hold sb/sth back
— phrasal verb with hold uk/həʊld/us/hoʊld/verb held, held
(STOP DEVELOPMENT)
C2 to stop someone or something developing or doing as well as they should:
She felt that having children would hold her back.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Delaying and wasting time
- ado
- be on ice idiom
- bugger
- bugger about
- bugger sb about
- carry
- hold
- hold sb over
- hold sb/sth up
- hold up
- ice
- kick
- kick the can down the road idiom
- push
- retardation
- set sth/sb back
- shelve
- sit
- sit on sth
- spin your wheels idiom
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(STOP MOVEMENT)
C1 If you hold someone or something back, you stop him, her, or it from coming or moving forward:
Sandbags will hold the flood waters back for a while.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Preventing and impeding
- avert
- avoid
- avoidable
- bar
- be a drag on sb/sth idiom
- block sth out
- blot
- bottleneck
- derail
- fireproof
- hold out on sb
- hold/keep sb/sth at bay idiom
- holding pattern
- impede
- impedimenta
- prevention is better than cure idiom
- preventive
- prohibit
- pull
- pull the rug from under sb's feet idiom
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