VI. 113 And thus ys my brother y-holde to done to me. 14..Hoccleve Compl. Virgin 138 Thou art as moche, or more, holde him to hyde, Than Sem, þat helid his Fadir Noe. 1582–8Hist. James VI (1804) 71 His brother should not be haldin to answere onie farder in that mater. 1794S. Williams Vermont 253 They could not view themselves as holden..to submit.
†b. to be holden: to be obliged, under obligation to (any one), to be beholden. Obs. or arch.
c1350Will. Palerne 317 To þis man & his meke wif most y am holde. 1390Gower Conf. III. 374 (MS. Harl. 3490) Whereof to him in speciall above all other I am most holde. 1485Caxton Paris & V. 34 We be moche holden to you. 1519Interl. Four Elements in Hazl. Dodsley I. 15 Greatly am I now holden unto thee. 1666Pepys Diary 9 Apr., So we..turned back, being holden to the gentleman.
c. to hold to bail: to bind or constrain by bail; see bail n.1, esp. the note after sense 6.
1837Dickens Pickw. xxv, Pickwick and Tupman he had already held to bail. 1890Times (weekly ed.) 28 Feb. 2/3 [He] was wrongfully held to bail to be of good behaviour.
11. a. To keep back from action, hinder, prevent, restrain; refl. to restrain oneself, refrain, forbear. Obs. or arch. exc. in special phrases; spec. b. To keep in, refrain from (speech, noise, etc.): see also hold one's tongue.
c897K. ælfred Gregory's Past. xxxiii. 220 Ac se wisa hilt his spræce and bitt timan. 971Blickl. Hom. 37 Þæt we us healdan..wiþ þa heafodlican leahtras. a1300Cursor M. 13647 He allan þat dos his will, And halds him fra dedis ill. 1382Wyclif Luke xxiv. 16 Sothli her yȝen weren holdun, lest thei knewen him. 1484Caxton Fables of æsop iii. iii, Who holdeth now me that wyth my foote I breke not thyn hede? 1542Udall Erasm. Apoph. 288 To suche poynte that thou maiest not hold vomityng. 1566Gascoigne Supposes i. i, Holde thy talking, nourse, and harken to me. 1642–3Earl of Newcastle Declar. in Rushw. Hist. Coll. (1721) V. 137 Let them call them what they will, so they would hold their Fingers from them. 1774T. Jefferson Autobiog. App. Wks. 1859 I. 131 The only restraining motive which may hold the hand of a tyrant. 1844Dickens Mart. Chuz. xxv, I wish you'd hold your noise! 1891Graphic Christm. No. 20/3 He had reluctantly held his fire, determined to wait till he could ‘mak siccar’.
c. Phr. to hold one's horses: used esp. in imp. (hold your horses!) = be patient, hold on! orig. U.S.
1844Picayune (New Orleans) 16 Sept. 241/4 Oh, hold your hosses, Squire. There's no use gettin' riled, no how. 1847J. S. Robb Streaks of Squatter Life 24 Jest hold your hosses, boys—he'll come out directly. 1917Woman's Home Compan. Nov. 58 Now Phebe..you just hold your hosses and speak a little slower. 1939Chatelaine Oct. 43/4 Hold your horses, dear. 1943Hunt & Pringle Service Slang 39 Hold your horses, hold the job until further orders. (Comes from the Artillery.) 1945S. Lewis Cass Timberlane (1947) xl. 272 Hey, hold your horses, Cass. Don't get sore. 1967N. Fitzgerald Affairs of Death vii. 119 ‘I'm going in to the station now,’ he said. ‘Hold your horses,’ Marr said. ‘The night's young.’
d. To keep (a person) from speaking; to prevent (a person) from being troublesome. N. Amer. colloq.
1901Ade Forty Modern Fables 244 ‘And I guess that'll Hold you for a While,’ added the Biggest Boy in the Room. 1922S. Lewis Babbitt v. 63 ‘I guess that'll hold you for a while, George!’ said Finkelstein. 1935N. L. McClung Clearing in West xvii. 136 Maybe that would hold Miss Adams! 1965‘S. Woods’ Though I know she Lies xvi. 212 ‘That should hold him for a while,’ said Derek with satisfaction.
e. hold everything!: wait! take no action!
1930in Amer. Speech VI. 92. 1948 C. Day Lewis Otterbury Incident viii. 93 Hold everything now, this is the big bang coming. 1951L. Hobson Celebrity (1953) xi. 155 Hold everything; let's see.
12. To have or keep in the mind, entertain:
a. (a feeling, etc.) Obs. or arch.
a1000Beowulf (Z.) 1954 Hio..heold heah-lufan wið hæleþa breᵹo. c1205Lay. 30198 And for þere muchele luue þa heolde heore aldren. 1579Spenser Sheph. Cal. Jan. 64 She..of my rurall musick holdeth scorne. 1591Shakes. Two Gent. iii. ii. 17 Protheus, the good conceit I hold of thee. 1595― John iii. iv. 90 You hold too heynous a respect of greefe. 1637Heylin Answ. Burton Pref. C iv a, If they hold a Reverend esteeme of those who [etc.]. 1802Leyden Mermaid xlv, That heart..Can hold no sympathy with mine. 1846H. Torrens Rem. Milit. Lit. I. 39 The first..who acknowledged the tactical theory and held great account of those who practised it.
b. (a belief, opinion, doctrine, etc.): To accept and entertain as true; to believe.
1340Ayenb. 134 We þet þe riȝte byleaue hyealdeþ. 1485Caxton Chas. Gt. 224, I holde the cristen fayth. 1579Gosson Sch. Abuse (Arb.) 65 Let me holde the same proposition still. 1608Topsell Serpents 134 All the Egyptians holde opinion, that the Crocodile is a Diuinatour. 1667Earl of Cardigan in 12th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 9 The Church of England holds the three creeds as well as we. 1678Cudworth Intell. Syst. Contents i. iii. §36 It appears, that Aristotle also held the world's animation. 1890T. F. Tout Hist. Eng. fr. 1689. 102 Those who held most strongly the divine right of the people to choose their own ministers. 1892Monist II. 162 Justified in holding this view.
c. With obj. clause: To be of opinion, think, consider, believe (that).
a1300Sarmun xiii. in E.E.P. (1862) 2 Ihc hold a fole þat he be. c1340Cursor M. 2507 (Trin.) Þei helde heres was þe lond. 1413Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton) i. v. (1859) 5, I holde nought that al be trewe that he seyth. 1535Coverdale Matt. xxii. 23 The Saduces which holde that there is no resurreccion. 1607Shakes. Cor. ii. ii. 87 It is held, That Valour is the chiefest Vertue. 1771Johnson Lett. to Mrs. Thrale 7 July, She holds that both Frank and his master are much improved. 1871Freeman Hist. Ess. Ser. i. i. 15, I hold..that the details..are altogether unhistorical.
d. With obj. and complement or extension: To think, consider, esteem, regard as. Const. with simple compl. or (arch.) with as, for, or with infin.
c1200Vices & Virtues 63 And halt him seluen for ierðe. c1205Lay. 8082 Heo heolden hine for hæhne godd. a1225Ancr. R. 192 Holdeð hit alle blisse uorte uallen in misliche of þeos fondunges. a1300Cursor M. 27135 Þou haldes þin aun gilt bot light. c1386Chaucer Prol. 141 And to ben holden digne of reuerence. ― Reeve's T. 288 When this Iape is tald another day, I sal been halde a daf, a cokenay. c1477Caxton Jason 63, I requyre yow that ye holde me for excused. a1533Ld. Berners Gold Bk. M. Aurel. (1546) M viij b, They were holden and reputed as goddes after their death. 1641J. Jackson True Evang. T. iii. 202, I hold mine own Religion so good, as it needs not fetch lustre from the disgrace of another. 1779J. Moore View Soc. Fr. (1789) I. xxiii. 179 The very idea of resistance..they hold as absurd. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. viii. II. 364 For their absence the king was held responsible. 1855Ibid. xii. III. 185 He held the lives of other men as cheap as his own. 1864J. H. Newman Apol. 419 If you would not scruple in holding Paley for an honest man.
e. Of a judge or court: To state as an authoritative opinion; to lay down as a point of law; to decide.
1642tr. Perkins' Prof. Bk. v. §306. 135 It hath been holden in the time of King Henry the third that [etc.]. 1769Blackstone Comm. IV. iii. 49 It is clearly held, that one acquitted as principal may be indicted as an accessory after the fact. 1818Cruise Digest (ed. 2) III. 360 The Master of the Rolls held that the renewed lease was a new acquistion, which vested in the daughter as a purchaser. 1863H. Cox Instit. i. vi. 47 The Court..held that the plea to its jurisdiction was insufficient.
f. To have in a specified relation to the mind or thought; to entertain a specified feeling towards; in such phrases as to hold in esteem, contempt, memory, etc.
For these phrases, transitive verbs may usually be substituted; thus to hold in esteem = to esteem; to hold in contempt = to despise; to hold in memory = to remember.
a1300Cursor M. 2610 Yone lasce..Als in despit sco haldes me. Ibid. 4245 Putifer..held ioseph in mensk and are. a1533Ld. Berners Gold Bk. M. Aurel. (1546) B iv b, In so hyghe estimation it holdeth the virtuous. 1585T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. iii. xxi. 111 The temple of Solomon..which they holde in great reverence. 1611Bible Phil. ii. 29 Hold such in reputation. 1718Freethinker No. 64 ⁋7 Magna Charta..with Us is justly held in the greatest Veneration. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) III. 304 The wise and mighty one who is to be held in honour.
†13.
a. To offer as a wager; to wager, bet, ‘lay’.
c1460Towneley Myst. (E.E.T.S.) xvi. 328, I hold here a grote she lykys me not weyll. 1530Palsgr. 691/2, I holde the a penye I tell the where this bell ryngeth. 1594Greene & Lodge Looking Glasse Wks. (Rtldg.) 126/1, I hold my cap to a noble that the Usurer hath given him some gold. 1698Vanbrugh Prov. Wife ii. i, Const. I'll hold you a guinea you don't make her tell it you. Sir John. I'll hold you a guinea I do. 1719D'Urfey Pills II. 54 I'll hold ye five Guineas to four. 1768Goldsm. Good-n Man ii. Wks. (Globe) 618/2 I'll hold you a guinea of that, my dear.
†b. To accept as a wager. Obs.
