hold

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: hōld, IPA^(key): /həʊld/, [həʊɫd]
• (General American) enPR: hōld, IPA^(key): /hoʊld/, [hoəɫd]

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Homophone: holed
• Rhymes: -əʊld

From Middle English holden, from Old English healdan, from Proto-West Germanic *haldan, from Proto-Germanic *haldaną (“to tend, herd”), maybe from Proto-Indo-European *kel- (“to drive”).

Compare Latin celer (“quick”), Tocharian B käl- (“to goad, drive”), Ancient Greek κέλλω (kéllō, “to drive”), Sanskrit कलयति (kalayati, “to impel”).[1][2] Cognate to West Frisian hâlde, Low German holden, holen, Dutch houden, German halten, Danish and Norwegian Bokmål holde, Norwegian Nynorsk halda.

hold (third-person singular simple present holds, present participle holding, simple past held, past participle held or (archaic) holden)

1. (transitive) To grasp or grip.

   Hold the pencil like this.

   • 1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter 1, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC:

     But then I had the flintlock by me for protection. ¶ There were giants in the days when that gun was made; for surely no modern mortal could have held that mass of metal steady to his shoulder. The linen-press and a chest on the top of it formed, however, a very good gun-carriage; and, thus mounted, aim could be taken out of the window […].

   • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XXIII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

     The slightest effort made the patient cough. He would stand leaning on a stick and holding a hand to his side, and when the paroxysm had passed it left him shaking.

   • 2013 September-October, Henry Petroski, “The Evolution of Eyeglasses”, in American Scientist:

     The ability of a segment of a glass sphere to magnify whatever is placed before it was known around the year 1000, when the spherical segment was called a reading stone, […]. Scribes, illuminators, and scholars held such stones directly over manuscript pages as an aid in seeing what was being written, drawn, or read.

2. (transitive) To contain or store.

   This package holds six bottles.

3. (heading) To maintain or keep to a position or state.
   1. (transitive) To have and keep possession of something.

      Hold my coat for me.

      The general ordered the colonel to hold his position at all costs.

      • 2011 December 14, Angelique Chrisafis, “Rachida Dati accuses French PM of sexism and elitism”, in Guardian‎:

        She was Nicolas Sarkozy's pin-up for diversity, the first Muslim woman with north African parents to hold a major French government post. But Rachida Dati has now turned on her own party elite with such ferocity that some have suggested she should be expelled from the president's ruling party.

   2. (transitive) To reserve.

      Hold a table for us at 7:00.

   3. (transitive) To cause to wait or delay.

      Hold the elevator.

   4. (transitive) To detain.

      Hold the suspect in this cell.

   5. (intransitive, copulative) To be or remain valid; to apply (usually in the third person).

      to hold true

      The proposition holds.

      • 1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver’s Travels], volume I, London: […] Benj[amin] Motte, […], →OCLC, part I (A Voyage to Lilliput), pages 226–227:

        I remember, before the Dwarf left the Queen, he followed us one day into thoſe gardens, and my Nurſe having ſet me down, he and I being cloſe together, near ſome Dwarf Apple trees, I muſt need ſhew my Wit, by a ſilly Alluſion between him and the Trees, which happens to hold in their Language as it doth in ours.

      • 1691, [John Locke], Some Considerations of the Consequences of the Lowering of Interest, and Raising the Value of Money. […], London: […] Awnsham and John Churchill, […], published 1692, →OCLC:

        The rule holds in land as well as all other commodities.

      • 2021 July 20, Masayuki Yuda, “Foodpanda faces backlash after calling Thai protest 'terrorism'”, in Nikkei Asia‎, Nikkei Inc, retrieved 2021-07-20:

        Free speech is a basic human right that holds even during a state of emergency.

   6. (intransitive, copulative) To keep oneself in a particular state.

      to hold firm

      • 1921, Ben Travers, chapter 2, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC:

        Mother […] considered that the exclusiveness of Peter's circle was due not to its distinction, but to the fact that it was an inner Babylon of prodigality and whoredom, from which every Kensingtonian held aloof, except on the conventional tip-and-run excursions in pursuit of shopping, tea and theatres.

   7. (transitive) To impose restraint upon; to limit in motion or action; to bind legally or morally; to confine; to restrain.
      • 1623, William Shakespeare, The Life and Death of King John (Act iv, scene 2):

        We cannot hold mortality's strong hand.

      • 1646, Richard Crashaw, Vpon the Death of Mr. Herrys:

        Death! what do'st? O, hold thy blow.

