uphold
/ʌpˈhəʊld
/verb (past and past participle upheld) [with object]
1Confirm or support (something which has been questioned): the court upheld his claim for damages...
- The courts eventually upheld her claim to the property, but only because she had no son to inherit it.
- The release of the film could be halted if a plagiarism claim is upheld by a High Court judge next week.
- A recent Court of Appeal decision upheld an insurer's right to refuse a claim for theft because keys had been left in a car.
Synonyms
confirm, endorse, sustain, validate, ratify, verify, vindicate, justify, approve;
support, give one's support to, be supportive of, back, back up, give one's backing to, stand by, champion, defend, come to the defence of, stick up for
1.1Maintain (a custom or practice): they uphold a tradition of not causing distress to living creatures...
- As a teacher, he was conservative and upheld the traditional techniques of teaching.
- We shall continue to uphold the noble tradition upon which our church has been built.
- It helps keep the village running smoothly and upholds the village's customs.
Synonyms
maintain, sustain, continue, preserve, protect, keep, hold to, keep alive, keep going, strengthen, nurture
Derivatives
upholder
/ noun ...- Rather I admire the Queen as one of the last upholders of the value of reticence in public life.
- Finally, although many had strong political beliefs, they did not see themselves as upholders of any particular substantive political orthodoxy.
- In fact, the view is that the party has to keep the government on its toes, precisely because governments are by nature conservative and are upholders of the status-quo.