1530Palsgr. 586/2 Lay downe your monaye, I holde it, sus boutez vostre argent, je le tiens. 1591Greene Disc. Coosnage (1592) 7 Saith the Connie, I durst laie xii. d. more. I hold it saith the barnacle. 1626Scogin's Jests in Shaks. Jest Bk. (1864) II. 103 Yes..and on that I will lay twenty pound. I hold it said the knight: lay downe the Money.
¶14. Billiards. = hole v.1 6. [A corruption of hole, by association of holed and hold: cf. 2, 5.]
1869Blackley Word Gossip 74 A player is continually said to have held a ball when he drives it into a pocket. 1877Bartlett Dict. Amer. (ed. 4) 283 Billiard players say, ‘I held the ball’, instead of I holed it.
II. Intransitive and absolute uses.
15. a. To do the act of holding; to keep hold; to maintain one's grasp; to cling. Also with by († upon, to).
(App. by is intrumental: cf. ‘he held the pig by the ears’ with ‘he held by the pig's ears’.)
c1305St. Dunstan 82 in E.E.P. (1862) 36 Þe deuel wrickede her and þer: and he [Dunstan] huld euere faste. 1549Latimer 2nd Serm. bef. Edw. VI (Arb.) 59 He toke sanctuary, and held by the hornes of the aultare. 1551T. Wilson Logike (1580) 35 b, Some hold fast upon the saiyng of sainct Augustine, and build wonders upon that text. 1562J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 171 Holde fast when ye haue it. a1654Selden Table-T. (Arb.) 22 Do as if you were going over a Bridge..hold fast by the Rail. 1796C. Marshall Garden. xiv. (1813) 195 If the plants hold tight to the pots. 1842Tennyson Epic 21 There was no anchor, none, To hold by.
†b. In the imperative, used in offering or presenting; = Here! take it! [= F. tiens, Sc. hae.]
c1489Caxton Sonnes of Aymon vi. 154 Holde here, worthy knyghte Reynawde, I gyve you my suster to your wyff and spouse. 1567Harman Caveat 39 Holde, here is a couple of pence for thee. 1598Shakes. Merry W. i. iv. 166 Hold, there's money for thee. 1605― Macb. ii. i. 4 Hold, take my Sword.
c. Commerce. To retain goods, etc.; not to sell.
1890Boldrewood Col. Reformer (1891) 149 What will you take for that cattle station..? No use holding, you know. 1892Standard 7 Nov. 6/6 Spinners are holding tenaciously for full rates.
d. Of a female animal: To retain the seed; to conceive. Also to hold to (the male).
1614Markham Cheap Husb. i. iii. (1668) 34 To know whether your Mare hold to the Horse or no. 1617― Caval. i. 40 It is most infallible that she holdeth. 1851Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. XII. i. 64 A disposition in cows to conceive (or ‘hold to the bull’). 1891Field 28 Nov. 805/2 The chances are against the mare holding.
e. Only in pres. pple. holding: ‘financial’, in funds. Austral. and N.Z. colloq.
c1926‘Mixer’ Transport Workers' Song Bk. 11 ‘What⁓ho, Jerry, how yer holding?’..‘I haven't made enough this week For to pay the blooming rent.’ 1930Bulletin (Sydney) 29 Oct. 21/1 Whether a man was 'oldin' or whether a man was broke, Joe was a man you could bank on.
f. To be in possession of drugs for sale. U.S. slang.
1935A. J. Pollock Underworld Speaks 3/2 Are you holding? Have you any dope to sell? 1953W. Burroughs Junkie (1972) ii. 26 The connection was here about ten minutes ago. This character's holding, but he won't turn loose of any. 1961R. Russell Sound (1962) i. i. 15 Don't jump the light, baby, mother's holding, you know. Ibid. ii. ix. 158 He was holding, just as Red had said. Santa had the sweets.
16. Of things: To maintain connexion; to remain fast or unbroken; not to give way or become loose.
c1398Chaucer Fortune 38 Yit halt thin ancre and yit thow mayst aryue. c1400Lanfranc's Cirurg. 142 And þe nose were kutt al awey but þat it held faste at boþe þe eendis..of þe wounde. 1506Sir R. Guylforde Pilgr. (Camden) 65 They let fall the thyrde ancre, which, thankyd be Almyghty God, helde fast. 1611Shakes. Wint. T. iv. iii. 36 If the sprindge hold, the Cocke's mine. 1648Cornu-Copia in Harl. Misc. (1810) VI. 33 To make glue for the joining of boards..that shall hold faster than the boards themselves. 1795Osbaldiston Brit. Sportsm. 259 One of them will hold better than two of the common sort [of nails]. 1891Illustr. Lond. News 31 Jan. 140/3 The helm was perfectly sound, and the lashings held bravely. 1893Longm. Mag. Apr. 552 The lock held.
17. To maintain one's attachment; to remain faithful or attached; to adhere, keep, ‘stick’ to; to abide by. (Sometimes approaching sense 21.)
c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 61 We..biheten him festliche þat we wolden eure to him holden. c1300Havelok 1171 And þat she sholde til him holde. 1390Gower Conf. III. 355 For she..Hath set me for a finall ende The point, wherto that I shall holde. 1611Bible Matt. vi. 24 Hee will holde to the one, and despise the other. 1677Hale Prim. Orig. Man. i. iii. 77 If they hold to their Principles. 1865Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. I. ii. 323 Herefordshire has held stoutly by its native breed. 1879C. M. Yonge Cameos Ser. iv. xxviii. 299 The Queen..held to her purpose.
18. To have capacity or contents; spec. in Hunting, said of a covert: To contain game.
1581Mulcaster Positions xl. (1887) 230, I wishe the roome..large to holde, and conuenient to holde handsomely. 1891Field 21 Nov. 791/2 It [a covert] did not hold to-day, and we went on to..Bourke's Gorse. 1893Ibid. 11 Feb. 190/1 Leslie's Gorse did not hold.
19. a. To hold property by some tenure, to derive title to something (of or from a superior).
c1275Luue Ron 102 in O.E. Misc. 96 Henri king of engelonde, of hym he halt, and to hym buhþ. c1330R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 42 He com vnto Gaynesburgh, of Suane forto halde. 1470–85Malory Arthur i. vii, He made alle lordes that helde of the croune to come in. 1550Crowley Last Trump. 1234 As thou doest hold of thy kyng, so doth thy tenaunt holde of the. 1647N. Bacon Disc. Govt. Eng. i. lv. (1739) 98 A second sort of men that made the King uncapable to hold by Conquest, was the Clergy. 1734tr. Rollin's Anc. Hist. (1827) I. Pref. 9 Not holding of a superior power. 1868Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. IV. ii. 264 Mr. Sisman holds under a 21 years' lease. 1869W. Longman Hist. Edw. III, I xi. 206 Men holding by knight's service.
†b. Of a possession or right: To be held (of or from). Obs.
1648Cromwell in Carlyle (1871) II. 106 A Lease which holds of your College. a1654Selden Table-T. (Arb.) 64 Allodium..signifies Land that holds of nobody; we have no such Land in England. 1665Dryden Ind. Emp. i. ii, My crown is absolute, and holds of none.
20. To depend; to belong or pertain. Const. of, † on, at. Now only as fig. from 19.
c1430Pilgr. Lyf Manhode iii. lviii. (1869) 171 It holt not of hire but of yow; Helpeth me! c1477Caxton Jason 23 What euyll woldest thou doo—if hit helde at no man but at the. 1485― Paris & V. 63 It holdeth not on me. 1589Puttenham Eng. Poesie iii. xxiv. [xxv.] (Arb.) 294 Yet are generally all rare things and such as breede maruell and admiration somewhat holding of the vndecent. 1664Dryden Rival Ladies v. iii, Julia goes first, Gonsalvo hangs on her, And Angelina holds upon Gonsalvo, as I on Angelina. 1889W. S. Lilly Century Revol. 146 No wonder, for genius holds of the noumenal.
21. to hold with (arch. of, † on, for): to maintain allegiance to; to side with, be of the party of; mod. colloq. to agree with or approve of. (Cf. 17.)
1154O.E. Chron. an. 1140 ⁋6 Ðat he neure ma mid te king his brother wolde halden. c1300Havelok 2308 He swore, Þat he sholde with him halde Boþe ageynes stille and bolde. c1385Chaucer L.G.W. Prol. 458 They aughte rathere with me for to holde. c1460Towneley Myst. (E.E.T.S.) xiv. 47 Any..That wyll not hold holly on me [Herod], And on mahowne. 1485Caxton Chas. Gt. 224, I am a paynym, & holde for my god Mahoun. 1549Coverdale, etc. Erasm. Par. 1 Cor. 1 Therof rose these sediciouse wordes, I holde of Apollo, I holde of Cephas, I hold of Paule. 1577Hanmer Anc. Eccl. Hist. (1619) 115 Some there were, that held with both sides. 1786tr. Beckford's Vathek (1868) 4 It was not with the orthodox that he usually held. 1837Carlyle Fr. Rev. I. i. i, These, and what holds of these may pray,—to Beelzebub, or whoever will hear them. 1895Cornh. Mag. Nov. 502, I don't hold with him buying flowers when his children haven't got enough to eat.
22. To maintain one's position (against an adversary); of a place, to be held or occupied; to hold out: cf. 41 j.
a1132O.E. Chron. an 1123 ⁋7 Se kyng held stranglice hem to ᵹeanes. c1305St. Edmund 493 in E.E.P. (1862) 84 Þe Couent ek of Canterbury aȝen seint Edmund hulde faste. 1340Hampole Pr. Consc. 4144 Alle..Þat o-gaynes Goddes laghe will halde. 14..Songs & Carols 15th C. (Percy Soc.) 27 Her husbondes agens hem durn not holde. 1523in Halliwell Lett. Kings Eng. I. 279 As touching Berwick..it hath ere this holden against great puissance. 1606Shakes. Ant. & Cl. iii. xiii. 170 Our force by Land Hath Nobly held. 1640Yorke Union Hon. 40 Beating downe such holds as held against him. a1713T. Ellwood Autobiog. (1765) 3 [He] betook himself to London, that City then holding for the Parliament.
fig.1776Maiden Aunt I. 145 Do you not hold for congruity of soul in friendship, as well as love?