      • 1856 February, [Thomas Babington] Macaulay, “Oliver Goldsmith”, in T[homas] F[lower] E[llis], editor, The Miscellaneous Writings and Speeches of Lord Macaulay, new edition, London: Longman, Green, Reader, & Dyer, published 1871, →OCLC:

        He hath not sufficient judgment and self-command to hold his tongue.

   8. (transitive) To bear, carry, or manage.

      He holds himself proudly erect.

      Hold your head high.

      • 1595, William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream:

        Let him hold his fingers thus, and through that cranny shall Pyramus and Thisby whisper .

   9. (intransitive, chiefly imperative) Not to move; to halt; to stop.
      • 1606, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Macbeth:

        Lay on, Macduff, and damned him that first cries hold, enough!

   10. (intransitive) Not to give way; not to part or become separated; to remain unbroken or unsubdued.
       • 1623, William Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra:

         Our force by land hath nobly held.

   11. To remain continent; to control an excretory bodily function.

       to hold one's bladder

       to hold one's breath

4. (heading) To maintain or keep to particular opinions, promises, actions.
   1. (transitive) To maintain, to consider, to opine.
      • 1602, William Warner, “The Seventh Booke. Chapter XXXVI.”, in Albions England. A Continued Historie of the Same Kingdome, from the Originals of the First Inhabitants thereof: […], 5th edition, London: […] Edm[und] Bollifant for George Potter, […], →OCLC, page 173:

        He neuer hild but gracious thoughts of vvomen, yeat, I vvinne, / The fayreſt She he euer ſavv might quit his thoughts of ſinne.

      • 1776, Thomas Jefferson et al., United States Declaration of Independence:

        We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

      • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter I, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:

        In the old days, to my commonplace and unobserving mind, he gave no evidences of genius whatsoever. He never read me any of his manuscripts, […], and therefore my lack of detection of his promise may in some degree be pardoned. But he had then none of the oddities and mannerisms which I hold to be inseparable from genius, and which struck my attention in after days when I came in contact with the Celebrity.

      • 2023, Sufjan Stevens (lyrics and music), “Javelin (To Have and To Hold)”, in Javelin:

        It's a terrible thought / To have and hold

   2. (transitive) To bind (someone) to a consequence of his or her actions.

      He was held responsible for the actions of those under his command.

      I'll hold him to that promise.

   3. To maintain in being or action; to carry on; to prosecute, as a course of conduct or an argument; to continue; to sustain.
      • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms 83:1:

        Hold not thy peace, and be not still.

      • 1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book II:

        Seedtime and harvest, heat and hoary frost, / Shall hold their course.

   4. To accept, as an opinion; to be the adherent of, openly or privately; to persist in, as a purpose; to maintain; to sustain.
      • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 2 Thessalonians 2:15:

        Stand fast and hold the traditions which ye have been taught.

      • 1700, Ovid (John Dryden), Ceyx and Alcyone:

        These reasons mov'd her starlike husband's heart, But still he held his purpose to depart:

   5. (archaic) To restrain oneself; to refrain; to hold back.
      • 1685, John Dryden, Threnodia Augustalis: A Funeral Pindaric Poem:

        His dauntless heart would fain have held / From weeping, but his eyes rebelled.

5. (tennis, transitive, intransitive) To win one's own service game.
6. To take place, to occur.
   • 1824, James Hogg, The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner, Oxford, published 2010, page 9:

     He came into the hall where the wedding-festival had held […].

7. To organise an event or meeting (usually in passive voice).

   Elections will be held on the first Sunday of next month.

   • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter V, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

     Here, in the transept and choir, where the service was being held, one was conscious every moment of an increasing brightness; colours glowing vividly beneath the circular chandeliers, and the rows of small lights on the choristers' desks flashed and sparkled in front of the boys' faces, deep linen collars, and red neckbands.

8. (archaic) To derive right or title.
   • 1665 (first performance), John Dryden, The Indian Emperour, or, The Conquest of Mexico by the Spaniards. […], London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for H[enry] Herringman […], published 1667, →OCLC, Act I, scene ii, page 12:

     My Crovvn is abſolute, and holds of none.

   • 1817, William Hazlitt, The Round Table:

     His imagination holds immediately from nature.

9. (imperative) In a food or drink order at an informal restaurant etc., requesting that a component normally included in that order be omitted.

   One ham-and-cheese sandwich; hold the mustard.

   A martini, please, and hold the olive.

10. (slang, intransitive) To be in possession of illicit drugs for sale.
    • 1933, Goat Laven, Rough Stuff: The Life Story of a Gangster, page 122:

      […] first thing clients would say to me would be 'Are you holding?' I'd say yes if we had our supply and no if it was dangerous.

