ahold

• a-hold (adverb)

• IPA^(key): /əˈhoʊld/

a- +‎ hold

ahold (not comparable)

1. (nautical, obsolete) (of a ship) Brought to lie as near to the windward as it can to get out to sea, and thereby held steady.[1]
   • 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:

     Lay her a hold, a hold, ſet her two courſes off to Sea againe, lay her off.

a +‎ hold

ahold (uncountable)

1. (informal) A hold, grip, grasp.
   • 2009, Tim Irwin, Derailed: Five Lessons Learned from Catastrophic Failures of Leadership‎, Thomas Nelson Inc., →ISBN, page 121:

     GET AHOLD OF YOURSELF!

   • 2009 May 21, Tom Armstrong, Marvin (comic):

     Uh-oh... I guess I shouldn't have given my last babysitter such a hard time. Somehow she got ahold of the video Mom took of me running around without my diaper ... and posted it on YouTube.

• Mainly used in phrases such as catch, lay, take or get ahold of, on or upon something.
• In formal writing, this word is generally spelled out as a hold, or avoided in favor of a more formal synonym.