23. a. To continue, remain, or ‘keep’ in a state or course; to last, endure.
c1200Ormin 3253 Uss birrþ beginnenn god to don, & haldenn a þæronne. 13..Coer de L. 2419 To another town he went and held there. 1465J. Paston in P. Lett. No. 514 II. 209 If the werr hold. 1573Tusser Husb. xxiii. (1878) 62 The housing of cattel while winter doth hold. 1611Shakes. Wint. T. iv. iv. 36 Your resolution cannot hold. 1684Scanderbeg Rediv. vi. 132 He entred into a Treaty with the Czar of Muscovy, which held a long time. 1719De Foe Crusoe ii. iii. (1840) 61 The Battle, they said, held two Hours. 1754Richardson Grandison (1781) I. v. 18 The bloom of beauty holds but a very few years. 1856Kane Arct. Expl. II. xxii. 219, I was only too glad, however, to see that their appetites held. 1888F. Warden Woman's Face II. xiii. 55 The frost still held.
b. with compl. or extension.
c1460Towneley Myst. xxiii. 193 A, ha! hold still thore! 1535Coverdale 2 Kings v. 9 So Naaman came..and helde still at the dore of Eliseus house. ― Luke vi. 42 Holde styll Brother, I wil plucke y⊇ moate out of thyne eye. 1599Shakes. Much Ado i. i. 91, I will hold friends with you Lady. 1703T. N. City & C. Purchaser 242 Shingles seldom hold to be all 4 Inches broad. 1865Kingsley Herew. i, Hold still, horse! 1873Burton Hist. Scot. V. lvii. 180 They held at him in this fashion to the very end. 1879W. Minto Defoe x. 161 Editors of journals held aloof from him. 1890W. C. Russell Ocean Trag. III. xxvii. 54 The weather held phenomenally silent.
c. To be or remain valid; to subsist; to be in force; to apply. Also to hold good, to hold true.
c1315Shoreham 64 That treuthynge darf naut healde. 1581G. Pettie Guazzo's Civ. Conv. iii. (1586) 127 b, My rule holdeth not. 1594Shakes. Rich. III, ii. iii. 7 Doth the newes hold of good king Edwards death? 1596― 1 Hen. IV, i. ii. 34 Thou say'st well, and it holds well too. 1607― Timon v. i. 4 Does the Rumor hold for true, That hee's so full of Gold? 1674Playford Skill Mus. iii. 4 This Rule likewise holds, if the Notes descend a second. c1680Beveridge Serm. (1729) I. 11 The same reason holds good also as to the sacrement of the Lord's supper. 1716Addison Freeholder No. 31 The Logick will hold true of him which is applied to the great Judge of all the earth. 1818Shelley Let. 30 Apr. (1964) II. 14 But this holds good, as I know, only to Milan. 1825McCulloch Pol. Econ. i. 15 It will hold good in nineteen out of twenty instances. 1841Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. II. ii. 192 The same reason holds with regard to corn. 1871Smiles Charac. ii. (1876) 33 The saying of the poet holds true in a large degree. 1892H. R. Mill Realm Nat. vii. 101 This law does not hold for gases. 1937Discovery May 139/1 His words of seven years ago hold good today.
d. To continue fine, to keep from raining. (Cf. 44 i.)
1893Chambers's Jrnl. 10 June 355/2 If the weather holds, we'll both take a trip.
24. To continue to go, keep going, go on, move on, proceed, continue, or make one's way. Now esp. to hold on one's way or course.
c1450Holland Howlat 945 And ilk fowle tuke the flicht..Held hame to thar hant, and thar herbery. 1450–70Golagros & Gaw. 126 The heynd knight at his haist held to the tovne. 1576Gascoigne Philomene (Arb.) 114 But if they hold on head, And scorne to bear my yoke. 1627J. Carter Plaine & Compend. Expos. 124 It lyeth us in hand to hold on our way. 1743J. Morris Serm. vii. 183 He held on his way from the city. 1793Burns Wandering Willie, Here awa, there awa haud awa hame. 1850R. G. Cumming Hunter's Life S. Afr. (ed. 2) I. 242 We proceeded in a westerly course, and held up the lovely valley of Bakatla. 1889Doyle Micah Clarke xxxiv. 376 I've held on my course when better men than you have asked me to veil topsails. 1891Field 24 Oct. 633/1 Instead of holding to Oakhill Wood, the pack bore to the right. 1892Ibid. 30 Jan. 153/1 The merry chase held forward up the hill.
†25. To avail, profit, be of use: in interrogative or negative sentences. Obs.
c1175Lamb. Hom. 17 Hwet halt þe wredðe seodðan þus god almihtin hauet ihaten? Ibid. 33 Ne halt nawiht þat scrift. 1297R. Glouc. (1724) 105 Þo was þis lond kyngles, wat halt yt to telle longe? c1320Sir Tristr. 918 What halt it long to striue? Mi leue y take at te. c1380Sir Ferumb. 1602 What halt hit muche her-of to telle, to drecchen ous of our lay?
26. To take place, be held; to occur, prevail.
1461Paston Lett. No. 420 II. 60 The gayle delyverye holdeth not this daye. 1593Shakes. Rich. II, v. ii. 52 What newes from Oxford? Hold those Iusts & Triumphs? 1643Prynne Sov. Power Parl. i. (ed. 2) 15 The Estates and Parliament generall of France..met and held but twice in the yeare only. 1892Field 19 Mar. 404/1 Stormy weather again holds in north of Scotland.
27. (for refl.) To restrain oneself, refrain, forbear; to cease, stop, give over. Often in imp. as an exclamation: = Stop! arch.
1589P. Ive tr. Du Bellay's Instr. Warres 265 If a third doe crie hould, to the intent to parte them. 1605Shakes. Macb. v. viii. 34 Lay on, Macduffe, And damn'd be him, that first cries hold, enough. a1610Healey Theophrastus (1636) 170 When he heareth any Fidlers, he cannot hold but he must keepe time. 1632Sir T. Hawkins tr. Mathieu's Vnhappy Prosp. 121 She could not hold from saying this. 1669Sturmy Mariner's Mag. vii. 19 Hold fast Gunner, do not fire till we hail them. 1672Villiers (Dk. Buckhm.) Rehearsal v. i. (Arb.) 117 Well, I can hold no longer..there's no induring of him. 1775Sheridan Duenna i. iv, Hold..a thought has struck me! 1818Shelley Rosalind 297 ‘Hold, hold!’ He cried,—‘I tell thee 'tis her brother!’
28. In shooting: To take aim, to aim.
hold on, to aim directly at the game. hold ahead, to aim ahead of it.
1881Greener Gun 485 It is a much disputed point amongst all who use the gun whether the shooter should ‘hold on’ or ‘ahead’.
III. Phrases. (to h. the plough, the reins, one's sides, see 2 and 3 c; to h. to bail, see 10 c.; to h. good, h. true, see 23 c. to h. at bay (n.4 3), to h. one's breath, to h. a candle to, to have and to h., to h. the field, to h. one's ground, to h. with the hare and run with the hounds, to h. one's jaw, to h. one's nose, to h. one's peace, to h. (in) play, to h. short, to h. tack, to h. one's tongue, etc.: see these words.)
29. hold (..) hand.
a. to hold one's hand: to stay or arrest one's hand in the act of doing something; hence gen. to refrain, forbear.
c1460Towneley Myst. iv. 260, I byd the hold thi hand. 1535Coverdale 1 Chron. xxi[i]. 15 It is ynough, holde now thy hande. 1602Narcissus (1893) 654 Dorastus, hold thy handes, for I am slaine. 1699W. Dampier Voy. II. iii. 64 Called for an Axe to cut the Mizan Shrouds..He bad him hold his hand a little. 1768Ross Helenore 30 (Jam.) She hads her hand. 1889J. S. Winter Mrs. Bob I. vii. 118 She knew when to hold her hand and when to pile on all her strength.
†b. to hold hand: (a) to bear a hand, to contribute help or support, co-operate, concur; (b) to be on an equality with, to match (quot. 1595). Obs.
1582–8Hist. Jas. VI (1804) 237 The queene of England directit Sr. Johnne Forester, warden of the middle marches..to mak sum incursiounes against the borderers on the syde of Scotland, and she should hald hand upoun hir syde that they should not escape butt captiuitye or punishment. 1595Shakes. John ii. i. 494 She in beautie, education, blood, Holdes hand with any Princesse of the world. 1616Rich Cabinet (N.), Curtesie and charitie doe commonly hold hands together. 1717Wodrow Corr. (1843) II. 218, I hope you'll hold hand to this History of the Sufferings, since you have it so much at heart.
†c. to hold in hand: to assure (one); to maintain (that...). To pay attention to; to keep in expectation or suspense (see hand n. 29 c, e). Obs.
1530Palsgr. 587/1 He holdeth me in hande that he wyll ryde out of towne. 1658W. Burton Itin. Anton. 127 They..who hold in hand that this Chester..was so named from a Gyant the builder thereof.
d. to hold someone's hand, to give comfort or moral support to someone; to back someone up. colloq.
1935C. Isherwood Mr. Norris changes Trains vi. 90, I shall need your moral support. You must come and hold my hand. 1961A. Wilson Old Men at Zoo iv. 220 Martha's been holding his hand in California. 1972B. Everitt Cold Front vii. 55, I ‘held his hand’ to the best of my ability with school-girl French and passable Italian.
30. hold..head.
a. to hold one's head high: to behave proudly or arrogantly.
b. to hold up one's head (fig.): to maintain one's dignity, self-respect, or cheerfulness.
1553T. Wilson Rhet. (1580) 28 None can holde up their hedds, or dare shewe their faces..that are not thought honest. 1598Shakes. Merry W. i. iv. 30 Do's he not hold vp his head (as it were?) and strut in his gate? 1707Norris Treat. Humility viii. 339 The proud man holds up his head too high to see his way. 1808Jane Austen Let. (1932) 205 Her Daughter..who says as little as ever, but holds up her head & smiles. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. x. II. 585 He had never held up his head since the Chancellor had been dragged into the justice room in the garb of a collier. 1859Lytton What will he do with It? I. ii. v. 171 But they could never again hold up their heads with the noblemen and great squires in the county. 1867Trollope Chron. Barset II. lvi. 131, I have desired that they should be able to hold their heads high in the world. 1900E. Wharton Gift from Grave vi. 80 Why, you don't suppose if he were alive he could ever hold up his head again, with these letters being read by everybody? a1953E. O'Neill Touch of Poet (1957) 33 Nora. You have the fine opinion av yourself! Sara... I've had need to have, to hold my head up, slaving as a waitress and chambermaid.
31. a. hold one's own. To maintain one's position against a competitor or an opposing force of any kind; to stand one's ground.
c1330R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 71 Sir Harald..Fulle wele his awen suld hald, if he had kept his treuth. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 98 Neuer saye Mea culpa..but holde thyne owne. 1606Shakes. Tr. & Cr. iv. v. 114 Now Aiax hold thine owne. 1720De Foe Capt. Singleton xvi. (1840) 274 Our sheet anchor held its own. 1859Ruskin Arrows of Chace (1880) I. 194 Frightful superstitions still hold their own over two-thirds of the inhabited globe. 1885Tennyson Charge Heavy Brigade ii, But he..Sway'd his sabre, and held his own Like an Englishman there and then.