• (grasp or grip): clasp, grasp, grip; See also Thesaurus:grasp
• (have and keep possession of something): own; See also Thesaurus:possess
• (not to move): See also Thesaurus:stop
• (not to give way): See also Thesaurus:persevere
• (restrain oneself): See also Thesaurus:desist
• (take place): happen; See also Thesaurus:happen

• release

hold (plural holds)

1. A grasp or grip.
   • 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter VII, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y., London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:

     Old Applegate, in the stern, just set and looked at me, and Lord James, amidship, waved both arms and kept hollering for help. I took a couple of everlasting big strokes and managed to grab hold of the skiff's rail, close to the stern.

   Keep a firm hold on the handlebars.

2. An act or instance of holding.

   Can I have a hold of the baby?

3. A place where animals are held for safety
4. An order that something is to be reserved or delayed, limiting or preventing how it can be dealt with.

   Senator X placed a hold on the bill, then went to the library and placed a hold on a book.

   • 2008, R. Michael Gordon, The Space Shuttle Program: How NASA Lost Its Way, page 98:

     Because there were no “launch commit criteria” regarding surface booster temperatures that might cause a hold on the launch, the ice team did not report the temperatures to the launch controllers.

5. Something reserved or kept.

   We have a hold here for you.

6. Power over someone or something.
   • 2008, Christopher Clarke-Milton, Dawn of the Messiah - Book 1, →ISBN, page 199:

     The Judge accepts the payment, the law no longer has a hold on you, and therefore you are free to walk out of the court a free man or woman.

   • 2013, Wim Wenders, Mary Zournazi, Inventing Peace: A Dialogue on Perception, →ISBN, page 107:

     War has a hold on our cultural imaginations as an inevitable force, it is peace that has no benefactor.

7. The ability to persist.
   • 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, Canto XXVIII, page 45:

     This year I slept and woke with pain,
     ⁠I almost wish’d no more to wake,
     ⁠And that my hold on life would break
     Before I heard those bells again: […]

   • 1982, Laurence Monroe Klauber, Karen Harvey McClung, Rattlesnakes, Their Habits, Life Histories, and Influence, →ISBN, page 48:

     Despite their seemingly strong hold on life, as indicated by the persistence of movement in decapitation tests, rattlers are relatively frail creatures and are easily killed.

8. The property of maintaining the shape of styled hair.
   • 2004, Zoe Diana Draelos, Hair Care: An Illustrated Dermatologic Handbook, page 221:

     Sculpturing gels provide stiffer hold than styling gels, which provide better hold than mousses.

9. (wrestling) A position or grip used to control the opponent.

   He got him in a tight hold and pinned him to the mat.

10. (exercise) An exercise involving holding a position for a set time
11. (gambling) The percentage the house wins on a gamble, the house or bookmaker's hold.
    • 2002, "Reality", “The Scorecard For Bookmakers”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)‎, archived from the original on 27 April 2015:

    The House Hold on the game is 10,000, this is the amount of decision or risk the house wishes to assume.

12. (gambling) The wager amount, the total hold.
    • 2012, Sarah Fortnum, “Melbourne Cup 2012 From The Bookie’s Perspective”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)‎, archived from the original on 12 November 2012:

    As of Monday night the total Melbourne Cup hold was $848,015

13. (tennis) An instance of holding one's service game, as opposed to being broken.
14. The part of an object one is intended to grasp, or anything one can use for grasping with hands or feet.
    • 1898, J. Meade Falkner, chapter 4, in Moonfleet, London, Toronto, Ont.: Jonathan Cape, published 1934:

      So I felt my way down the passage back to the vault, and recked not of the darkness, nor of Blackbeard and his crew, if only I could lay my lips to liquor. Thus I groped about the barrels till near the top of the stack my hand struck on the spile of a keg, and drawing it, I got my mouth to the hold.

    • 1995, Turlough Johnston, Madeleine Halldén, Rock Climbing Basics, →ISBN, page 86:

      The beginner will instinctively try to stick his toe straight in in a foot hold, which is very tiring on the calf muscles.

15. A fruit machine feature allowing one or more of the reels to remain fixed while the others spin.
16. (video games, dated) A pause facility.
    • 1983, New Generation Software, Knot in 3D (video game instruction leaflet)

      A hold facility is available; H holds, and S restarts.

    • 1987?, Imagine Software, Legend of Kage (video game instruction leaflet)

      SCREEN 5 — Perhaps the toughest — going like the clappers sometimes works but generally you'll have to be smarter than that. If things get a little too hectic and you don't even have time to reach the HOLD key, try taking a short rest below the top of the stairs.

