hold¹ /hōld/

1. To keep
2. To have
3. To grasp
4. To have in one's possession, keeping or power
5. To sustain
6. To defend successfully
7. To maintain
8. To assert authoritatively
9. To think, believe
10. To occupy
11. To pass on a title to
12. To bind
13. To contain
14. To have a capacity of
15. To enclose
16. To confine
17. To restrain
18. To detain
19. To retain
20. To reserve
21. To keep the attention of
22. To catch
23. To stop
24. To continue
25. To persist in
26. To celebrate, observe
27. To conduct
28. To carry on
29. To convoke and carry on
30. To esteem or consider
31. To aim, direct
32. To endure
33. To bet (archaic)

1. To grasp
2. To remain fixed
3. To be true or unfailing
4. To continue unbroken or unsubdued
5. To remain valid
6. To continue, to persist
7. To adhere
8. To derive right
9. When making a telephone call, to wait, without replacing the receiver, eg to be connected to a person one wants to speak to (also hold the line)

1. An act or manner of holding
2. Grip
3. Power of gripping
4. Tenacity
5. A thing held
6. A place of confinement
7. Custody
8. Stronghold
9. (a sign for) a pause (music)
10. An order to keep in reserve (a room, etc) or to suspend (operations) (N American)
11. A means of influencing or controlling

holdˈer noun

holdˈing noun

1. Anything held
2. A farm managed for its owner
3. Hold
4. Influence
5. Intensive embracing and prolonged eye contact as a technique for developing intimacy between parent (esp mother) and child, claimed by some to be a cure for autism (psychiatry)
6. Stacking (of aircraft waiting to land)
7. Tenure (Scots law)
8. The burden of a song (Shakespeare)
9. (in pl) property owned (eg land or investments)

holdˈall noun

An accommodating receptacle for clothes, etc, esp a large strong bag

holdˈback noun

1. A check
2. A strap joining the breeching to the shaft of a vehicle
3. Something withheld, esp money (see also hold back below)

hold 'em see Texas hold 'em under Texas

holdˈerbat noun (building)

A metal collar formed from two semicircular parts which can be clamped together round a pipe, with a projecting piece for fixing to a wall

holdˈfast noun

1. That which holds fast
2. A long nail
3. A catch
4. A plant's fixing organ other than a root

holding company noun

An industrial company that owns and controls part or all of one or more other companies, usu without having a direct hand in production

holding ground noun

Any part of the seabed where an anchor will hold

holding operation noun

A course of action designed to preserve the status quo

holding pattern noun

A specific course which aircraft are instructed to follow when waiting to land

holdˈout noun (informal)

1. Refusal to agree to something or to take part in an activity
2. A person who refuses in this way

holdˈover noun (N American)

1. Someone or something held over
2. A leftover, relic

holdˈ-up noun

1. An attack with a view to robbery
2. A highwayman
3. An act or state of holding up
4. A stoppage
5. (in pl) women's stockings worn without a suspender belt, supported by elasticated tops

get hold of

1. To obtain
2. To get in touch with

hold a call or put a call on hold

To delay completing a direct connection between a caller and the telephone number or person that they are trying to reach, keeping the caller waiting, eg until the line is clear, or the person sought can come to a telephone

hold against (informal)

To remember as a failing or as a misdemeanour on the part of

hold back

1. To restrain
2. To hesitate
3. To keep in reserve (holdˈback noun)

hold by

1. To believe in
2. To act in accordance with

hold down

1. To restrain
2. To keep (a job) by carrying out its duties efficiently, esp in spite of difficulties

hold forth

1. To put forward
2. To show
3. To speak in public, to declaim

hold good

To remain the case

hold hands

1. (of two people) to be hand in hand or clasping both of each other's hands
2. (of several people) each to clasp the hand of the person on either side, thus forming a line, circle, etc

hold hard!

Stop!

hold in

1. To restrain, check
2. To restrain oneself

hold it!

1. Keep the position exactly!
2. Stop!

hold of (Prayer Book)

To regard

hold off

1. To keep at a distance
2. To refrain (from)

hold on

1. To persist in something
2. To continue
3. To cling
4. To keep (with to)
5. Stop (imperative)
6. To wait a bit

hold one's hands up

To admit one is at fault

hold one's own

1. To maintain one's position
2. (in the course of an illness) not to fail or lose strength

hold one's peace or one's tongue

To keep silence

hold out

1. To endure, last
2. To continue resistance
3. To offer

hold out for

To wait determinedly for (something one wants or has asked for)

hold out on (informal)

To keep information, money, etc from

hold over

1. To postpone
2. To keep possession of (land or a house beyond the term of agreement)

hold (someone) in hand

To amuse in order to gain some advantage

hold the line

1. See hold (vi) above
2. To persist or maintain one's position while under pressure

hold the road

(of a vehicle) to remain stable and under the driver's control, eg in wet weather, at high speeds or on bends

• half-pike
• half-pikes
• half-pint
• half-pints
• half-pipe
• half-pipes
• half-plate
• half-pound
• half-pounder
• half-pounders
• half-pounds
• half-price
• half-prices
• half-round
• half-rounds
• half-royal
• half-royals
• halfs
• half-seas-over
• half-shell
• half-shells
• half-shift
• half-shifts
• half-sister
• half-sisters