†b. To hold good. Obs. rare.
1632Rowley Wom. never vext iii. in Contn. Dodsley's O. Pl. (1816) V. 282 Does that news hold his own still, that our ships are..on the Downs with such a wealthy frautage?
32. hold water.
a. To stop a boat by holding the blades of the oars flat against the boat's way.
a1618Raleigh Invent. Shipping 10 The Pomerlanders..used a kind of Boate, with the prowe at both ends, so as they need not to wend or hold water. 1626Capt. Smith Accid. Yng. Seamen 30 To row a spell, hold-water, trim the boate. 1769Falconer Dict. Marine (1789) D dd, Pull the starboard oars, and hold water with the larboard oars! 1875‘Stonehenge’ Brit. Sports ii. viii. ii. §1. 648 Holding water is necessary when the boat is to be suddenly stopped.
b. To retain water, not to let water through or out (sense 5): hence, fig. To be sound, valid, or tenable; to bear a test or examination; to hold good when put to the test.
a1300,1388[see B. 5]. 1535Coverdale Jer. ii. 13 Vile and broken pittes, that holde no water. 1622Mabbe tr. Aleman's Guzman d'Alf. II. 79 This..will not hold water nor doe vs that good wee thought. 1652French Yorksh. Spa ii. 32 Let them produce a more rational account of any other opinion, that will hold water..better than this of mine doth. 1755Smollett Quix. (1803) IV. 251 ‘Brothers’, said he, ‘the demand of Loggerhead will not hold water’. 1889G. Allen Tents of Shem III. li. 251, I think these documents will hold water.
33. hold wind. Naut. To keep near the wind in sailing without making lee-way; to keep well to windward: usually to hold a good wind.
1759in A. Duncan Mariner's Chron. (1805) III. 360 To lie down in the fore-part of the boat, to bring her more by the head, in order to make her hold a better wind. 1769Falconer Dict. Marine (1789), Sourdre au vent, to hold a good wind; to claw or eat to windward. 1839Marryat Phant. Ship viii, The vessels..could hold no wind. 1891Longm. Mag. Oct. 587 The Duke..signalled to the whole fleet to brace round their yards and hold the wind between the two English divisions.
IV. With adverbs.
34. hold back.
a. trans. To keep back; to restrain; to reserve from disclosure; to retain.
1535Coverdale Job xxvi. 9 He holdeth back his stole, that it can not be sene. 1597Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, ii. iii. 66 Many thousand Reasons hold me backe. 1665Dryden Ind. Emp. iv. i, Sure thou bear'st some charm, Or some divinity holds back mine arm. 1841R. Oastler in Fleet Papers I. xlviii. 379 It is sinful to hold back the truth.
b. intr. (for refl.) To restrain oneself; to refrain; to hesitate.
1576Gascoigne Philomene (Arb). 117 Hold backe betime, for feare you catch a foyle. 1844H. H. Wilson Brit. India III. 374 Holding back when the Native Government was anxious to advance. 1890Mrs. H. Wood House of Halliwell II. vii. 162, I have held back from asking you.
c. With on: to refrain from disclosing (something to someone).
1956E. Pound tr. Sophocles' Women of Trachis 22 I'll tell the truth, I won't hold back on you.
35. hold down.
a. trans. To keep down (lit. and fig.); to keep under, keep in subjection, repress, oppress.
1533Bellenden Livy iv. (1822) 394 The fame and rumoure thareof was haldin doun amang the Veanis. 1606Marston Fawne iv. Wks. 1856 II. 77 The more held down, they swel. 1840Marryat Poor Jack xix, Confused, and holding down my head. 1881N. T. (R. V.) Rom. i. 18 Men who hold down the truth in unrighteousness. 1883Daily News 1 Feb. 5 Plump English folk, not at all starved or ‘hadden doon’, as his countrymen say.
b. Mining (U.S. and Australia). to hold down a claim (also absol. to hold down): ‘to reside on a section or tract of land long enough to establish a claim to ownership under the homestead law’ (C.D.).
1888Harper's Mag. July 236/1 A lone and unprotected female ‘holding down a claim’. 1893Eng. Illustr. Mag. X. 324/1 In mining slang Pilbarra did not ‘hold down’, and the place was ultimately almost deserted.
c. To remain in (a position or situation); to continue to occupy (a place or post) or succeed in discharging the duties of (one's employment). orig. U.S. colloq.
1891C. Roberts Adrift Amer. 92 Jumping an east bound freight.., I managed to hold it down or keep on it till I got to Alameda. 1893Harper's Mag. Dec. 80/2 If a man is to ‘hold down’ a big ranch in northern Mexico he has got to be ‘all man’. 1896Ade Artie xiv. 129 I'll bet that guy up in your place don't know nothin' on earth except how to hold down his measly job. 1902G. H. Lorimer Lett. Merchant v. 60 The fellow who's got the right stuff in him is holding down his own place with one hand. 1910S. E. White Rules of Game i. iii. 19, I didn't much think you could hold down a job here. You see there's too much doing here. 1913F. H. Burnett T. Tembarom ii, I wonder, if I ever did get his job, if I could hold it down? 1931G. D. H. Cole in W. Rose Outl. Mod. Knowledge xvi. 688 There are few pleasures in life equal to that of successfully holding down a difficult and responsible job. 1936Punch 14 Oct. 439/2 He never could hold down a job. 1973A. Behrend Samarai Affair i. 12 Captain Coldstream looked exactly what he was—an ex-sailor of quality now holding down an exacting shore job.
36. hold forth.
†a. trans. To keep up, maintain, continue, go on with. Obs.
c1250Gen. & Ex. 165 Ðis fifte dai held forð his fliȝt. c1400Ywaine & Gaw. 2931 Thus thair wai forth gan thai hald. a1420Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 317 He held forthe his oppynyoun dampnable. a1547Surrey æneid ii. 496 Hold fourth the way of health.
†b. intr. To continue one's course; to go on, proceed. Obs.
c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 85 Iohan baptist..bicom eremite and hield forð þerone. 1375Barbour Bruce xix. 249 Thai held furth soyn till Ingland. 1513Douglas æneis ix. vi. heading, Furth haldis Nysus and Eurillius baith tway.
†c. trans. To offer, proffer, propound, set forth, exhibit. ? Obs.
1560Bible (Genev.) Phil. ii. 16 Holding forthe [ἐπέχοντες] the worde of life. 1648Eng. Way to Establ. in Harl. Misc. (1810) VI. 42 Now Heaven holds forth power and opportunity far more liberally than ever heretofore. 1704Swift Mech. Operat. Spirit Misc. (1711) 277 This Animal, by whom I take human Nature to be most admirably held forth in all its Qualities. 1736T. Lediard Life Marlborough I. 63 A chappel..where Mass was publickly held forth every Day. 1814Father & Son ii. i, The profligacy..that impelled you to hold forth that language to me.
d. intr. [from Phil. ii. 16: see prec. sense.] To preach; to speak publicly, discourse, harangue. (Usually somewhat contemptuous.)[1694J. Wallis Def. Chr. Sabb. ii. 27 The Phrase of Holding-forth was taken up by Non conformists about the year 1642 or 1643, as I remember..in contradistinction to the word Preaching.] 1667Dryden Maiden Queen v. i, Lord! what a misfortune it was..that the gentleman could not hold forth to you. 1693Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) III. 324 This week William Penn the quaker held forth at the Bull and Mouth in this citty. 1709Steele Tatler No. 142 ⁋5 He is able to hold forth upon Canes longer than upon any one Subject in the World. 1881G. M. Craik Sydney II. ix. 262 Netty was holding forth with the utmost eloquence. 1889Doyle M. Clarke xxii. 222 Nature is a silent preacher which holds forth upon week days as on Sabbaths.
37. hold hard. intr. (orig. a sporting phrase): To pull hard at the reins in order to stop the horse; hence gen. to ‘pull up’, halt, stop. Usually in imp. (colloq.)
1761Colman Jealous Wife v. Wks. 1777 I. 130 (Farmer) Hold hard! hold hard! you are all on a wrong scent. 1829Sporting Mag. XXIII. 280 But I must ‘hold hard’ here, as we say in the field. 1854Wood Sk. & Anecd. Anim. Life (1855) 407 The ‘Hold hard’ of the conductor being sufficient to bring them [horses] to a stop. 1862Temple Bar Mag. VI. 310 Hold hard, shipmates.
38. hold in.
a. trans. To keep in, confine, retain; to restrain, keep in check.
a1300Cursor M. 5527 Wit herd werckes þai [Egyptians] heild þam in. c1300Proverbs of Hending x, Wis mon halt is wordes ynne. 1599T. M[oufet] Silkwormes 73 Trie if thou canst hold in an outward smile. 1611Bible Ps. xxxii. 9 As the horse, or as the mule..whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle. a1745Swift (J.), My nag..became such a lover of liberty that I could scarce hold him in. 1888E. Stuart Joan Vellacot I. x. 192 She held in the ponies, so that they recognized a strong hand.
b. intr. To ‘keep in’, continue in some position or condition understood or indicated by context; to restrain oneself, refrain, keep silence; to ‘keep in’ with.
c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) xxxi. 142 If a man..couer þe coles þeroff with aschez, þai will hald in quikk a twelfmonth. 1596Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, ii. i. 85 Such as can holde in. 1641Trapp Theol. Theol. 229 To hold in with Princes and great ones. 1702Lond. Gaz. No. 3838/1 [He] held in pretty near the French Town of Basse-Terre. 1849J. A. Carlyle tr. Dante's Inferno 268 Alichino held in no longer, and in opposition to the others said [etc.].
39. hold off.
a. trans. To keep off, away, or at a distance; to put off, delay.
c1420Pallad. on Husb. i. 98 An heir hil, that wynd that wold offende Let holde of. 1580Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 387 Thou holdest me off with many delayes. 1602Shakes. Ham. i. iv. 80 Hold off your hand. 1628Earle Microcosm. (Arb.) 87 A meere Complementall Man is one to be held off still at the same distance you are now. 1725Pope Let. to Swift 10 Dec., Absence does but hold off a Friend, to make one see him the more truly. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Hold off, the keeping the hove-in part of a cable or hawser clear of the capstan.
b. intr. To keep oneself or remain off, away, or at a distance; to refrain from action; to delay.