17. The queueing system on telephones and similar communication systems which maintains a connection when all lines are busy.
    • 2003, Daniel Jackson, Paul Fulberg, Sonic Branding: An Essential Guide to the Art and Science of Sonic Branding, Palgrave Macmillan, →ISBN, page 6:

      Given that there is an average on-hold time of more than five minutes while enquiries are being dealt with, the telephone hold system provided the best opportunity.

    • 2005, Lorraine Grubbs-West, Lessons in Loyalty: How Southwest Airlines Does it : an Insider's View, CornerStone Leadership Inst, →ISBN, page 56:

      Even the "on-hold" messages on Southwest's telephone system are humorous, ensuring anyone inconvenienced by the hold is entertained.

    • 2012, Tanner Ezell, Cisco Unified Communications Manager 8: Expert Administration Cookbook, Packt Publishing Ltd, →ISBN:

      Note. After the device downloads its new configuration file, we can test placing a call on hold and the generic hold music will be heard.

18. (baseball) A statistic awarded to a relief pitcher who is not still pitching at the end of the game and who records at least one out and maintains a lead for his team.
19. (aviation) A region of airspace reserved for aircraft being kept in a holding pattern.

(exercise): isometric exercise

• behold

Loading bales of wool into the hold of the barque "Magdalene Vinnen", Sydney 1933

Alteration (due to hold) of hole. Cognate with Dutch hol (“hole, cave, den, cavity, cargo hold”), Dutch holte (“cavity, hollow, den”).

hold (plural holds)

1. (nautical, aviation) The cargo area of a ship or aircraft (often holds or cargo hold).

   We watched our luggage being loaded into the hold of the plane.

• forehold

From Middle English hold, holde, from Old English hold (“gracious, friendly, kind, favorable, true, faithful, loyal, devout, acceptable, pleasant”), from Proto-Germanic *hulþaz (“favourable, gracious, loyal”), from Proto-Indo-European *kel- (“to tend, incline, bend, tip”).

Cognate with German hold (“gracious, friendly, sympathetic, grateful”), Danish and Swedish huld (“fair, kindly, gracious”), Icelandic hollur (“faithful, dedicated, loyal”), German Huld (“grace, favour”).

hold (comparative more hold, superlative most hold)

1. (obsolete) Gracious; friendly; faithful; true.
   • 1854, Nathaniel Hawthorne, “Passages from a Relinquished Work”, in Mosses from an Old Manse:

     at the proper moment, I stepped forward with a gay heart and a hold one

• dhol, hodl

From English hold.

hold (Hong Kong Cantonese)

1. to put something on hold; to cause delay
2. to possess
3. to reserve

• hold住

Inherited from Old Czech hold, from Middle High German hulde (German Huld).

• IPA^(key): [ˈɦolt]
• Homophone: holt

hold m inan

1. homage, tribute

   Antonym: úcta

   vzdát/složit někomu hold ― to pay tribute to someone

• hold in Příruční slovník jazyka českého, 1935–1957
• hold in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989
• hold in Internetová jazyková příručka

• IPA^(key): [ˈhʌlˀ]

From Old Norse hald (“grip, power, hold”). Also see holde (“to hold”).

hold n (singular definite holdet, plural indefinite hold)

1. team (group of persons working or playing together)
2. class (group of students taught together)
3. distance, side (only with the prepositions på or fra and an adjective)
4. truth
5. pain (in the muscles)
6. (rare) hold

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

hold

1. imperative of holde

From Middle High German holt, from Old High German hold, from Proto-Germanic *hulþaz. Cognates include Gothic 𐌷𐌿𐌻𐌸𐍃 (hulþs, “clement”) and Old Norse hollr ( > Danish huld).

• IPA^(key): /hɔlt/

• Audio

  (file)

hold (strong nominative masculine singular holder, comparative holder, superlative am holdesten)

1. (dated, literary, predicative with dative) affectionate, devoted, loyal to

   Synonyms: treu, ergeben, zugetan

   Er blieb ihr immer hold.

   He always remained devoted to her.

   Das Glück / Wetter war uns nicht hold.

   Luck / The weather was not on our side.

2. (archaic, poetic or humorous) gracious, graceful, comely, dainty

   Ade, du holde Maid!

   Farewell, thou graceful maiden!

   • 1907, Carl Spitteler, chapter 7, in Die Mädchenfeinde:

     Um aber auf deinen holden Kadettengeneral zurückzukommen, so will ich dir, weil du mir dein Geheimnis anvertraut hast, auch etwas Geheimnisvolles verraten […]

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

• “hold” in Duden online
• “hold” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

From Proto-Uralic *kuŋe. Cognates include Hungarian hó (“month”), Finnish and Estonian kuu.