1602Shakes. Ham. ii. ii. 302 If you loue me hold not off. 1790T. Jefferson Writ. (1859) III. 133 Holding off, therefore, nearly three months. 1861Temple Bar Mag. I. 339 The only person who at all held off from joining. 1887Spectator 1 Oct. 1301 The storm may hold off. 1891Longm. Mag. Oct. 592 The galleons..had been observed to hold off. 1893Field 15 Apr. 555/1 The rain ‘holds off’.
c. nonce-use as adj. (hold-off). Given to holding off; distant.
1893Stevenson Catriona 286, I saw I must be extremely hold-off in my relations.
40. hold on.
a. trans. To keep (something) on; to retain in its place on something.
a1529Skelton Agst. Garnesche Wks. 1843 I. 118 Why holde ye on yer cap, syr, then? 1711Hearne Collect. (O.H.S.) III. 106 Henry VIIIth's Charter to Stephen Tucker for holding on his Hat before the King. Mod. I can't keep on a bicycle unless somebody holds me on.
†b. To continue, keep up, carry on. Obs.
1500–20Dunbar Poems xxxiv. 44 Hald on thy intent. 1656Bp. Hall Occas. Medit. (1851) 70 Thus bountiful house-keepers hold on their set ordinary provision. 1757E. Griffith Lett. Henry & Frances (1767) II. 68, I..am pleased to find that you still hold on a correspondence with her. c1800R. Cumberland John de Lancaster (1809) I. 150 In order to hold it [the harangue] on.
c. intr. To keep one's hold or grasp on something; to cling on; also fig. Also in jocular phrases.
1830N. S. Wheaton Jrnl. 508 The rolling and tossing of the ship oblige us to ‘hold on’. 1861Temple Bar Mag. III. 509, I found myself holding on to a piece of plank. 1877Spurgeon Serm. XXIII. 361 As though he held on by his teeth. 1930‘Sapper’ Finger of Fate, etc. 35 Having to hold on by one's eyebrows whenever one moves gets a bit monotonous after a time.
d. To maintain a course of action or movement; to keep on, continue, go on (rarely refl.).
a1225Leg. Kath. 434 He heold on to herien his heaðene maumez. 1405Bidding Prayer ii. in Lay Folks Mass Bk. 65 For thaim that first began and langest haldis on. 1513Douglas æneis xi. iii. 41 Now haldis on. 1630Sanderson Serm. II. 264 If we hold on as we do, in pampering every man his own flesh. 1667Milton P.L. xi. 633 But still I see the tenor of Mans woe Holds on the same. 1725De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 17 The gale held still on. a1822Shelley There is no work 7 O Man! hold thee on in courage of soul. 1889Froude 2 Chiefs Dunboy xv. 218 He held on till they were less than a mile apart.
e. imp. Stop! wait! (colloq.) Cf. 27, 37.
1846C. M. Kirkland Western Clearings 45 ‘But hold on a little till I tell ye!’ interposed Master George. 1848Bartlett Dict. Amer. 198 ‘Hold on a minute’, originally a sea phrase. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Hold on a minute, wait or stop. 1883Bread-Winners 62 ‘Hold on’, he burst out; ‘Don't talk to me that way..I can't stand it’.
f. In shooting: see 28.
g. Telephony. To keep the line open.
1892Kipling in Times 29 Nov. 8/1 A..millionnaire,..clawing wildly at the telephone..‘Hello!..I told you to hold on. What?..No. Hold on.’ 1919V. Woolf Night & Day xxiv. 327 ‘I'll look at my engagements... Hold on.’ She dropped the machine. 1920Punch 1 Sept. 176/3 ‘What is your number, please?’..‘Just hold on a minute while I look it up.’ 1920R. Macaulay Potterism iii. i. 104 You mustn't ring off yet... Hold on while I tell daddy. 1949J. B. Priestley Home is Tomorrow 38 (into telephone) Yes, I'll hold on. 1971‘A. Cross’ Theban Mysteries (1972) xi. 165 She did go to the phone, but she got the doctor's exchange, which said, ‘Hold on,’ and then went off the line.
41. hold out.
a. trans. To stretch forth, extend (the hand or other limb, or something held in the hand).
1535Coverdale Esther iv. 11 Excepte the kynge holde out the golden cepter vnto him. 1599Shakes. Hen. V, ii. i. 8, I dare not fight, but I will winke and holde out mine yron. 1761Sterne Tr. Shandy III. xlii, We want a cavalier, said she, holding out both her hands, as if to offer them. 1848Thackeray Van. Fair v, ‘Hold out your hand, Sir!’ Down came the stump with a heavy thump on the child's hand. 1879McCarthy Donna Quix. xxxii, Throwing away the pitiful olive-branch of peace he had been pretending to hold out.
†b. To exhibit; to hold up (44 c). Obs.
1613Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 160 They hold out to us the light of Scripture, themselves walking in darknesse. 1799Mrs. Jane West Tale of Times III. 131 She felt the cruelty of thus holding her out to general ridicule.
c. fig. To offer, proffer, present.
a1637B. Jonson (J.), Fortune holds out these to you, as rewards. 1796Hist. in Ann. Reg. 77 The French..held out language promissory of equitable conditions. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. v. I. 615 Hopes were held out to him that his life would be spared. 1890T. F. Tout Hist. Eng. fr. 1689. 46 The inducement held out was the wonderful profits to be won.
d. To represent.
1829Sir J. Parke in Barnew. & Cressw. Rep. X. 140 The defendant had held himself out to be a partner..to the plaintiff. 1878Sir N. Lindley Partnership (ed. 4) i. i. §2. 49 A person may hold himself out or permit himself to be held out as a partner, and yet conceal his name.
e. To keep out, exclude. Now rare. In Cards: see hold-out.
1583Stubbes Anat. Abus. ii. (1882) 37 Almost none of their leather will holde out water. 1592Shakes. Rom. & Jul. ii. ii. 67 Stony limits cannot hold Loue out. 1628Rutherford Lett. (1862) I. 43 As an enemy holden out at the posts of our city. 1890Ld. Lytton Ring Amasis vii. 147 He got [the boat] afloat, and found that it would hold out the water. 1894[see hold-out].
f. To keep up, continue or maintain to the end.
1593Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, ii. vi. 24 No way to flye, nor strength to hold out flight. 1599Porter Angry Wom. Abingd. in Hazl. Dodsley VII. 338 'Tis not time of night to hold out chat With such a scold as thou art. 1618Bolton Florus 330 Stiffer in holding out a rebellion. 1893Field 11 Mar. 354/3 The way he holds his stroke out is very good.
†g. To bear or sustain to the end. Obs.
1595Shakes. John iv. iii. 156 Now happy he, whose cloake and center can Hold out this tempest. 1736T. Lediard Life Marlborough II. 456 The Place was ill-provided to hold out a Siege. 1771Goldsm. Hist. Eng. II. 211.
h. To occupy or defend to the end (against an adversary).
1769Goldsm. Rom. Hist. (1786) II. 13 He had..conceived a resolution of holding out the town. 1826Scott Woodst. ii, I will hold out the old house, and it will not be the first time I have held it against ten times the strength. 1879C. M. Yonge Cameos Ser. iv. xxxiii. 359 The burghers..who had held out the city were put to death.
i. With obj. clause: To maintain. rare.
1848Thackeray Van. Fair xiii, Holding out that the lady was a Duchess.
j. intr. To maintain resistance, remain unsubdued; to continue, endure, persist, last. (Also formerly † to hold it out in same sense.)
1585T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. i. xix. 23 In despaire of succour, and not able to holde out any longer. 1595Shakes. John v. i. 30 All Kent hath yeelded: nothing there holds out But Douer Castle. 1680Burnet Rochester (1692) 150 He was not able to hold out long in discourse. 1707Watts Hymns i. lxxxviii. i, And while the lamp holds out to burn The vilest sinner may return. 1728Newton Chronol. Amended iv. 307 Babylon held out, and the next year was taken. 1802H. Martin Helen of Glenross IV. 32 Miss Wansbro is so robust, she holds out to dance with all who ask her. 1802Med. Jrnl. VIII. 212 Her constitution, shattered by the frequent attacks it endured, could not long hold out. 1855Macaulay Hist. Eng. xii. III. 234 By no art could the provisions..be made to hold out two days more.
1598Shakes. Merry W. iv. ii. 141 Well said Brazon-face, hold it out. 1713Addison Cato ii. iii, We ought to hold it out 'till terms arrive. 1764Garrick in Colman's Posth. Lett. (1820) 253, I cannot hold it out so long.
†k. To preach: = hold forth (36 d). Obs. rare.
1689Wood Life 28 Feb. III. 299 His old dancing school..they have made a preaching place. Mr. Cornish holds out.
l. To keep back; to retain or detain; (also const. on) to withhold (information or the like). colloq. (orig. U.S.).
1907E. S. Field Six-Cylinder Courtship 71 If it wasn't for Bellows and Rooker, we'd hold out on him every time. 1911H. S. Harrison Queed v. 57 Surface, by clever juggling of his books had managed to ‘hold out’ a large sum of money in the enforced settlement of his affairs. 1916H. L. Wilson Somewhere in Red Gap viii. 345, I wanted to send a postal card to the..Dye Works at Red Gap, for some stuff they had been holding out on me a month. 1923R. D. Paine Comrades of Rolling Ocean i. 13 He dumped his wages upon the sitting-room table, holding out only the price of a new pair of shoes. 1926J. Black You can't Win ix. 112 The thief who holds out a lady's watch on his pal to give to his girl has no character. 1932Wodehouse Hot Water i. 21 And me who had split Even Stephen with her on every deal, never chiselling, never holding out on her, no, not so much as a dime. 1944L. A. G. Strong All fall Down 99 The thought came to me that maybe the old cuss was just holding out on me. 1945J. B. Priestley Three Men in New Suits v. 88 ‘Boss,’ said Markinch, who liked to be American too, ‘he's holding out on us.’ 1972‘G. Black’ Bitter Tea (1973) v. 81 If I find out that you've been holding out on me over this identification, I'll come down on you like a pile driver.
42. hold over.
a. intr. (Law) To remain in occupation or in office beyond the regular term.
1647N. Bacon Disc. Govt. Eng. i. lxii. (1739) 125 If the Lord fail, he loses his Tenure, and the Tenant might thenceforth disclaim, and hold over for ever. 1880A. Brown New Law Dict. (ed. 2), Holding over, this is the phrase commonly used to denote that a tenant remains in possession of lands or houses after the determination of his term therein.
b. trans. To retain or reserve till a later time; to keep for future consideration or action; to postpone.
1852Dickens Bleak Ho. xxviii, I will hold the matter over with him for any reasonable time. 1861Temple Bar Mag. III. 321 Comes down a telegraphic message to us to hold over all our warrants against him. 1865Dickens Mut. Fr. i. vii, You needn't be afraid of my disposing of you. I'll hold you over. That's a promise. 1885Manch. Exam. 8 July 5/1 The Sixpenny Telegrams Bill is to be held over till next year. 1891Illustr. Lond. News 10 Jan. 54/1 Not to sell any sealskins..but to hold them over till next winter.
c. U.S. colloq. (See quot. 1889.)
1872‘Mark Twain’ Innoc. at Home 18 (Farmer), You ruther hold over me, pard. I reckon I can't call that hand. 1889Farmer Amer., To hold over one is to have an advantage in some way or other. This particular usage probably comes from poker phraseology. 1889K. Munroe Golden Days xii. 127 Do we hold over Bowers?
43. hold together.
a. trans. To keep together, retain in union or connexion. lit. and fig.
a1225Leg. Kath. 2268 Porphire & alle hise heolden ham togederes. 1573J. Sandford Hours Recreat. Ep. Ded. (1576) A vij b, Her Grace, who is the best knot in this Garden, that holdeth Englishmen together. 1613Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 433 Two men..held the ends together. 1784Cowper Task ii. 687 The sacred band That holds mankind together. 1850Lyell 2nd Visit U.S. II. 171 The roots also of trees..were very effective formerly in holding the soil together.
b. intr. To continue in union or connexion; to remain entire; to cohere. lit. and fig.
c1330Amis & Amil. 151 That thai schuld frely fond, To hold togider at eueri nede. 1362Langl. P. Pl. A. i. 55 Husbondrie and he holden to-gedere. 1533Heywood Johan & Tyb B iv, The payle..is so rotten and olde, That it wyll not skant together holde. 1691Wood Ath. Oxon. II. 494 It was then commonly reported that if they hung him, his body would not hold together because of its rottenness. 1861Temple Bar Mag. III. 509 There was hope that the ship would hold together.
44. hold up.
a. trans. To keep raised or erect, keep from falling, support, sustain. (to hold up one's head: see 30 b.)
1297R. Glouc. (1724) 455 Ȝour ryȝt honden holdeþ vp to God..And byhoteþ hym to be stable. 1455E. Clere in Four C. Eng. Lett. 5 Then he hild up his hands and thankid God therof. 1558Traheron Answ. Priv. Papist B iij (D.), I yield vnto you this noble victorie, and hold vp my handes. 1651Cleveland Poems 45 Who name but Charles, he comes aloft for him, But holds up his Malignant leg at Pym. 1670–98R. Lassels Voy. Italy II. 97 Four great pillars of Jasper..hold up the back of this altar. 1854Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. XV. i. 49 The river..is held up in levels by 34 locks. 1894Daily News 26 May 2/5 Four men..ordering the President..and the clerks to hold up their hands under threats of death, seized a sum of 2,500 dollars.
b. fig. To support, sustain, maintain, keep up.
c1290Beket 229 in S. Eng. Leg. I. 113 Swyþe wel bi-gan þis Ercedekne holi churche bi-lede, And stifliche heold op hire riȝte. 1389in Eng. Gilds (1870) 6 To holde vp & meyntene þe poyntes. c1465Paston Lett. No. 536 II. 254 How that ever ye do, hold up your manship. 1590Shakes. Mids. N. iii. ii. 239 Winke each at other, hold the sweete iest vp. 1667Pepys Diary 28 Jan., He tells me gold holds up its price still. 1890T. F. Tout Hist. Eng. fr. 1689. 147 Austria, whose arms alone held up the petty despots.
c. To offer or present to notice; to exhibit, display; to present in a particular aspect; to put up as a candidate (quot. 1813).
1602Shakes. Ham. iii. ii. 24 To hold as 'twer the Mirrour vp to Nature. 1611― Wint. T. iv. iv. 567 What colour for my Visitation, shall I Hold vp before him? 1808E. Inchbald in Brit. Theatre XIV. 4 To hold up to detestation vices, now no longer to be tolerated. 1813W. Irving in Life & Lett. (1864) I. 293 William was held up for Congress, and..lost his election. 1860Temple Bar Mag. I. 30 Bacon..has been held up to opprobrium. 1892Sat. Rev. 30 Apr. 497/1 [He] held up the Government..to hatred and contempt.
d. To let alone, resign, give up (quot. 1529); to keep back, withhold; in Cards, to keep in one's hand, refrain from playing.
a1529Skelton Bowge of Courte 250 Holde vp the helme, loke vp, and lete God stere. 1535Coverdale 1 Esdras v. 72 The Heithen in the londe..helde vp the buyldinge from them. 1807T. Jefferson Writ. (1830) IV. 70 We..hold it up until we know the result of the instructions of February the 3rd. 1879‘Cavendish’ Card Ess. 111 You may make a trump by holding up. Ibid. 198 Prone to hold up ace, knave. 1889Kansas Times & Star 4 Dec., Major Davenport is holding up the firemen's payroll for November owing to alleged irregularities. 1894Vermont Agric. Rep. XIV. 70 When..a cow holds up her milk there is some disturbing element.
e. (U.S.) To stop by force and rob on the highway. (From the robbers' practice of commanding their victims to hold up their hands on pain of being shot; = Australian to stick up.) Also, to arrest the progress of, obstruct the passage of (lit. and fig.).
1887A. A. Hayes Jesuit's Ring 228 Any man could hold up a wagon. 1894Times 22 Oct. 5/4 At noon yesterday four unmasked men ‘held up’ a Texas Pacific train near that place. 1904Philadelphia Even. Telegr. 15 Nov. 1 Out of the 900 steerage passengers that came over on the Merion, 135 failed to pass the immigration inspectors, and were held up. 1905N.Y. Evening Post 16 Mar. 1 Another landslide has occurred..and nine passenger trains are held up in the mountains. 1906N.Y. Herald 5 Mar. 5 It is thought the Senate Finance Committee will seek to devise new excuses for holding up the investigation of the State Banking Department, which it has succeeded in smothering for five weeks. 1909H. N. Casson C. H. McCormick 146 One bill for {pstlg}15 was held up for a week because it was not properly drawn. 1972Daily Hampshire Gaz. (Northampton, Mass.) 9 May 1/3 A passing motorist asked Witkos if he was ‘going to let them hold up the traffic all day?’
f. intr. (for refl.) To keep up, not to fall: usually addressed to a horse.
1860G. J. Whyte-Melville Holmby House xviii. 266 ‘Hold up!’ exclaimed Humphrey, as the sorrel cleared a high wall, with a drop into a sandy lane. 1890Doyle Firm Girdlestone xxxiii. 264 ‘Hold up, will ye!’ The last remark was addressed to the horse, which had stumbled.
g. To maintain one's position or state; to endure, hold out; in Hunting, to keep up the pace.
1582N. T. (Rhem.) Acts iv. annot., Let no Catholike man be scandalized that this heresie holdeth vp for a time. a1694Tillotson (J.), Some few stout and obstinate minds, which, without the assistance of philosophy, could have held up pretty well of themselves. 1708Ockley Saracens (1848) 219 The Saracens..made shift to hold up till night parted them. 1864Tennyson Aylmer's F. 733 ‘O pray God that he hold up’, she thought, ‘Or surely I shall shame myself and him’. 1888Mrs. Notley Power of Hand I. xii. 144 If this wind holds up..we shall catch the coast..in six hours. 1892Field 23 July 124/1 Having arrived at the starting point..Prince is told to ‘hold up’—an order which he obeys with alacrity.
h. To give in, submit, surrender (obs.); to check oneself, refrain, ‘pull up’ (U.S. colloq.).
1596Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. ix. 195 How lang thair lyfe was in, tha neuer held vp. 1843Maury in Mrs. Corbin Life (1888) 46 The doctor said I was destroying myself with over-much head-work, and..I have had to hold up somewhat. 1879Howells L. Aroostook (1882) I. xii. 170, I see your difficulty plainly enough, and I think you're quite right in proposing to hold up.
i. To keep from raining (when there is a threatening of rain); rarely, to cease raining, clear up. (Said of the weather, the day; also of the rain.)
1601Deacon & Walker Spirits & Divels 213 They may then cause it to hold vp, when it should raine, and to raine, when it should hold vp. 1700S. Sewall Diary 17 May (1879) II. 14 It rains hard. Holds up about 5 p.m. 1798Jane Austen Northang. Abb. (1833) I. xi. 63 Perhaps..it [the weather] may hold up. 1848Thackeray Van. Fair xxxiv. 1891Field 21 Nov. 791/2 The day held up wonderfully, in spite of lowering clouds.
▸ colloq.to hold all the cards: to have the advantage; to have the upper hand.
Often as part of an extended metaphor; see quot. 1840.
1840Dickens Master Humphrey's Clock I. 138 Let me..play a fairer game than when you held all the cards, and I saw but the backs and nothing more. 1896Davenport (Iowa) Daily Leader 29 Apr. 2/1 Kruger holds all the cards in that South African squabble. 1922J. A. Dunn Girl of Ghost Mountain xvi. 241 They hold all the cards. They can afford to wait. 2002Daily Mirror 31 May 45/4 If a certain someone now holds all the cards and is calling all the shots, you may feel a teeny bit resentful.
▪ II. hold, n.1
Forms: 1 heald, 1–3 (4–8 north.) hald, 4–7 holde, 3– hold; also 4–5 north. halde, 4– Sc. and north. hauld, 6–7 hould(e, 9 Sc. haud, dial. hod. See also holt2.
[f. hold v.; OE. had heald in senses 1 and 7, but in other senses the word is only ME. or later.]
I. The action or fact of holding.
1.
†a. The action or fact of having in charge, keeping, guarding, possessing, etc.; keeping, occupation, possession; defence, protection, rule. Obs.
a1100O.E. Chron. an. 1036 Gecuron Harold to healdes ealles Engla landes. c1200Ormin 5026 Forr all þin hellpe & all þin hald Iss uppo Godess are. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints, Petrus 730 He ȝalde Þe spyrit, of god in-to þe halde. c1450St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 68 All' yreland rewme was in hys halde. 1487Act 4 Hen. VII, c. 16 Many Dwelling-places..have of late time been used to be taken in one Man's Hold and Hands. 1534Whitinton Tullyes Offices i. (1540) 10 Priuate by nature be no thynges, but eyther by olde occupyenge and holde..or els that be got by victorye. 1586D. Rowland tr. Lazar. de Tormes (1672) U viij a, They gave me the hold and possession of the Hermitage.
b. Tenure. Cf. copyhold, freehold, etc.
a1645Habington Surv. Worc. in Worc. Hist. Soc. Proc. ii. 185 For thys parishe..was as they saye of St. Peter's houlde. 1774T. West Antiq. Furness (1805) 132 For the fyns and customs of the hold, as well of the said coppyholders as of the customary tenants. 1876Whitby Gloss. s.v., ‘He has his land under a good hod’, on easy terms.