• IPA^(key): [ˈhold]

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: hold
• Rhymes: -old

hold (plural holdak)

1. moon, natural satellite

   A Szaturnusznak a tudomány jelenlegi állása szerint 83 holdja van. ― According to the current state of science, Saturn has 83 moons.

   1. (in compounds) lunar

      holdfogyatkozás ― lunar eclipse

2. unit of surface area, originally the same as acre, but currently usually indicating katasztrális hold, though its different types range from 3500 m² to 8400 m²

   Hyponym: (its most common type, approx. 5755 m²) katasztrális hold

Some astronomical and geographical terms have both a lowercase (common noun) and a capitalized (proper noun) form. For föld (“ground, soil”)―​Föld (“Earth”), hold (“moon, satellite”)―​Hold (“the Moon”), and nap (“day; sun”)―​Nap (“the Sun”), the lowercase forms are used in the everyday sense and the capitalized forms in the astronomical sense. In other similar pairs, the former refers to generic sense, and the latter specifies the best known referent: egyenlítő (“equator”)―​Egyenlítő (“Equator”), naprendszer (“solar system, planetary system”)―​Naprendszer (“Solar System”), and tejút (“galaxy”, literally “milky way”, but galaxis and galaktika are more common)―​Tejút (“Milky Way”).

• (moon): hold in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (‘The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN
• (area of 5,755 m²): hold in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (‘The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN

From Old Norse hold, from Proto-Germanic *huldą, from Proto-Indo-European *kol-, *kwol-. Cognate with Swedish hull.

• IPA^(key): [hɔlt]
• Rhymes: -ɔlt

hold n (genitive singular holds, no plural)

1. flesh
   • Isaiah 40 (Icelandic, English)

     Heyr, einhver segir: "Kalla þú!" Og ég svara: "Hvað skal ég kalla?" "Allt hold er gras og allur yndisleikur þess sem blóm vallarins. Grasið visnar, blómin fölna, þegar Drottinn andar á þau. Sannlega, mennirnir eru gras. Grasið visnar, blómin fölna, en orð Guðs vors stendur stöðugt eilíflega."

     A voice says, "Cry out." And I said, "What shall I cry?" "All flesh are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the LORD blows on them. Surely the people are grass. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever."

From Old English hold, from Proto-Germanic *hulþaz, a variant on a root meaning ‘lean, incline’ (compare Old English heald, hieldan).

Cognates include Old Frisian hold, Old Saxon hold, Old High German hold (German hold), Old Norse hollr (Danish huld, Swedish huld), Gothic 𐌷𐌿𐌻𐌸𐍃 (hulþs).

hold

1. friendly, faithful

From Old English hold, from Proto-Germanic *huldą, from Proto-Indo-European *kol-, *kwol-. Cognates include Old Norse hold (“flesh”) (Icelandic hold, Swedish hull), and (from Indo-European) Old Irish colainn, Welsh celain.

hold

1. carcass, flesh

• holdeste, unhold, holdelike, holdoþ

hold

1. imperative of holde

• (of noun) dyrehold
• (of noun) kosthold
• (of noun) husdyrhold

• IPA^(key): /xold/, [hoɫd]

From Proto-Germanic *huldą, from Proto-Indo-European *kol-, *kwol-. Cognates include Old Norse hold (“flesh”) (Icelandic hold, Swedish hull), and (from Indo-European) Old Irish colainn, Welsh celain.

hold n (nominative plural hold)

1. dead body; carcass

   Swā swā grǣdiġe ræmmas ðār ðār hī hold ġesēoþ.

   Like greedy ravens when they see a corpse.

From Proto-Germanic *hulþaz, a variant on a root meaning ‘lean, incline’ (compare Old English heald, hieldan).

Cognates include Old Frisian hold, Old Saxon hold, Old High German hold (German hold), Old Norse hollr (Danish huld, Swedish huld), Gothic 𐌷𐌿𐌻𐌸𐍃 (hulþs).

hold (comparative holdra, superlative holdost) (+ dative)

1. gracious, loyal, kind

   Swā hold is God mancynne ðæt he hæfþ ġeset his englas us to hyrdum.

   God is so gracious to mankind that he has appointed angels as our guardians.

2. friendly
   • late 10th century, Ælfric, "Saint Maur, Abbot"

     ...and behēt þæt hē wolde him hold bēon eallum...

     ...and promised that he would be friendly to them all...