2. a. The action or an act of keeping in hand, or grasping by some physical means; grasp: esp. in to catch hold, get hold, lay hold, lose hold, seize hold, take hold (see also these verbs). Also, an opportunity of holding, sometimes almost concr., something to hold by. (The main current sense.)
a1300Cursor M. 24451 To climb had i na hald. a1350Childh. Jesus 652 He tolde, How Jesues picher with outen holde Hangude on þe sonne bem. a1400–50Alexander 1440 And qua sa leddirs had nane..Wald gett þam hald with þair hend & on-loft clyme. 1537, etc. [see catch v. 45]. 1585T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. iii. x. 86 Wrestlers..annointed with oyle.. to the intent to give or to take the lesse hold the one of the other. 1605Shakes. Lear ii. iv. 73 Let go thy hold. 1613Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 32 Like men drowning, that get hold on every twig. 1653Walton Angler ii. 53 Leather-mouth'd fishes, of which a hook does scarce ever lose his hold. a1684Leighton Comm. 1 Pet. ii. 1 As the stepping of children when they begin to go by hold. 1724De Foe Mem. Cavalier (1840) 157 The officers..were laid hold on. 1793Smeaton Edystone L. §239 note, Every force exerted to drive the wad out..tends to make it take the stronger hold. 1816Scott Antiq. vii, Take haud o' my arm, my winsome leddy! 1843Carlyle Past & Pr. ii. xvi, The..hand..suddenly quits hold. 1871L. Stephen Playgr. Europe iv. (1894) 103 The hold was generally firm when the fissures were not filled with ice.
b. in Wrestling, Boxing, and Judo. in holds, at grips.
1713T. Parkyns Cornish-Hugg Wrestler (1727) 14 A thorough-pac'd Wrestler, Perfect and Quick, in breaking and taking all Holds. Ibid. 43 Hand-Hold. Ibid. 46 Collar Hold. Ibid. 50 Under-Hold. Ibid. 56 Upper-Hold. 1870D. P. Blaine Encycl. Rur. Sports (ed. 3) §463 Some advantage..such as catching his heel, mending his hold. 1891Sportsman 8 July 6/3 Then they closed again, and were still in holds when time was called. 1954E. Dominy Teach yourself Judo iii. 39 Theoretically, a hold consists of nothing more than controlling your opponent's body with the weight of your own.
c. (with) no holds barred, (with) all restrictions relaxed. Also as attrib. phr.
1942Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §217/6. 1952 Economist 1 Nov. 313/1 An independent [broadcasting] agency..could talk back at the Russians with no holds barred. 1958Times 28 Nov. 13/6 No holds were barred, so to speak, for the Prince's unorthodox education and his own reputedly emancipated views allowed almost every hypothesis. 1961Economist 6 May 524/1 Waging.. a sweaty, no-holds-barred tussle all around the world without benefit of parley. 1972Real Estate Rev. Winter 29/1 This allows trust managers to compete on a no-holds-barred basis.
3. a. fig. A grasp which is not physical.
a1300Cursor M. 9350 It tok neuer in þer hertes hald. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 241 How lytell hold or surety man hath by them. 1551T. Wilson Logike (1580) 10 b, That constante holde of any thing whiche is in the mynde. 1596Shakes. Merch. V. iv. i. 347 Tarry Iew, The Law hath yet another hold on you. a1628Preston Effect. Faith (1631) 134 They are small things of no hold. 1667Milton P.L. x. 406 On your joynt vigor now My hold of this new Kingdom all depends. 1725N. Robinson Th. Physick 292 When the Disease has taken any Hold of the Patient. 1829Lytton Devereux i. iv, The Abbé had obtained a wonderful hold over Aubrey. 1865Kingsley Herew. xvii, It was there where he could most easily keep his hold on the country. 1894J. T. Fowler Adamnan Introd. 17 Their old religion had no great hold on the common people.
b. Naut. (See quots.)
1769Falconer Dict. Marine, Hold, in navigation, is generally understood to signify a particular situation of the ship with regard to the shore..Keep a good hold of the land..implying to keep near, or in sight of the land. 1846Young & Brisbane Naut. Dict. 177 Keep a good hold of the land, to keep as near it as can be done with safety.
4. Confinement, custody, imprisonment. Chiefly in phr. in hold († in holds, at, to hold). arch.
a1300Cursor M. 17320–1 Þai..bad þam do him up at hald, In a hald in prisun state. c1330R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 120 Mald at þe last kyng Steuen scho toke, & led him to Bristow, & did him þer in hold. 1382Wyclif Acts xxii. 4 Byndinge to gidere and drawinge into holdis men and wymmen. c1400Melayne 583 We were taken in to holde. c15111st Eng. Bk. Amer. (Arb.) Introd. 33/1 They hadde put in prysone or in holde the great kynge. 1577–87Holinshed Chron. III. 1225/1 The said Storie hauing beene a while deteined in prison, at the last..brake foorth of hold. 1658Bramhall Consecr. Bps. v. 129 Father Oldcorne being in hold for the powder treason. 1879Sala in Daily Tel. 26 June, Where ear-cropt Prynne and Bastwick..lay in cruel hold for daring to assert the liberty of free writing.
5.
†a. Retention; restraint. Obs.
a1225Ancr. R. 74 Þer is mest neod hold hwon þe tunge is o rune. c1430Syr. Gener. 9240 There was noo hold but to go. 1508Kennedie Flyting w. Dunbar 491 Na hald agayn, na hoo is at thy hips. 1680H. More Apocal. Apoc. 225 And this is a good hold to the Church from relapsing into Heathenism again.
b. A delay, pause, postponement. Also attrib.
1961Observer 28 May 4/2 The long countdowns, checks and ‘holds’ possible at Cape Canaveral would be suicide on the moon. 1968Time 27 Dec. 13 The countdown schedule had been padded with enough precautionary hold time to enable technicians to replace the oxygen without delaying the launch. 1969New Scientist 27 Feb. 439/1 Unless there has been a last-minute ‘hold’ at Cape Kennedy, the first of a pair of Mariner spacecraft should now be on its way. 1971Daily Tel. 4 Jan. 2/4 Concorde, counting time for ‘taxi-ing’ and ‘holds’ could arrive in New York at 7 a.m. after taking off from Heathrow at eight. 1971Nature 26 Nov. 181/2 Liquid-fueled rockets..could not be kept in the launching tower in a ‘hold’ status to await a transient event.
c. A facility offered by some telephone systems whereby an incoming connection is held open automatically until the person called is free to take or return to the call; freq. attrib. as hold button, etc. Usu. (of a caller) in advb. phr. on hold; also fig., (in the state of being) postponed, delayed; awaiting action. orig. U.S.
1965Business Etiquette Handbk. (Parker Publishing Co.) xv. 131 When your telephone has no ‘hold’ button..be discreet in your remarks while the caller is holding on... Don't put the second call on hold and just leave it there. 1971D. E. Westlake I gave at Office (1972) 19, I put him on hold and called Mr. Clarebridge. 1973Ottawa Jrnl. 21 Feb. 54/4 Our sex life is on hold until after the 10 p.m. sportscast. 1976National Observer (U.S.) 17 Apr. 10/5 To place the first caller on ‘hold’ and answer the second, I merely touch the handset button once and the new call is on the line. 1976N. Postman Crazy Talk 45 Everything goes on hold until the rules get straightened out. 1983Fortune 14 Nov. 10/3 It offers conference calls, an office intercom system, and even that maddening canned music for callers put on hold. 1984Southern Rag No. 22. 5/3 If you stay at home, you select your own artists, put them on hold if the baby cries, and move about freely in your own home. 1985Times 5 June 16/6 (heading) Why auto is still on hold.
†6. Contention, struggle, pulling opposite ways; opposition, resistance; chiefly in hard hold, strong or tough struggle. Obs.
1523in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. i. I. 220 Sithens the begynnyng of the Parliamente there hathe bene the grettiste and soreste hold in the lower Hous for the payemente of ijs. of the li. that ever was sene..in any parliamente. 1565Jewel Repl. Harding (1611) 273 As touching Plato, it seemeth there was hard hold, when a Naturall Philosopher must stand foorth, to prooue Christs Mysteries. 1577–87Holinshed Chron. (1807–8) II. 331 There was hard hold about it in that court. 1580Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 422 Great holde there hath beene who shoulde proue his loue best. 1600Holland Livy xlii. xxiii. 1128. 1618 Bolton Florus ii. xvii. (1636) 145 But the hardest hold of all was with the Lucitanians and Numantines. 1654E. Johnson Wond. wrkg. Provid. 106 Great hold and keepe there was about choice of Magistrates this yeare.
II. concr. That which holds or is held.
†7. That which holds up or supports; a support, a defence. Obs.
1042in Kemble Cod. Dipl. IV. 73 Wit synd ðisra landa hald and mund into ðam halᵹan mynstre ða hwile ðe unker lif bið. a1300Cursor M. 23929 (Cott.) Leuedi..þat es nu mi hope be þan mi hald, Ogain þat brem þat es sa bald! c1340Ibid. 24095 (Fairf.) Allane he was my hope & halde.
†8. Property held; a possession, holding; spec. a tenement. Cf. copyhold, freehold, household, leasehold, etc. Obs.
c1250Gen. & Ex. 1772 Yuel ist bi-toȝen Min swinc a⁓buten ðin holðe droȝen. 1303R. Brunne Handl. Synne 7016 How he hadde lore a ryche holde, And for auaryce he hyt solde. c1500in Arnolde Chron. Index (1811) 2 That of ther londes and holdes they haue right. 1533–4Act 25 Hen. VIII, c. 13 §14 No maner person..shal receiue or take in ferme..aboue the numbre of two suche holdes or tenementes. 1581W. Stafford Exam. Compl. ii. (1876) 35. c 1590 Greene Fr. Bacon x. 11, I am the lands-lord, Keeper, of thy holds, By copy all thy living lies in me.
9. A place of refuge, shelter, or temporary abode; a lurking-place (of animals).
c1205Lay. 3861 Buten wuhlc wræcche swa cwic cuahte to holde. c1320Sir Tristr. 2807 Þe geaunt hem gan lede, Til he fond an hald. c1450St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 7636 At Jarow stode walles alde, Whare some tyme was an abbot halde. 1513Douglas æneis viii. vi. 55 The auctoritie of god Apollyne, Hes me constrenyt to duell in this hald. 1611Shakes. Cymb. iii. iii. 20 And often..shall we finde The sharded-Beetle, in a safer hold Then is the full-wing'd Eagle. 1688R. Holme Armoury ii. 134/2 A Boare..when Lodged..Coucheth in his Den or Hold. 1787Best Angling (ed. 2) 37 His hold is usually under the roots of trees, and in hollow banks in the deepest parts of rivers. 1815Scott Guy M. xii, Now they're out of house and hauld. 1867F. Francis Angling iv. (1880) 104 Reed or rush beds,..all of which are favourite holds.
10. A fortified place of defence; a fort or fortress; a stronghold. arch.
a1300Cursor M. 17342 Þai ledd ioseph..To prisun in a stalworth hald [Laud & Trin. a strong holde]. c1330R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 12773 Þe wode þey tok, Þat was bitwixt hem & Arthures hold. c1400Destr. Troy 9712 All his stid to distroy, and his stith holdis. 1461Paston Lett. No. 416 II. 52 All the castelles and holdes in..Wales ar gyfen and yelden up into the Kynges hand. 1552Act 5 & 6 Edw. VI, c. 11 §5 Castles, Fortresses, Fortilesses or Holds. 1605Verstegan Dec. Intell. v. (1628) 128 In seruice in the field, and in Garrisons in the holdes. 1691Wood Ath. Oxon. II. 291 He..did seemingly plot with them..to have the Tower, Windsore Castle, and other Holds delivered to them. 1800Stuart in Owen Wellesley's Desp. (1877) 572 When defeated there, it may be necessary to retire to the interior holds. 1848Lytton Harold vii. i, A rude fortress..out of the wrecks of some greater Roman hold.
11. a. Something which is laid hold of, or by or with which anything is grasped or laid hold of.
1578Banister Hist. Man iv. 53 [The muscle] inserted by the stay of sinewy holdes, to all the ribbes. 1595Shakes. John iii. iv. 138 He that stands vpon a slipp'ry place, Makes nice of no vilde hold to stay him vp. 1663J. Spencer Prodigies (1665) 366 To conclude it a falling Cause which catcheth at such weak and unfaithful holds. 1848Marryat Lit. Savage xxxvi, Sharks..forming a semi-circle round me, watched with upturned eyes..the snapping of the frail hold that supported me upon the rock. 1876Whitby Gloss., Hod, a handle. ‘A cannle-hod’, a candle-stick.
b. A thing that holds something; as, a mortise, a lock in a river, a receptacle, etc.
1517R. Torkington Pilgr. (1884) 43 The very hold or morteys hevyn [= hewn] owt of the stone Rooke wherin the Crosse stode. 1677Plot Oxfordsh. ix. §46. 234 Locks, or Holds for water, made to let down flashes. 1885Manch. Exam. 15 May 5/7 The first-class compartments are converted into ‘boots’ or holds only fit as receptacles for luggage.
†12. Mus. The sign now called a pause. Obs.
1674Playford Skill Mus. i. xi. 36 A Hold..is placed over the Note which the Author intends should be held to a longer Measure than the Note contains. 1876Stainer & Barrett Dict. Mus. Terms, Hold, an old English name for the sign of a pause {pauseo}.
13. A prison-cell: = hole n. 2 b.
1717Hist. Press-Yard 7, I was conducted to the door leading out of the lodge into the Condemn'd Hold. 1728Gay Begg. Op. ii. x. 1859Dickens T. Two Cities ii. i, You were put into a species of Condemned Hold at the back.
14. Cinemat. (See quots.)
1918H. Croy How Motion Pictures are Made vii. 179 If the story demands instantaneous materialization the effect is secured by a photographic means usually known as ‘the hold’. It is so called by reason of the fact that all the other characters in such a scene must hold their positions while the trick character is made to materialize. 1940Chambers's Techn. Dict. 418/2 Hold, the retention of an image on a screen longer than is natural.
▪ III. hold, n.2|həʊld|
Also 7 holt, hould, howld.
[Corruption of earlier holl, hole, prob. by association with hold n.1 Cf. also MDu. and Du. hol (a 1500) in same sense.]
The interior cavity in a ship or vessel below the deck (or lower deck), where the cargo is stowed.
[1470–1508see holl n. 2. 1483–1882 see hole n. 6.] 1591Raleigh Last Fight Rev. (Arb.) 22 That the shippe had sixe foote water in hold. 1594Nashe Unfort. Trav. 73 As a man falls in a shippe from the oreloope into the hold. 1597Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, ii. iv. 70 You haue not seene a Hulke better stufft in the Hold. a1618Raleigh Royal Navy 25 If many had not been stricken downe into Holt in many voyages. 1627Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. ii. 12 The Cooke-roome..may bee placed..in the Hould. 1678Phillips (ed. 4), The Howld [1706 hold] of a Ship, the Room between the Keilson and lower Decks. 1726G. Shelvocke Voy. round World 2 That I might have room to strike down some of my guns into the Hold. 1819Byron Juan ii. xlii, Again blew A gale, and in the fore and after hold Water appear'd.
b. Comb. hold-beam, -stanchion (see quots. 1867); hold-book, a book containing an account of the cargo of a vessel; hold-stringer, a stringer or shelf piece for receiving the end of a hold-beam.
1800Asiat. Ann. Reg., Chron. 67/1 The hold-beams had shrunk so considerably, that where there was room before to stand nearly upright, you could now only crawl on hands and knees. 1803W. Ramsay in Naval Chron. IX. 269 That a hold-book be kept to ascertain the stowage. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Hold-beams, the lowest range of beams in a merchantman. In a man-of-war they support the orlop-deck. Ibid., Hold-stanchions, those which support the hold-beams amidships, and rest on the kelson. 1869E. J. Reed Shipbuild. viii. 158 The heels of the stanchions are formed differently in different ships..to connect them with the keelsons or hold-stringers. 1874Thearle Naval Archit. 118 Hold stringers sometimes consist of plates and angle-irons, and at others, of angle-irons only.
▪ IV. hold, n.3 Now only Hist.
[a. ON. hǫldr (in early MSS. haulðr, haulþr), identified by Bugge with OE. hæleð, Ger. held, in Norse law ‘a kind of higher yeoman, the owner of allodial land’, poet. a ‘man’.]
In OE. times, the title of an officer of high rank in the Danelaw, corresponding to the High Reeve amongst the English.
c910O.E. Chron. an. 905 On ðara Deniscena healfe wearð ofslæᵹen..Ysopa hold & Oscytel hold. c1000Wergilds c. 2 §4 in Schmid Gesetze 396 Holdes and cyninges heah-gerefan .iiii. þusend þrymsa. 1614Selden Titles Hon. 225 Archbishops, Eorles, Bishops, Ealdormen, Holdes, Hehgerefas, Messethegnes, and Werldthegnes. 1717Blount's Law Dict. (ed. 3), Holdes, Bailiffs of a Town or City. 1872E. W. Robertson Hist. Ess. 177 In later times, the Eorl and Hold seem to have answered amongst the Danish population of Northumbria, to the Ealderman and Heah-gerefa amongst the Angles.
▪ V. † hold, n.4 Obs.
[OE. hold, cogn. with ON. hold (Da. huld, Sw. hull), flesh.]
A carcase, dead body, corpse.
c1000Ags. Gosp. Matt. xxiv. 28 Swa hwær swa hold byð, þæder beoð earnas ᵹegaderude. 11..Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 551/24 [Cad]auer, lic. uel hold. c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 183 Aweilewei þu fule hold þat ich auere was to þe iteied.
▪ VI. † hold, holde, n.5 Obs.
[f. hold a.; OE. had hyldo in the same sense = OS., OHG. huldí, Ger. huld, n. of quality from hold a.]
Allegiance, fidelity.
13..K. Alis. 2912 Alle..swore heom holde, and lewte.
▪ VII. † hold, a. Obs.
Also 3 heold, 4 hoild, huld, old.
[OE. hold = OFris., OS. hold (MDu. hout, houd-, Du. hou), OHG. holt (MHG. holt, hold-, Ger. hold), ON. hollr (Da., Sw. huld), Goth. hulþs, favourably inclined, gracious, merciful: cf. Goth. wilja-halþei benevolence, and *hilþan to be inclined; prob. f. same root as hield v.]
1. Gracious, kind, friendly.
Beowulf (Z.) 267 Þurh holdne hiᵹe. c893K. ælfred Oros. vi. xii, He wearð cristnum monnum..swiþe hold. a1175Cott. Hom. 231 To underȝeite wa an alle his cyne rice him were frend oðer fend, hold oðer fa. c1250Gen. & Ex. 1389 For kindes luue he was hire hold. a1300Cursor M. 13264 Leche to þam was he ful hold [Gött. hoild] He asked noþer siluer ne gold. c1475Partenay 2146 And of Ausoys the noble kyng hold.
2. Loyal, faithful, true.
a. Of persons.
a1000Oaths c. 1 in Schmid Gesetze 404 Ic wille beon N. hold and ᵹetriwe. c1000ælfric Hom. II. 552 Ðonne bið se holda ðeowa ᵹeset ofer maneᵹum godum. c1200Ormin 10174 To winnenn ahhte to þe king, To beon himm holde & trowwe. c1275Duty Christ 20 in O.E. Misc. 141 He is vre beste king, we ouhte beon hym holde. a1300Cursor M. 20843 Þat lijf, ne ded, ne wil, ne wa, Mai neuer turn mi hert þe fra, Bot hald it hold in þi seruis. c1380Sir Ferumb. 2592 For heo is trewe & holde.
b. Of things; esp. in hold(e oþes, oþes holde, late OE. hold-áðas, for earlier hyld-áðas, oaths of fealty.
In OE. hyld-, hold-, are in comb., but in later use hold is treated as adj.
[a1000Oaths c. 1 in Schmid Gesetze 404 Þus man sceal sweriᵹean hyldaðas.] a1100O.E. Chron. an. 10852 Ealle hi..him hold aðas sworon. a1122Ibid. an. 1115 Ealle þa heafod men..dydon man-ræden and hold-aðas his sunu Willelme. c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 163 On redinges and lorspelles, and on holde bedes. 1297R. Glouc. (1724) 383 Me suor hym holde oþes. a1300Cursor M. 21318 All war þair warkes old [Gött. hold]. a1300K. Horn 1249 Hi sworen oþes holde. |