See Also: hold-down(dictionary)
hold(2)(dictionary)
hold(1)(dictionary)
YAU LEE HOLD(finance)
WAI KEE HOLD(finance)
KIN Y AT HOLD(finance)
MIN XIN HOLD(finance)
Hold(medicine)
Buy and Hold(money)
Hold(money)

hold(4) (iou)



hold verb. .
[Old English haldan (healdan) = Old Frisian halda, Old Saxon haldan (Dutch houden), Old High German haltan (German halten), Old Norse halda, Gothic haldan, from Germanic orig. strong verb with the senses watch (cf. BEHOLD), look after, pasture (cattle).]
I. verb trans.
Keep watch over (sheep etc.); rule (people). OE-ME.
Prevent from getting away; keep fast, grasp, have a grip on. Freq. with adverbial extension. OE.
road-holding: see ROAD noun.
E. Amadi Oyia held her in a vice-like grip. R. Ingalls She held his hand.
b. Cricket etc. Catch (a ball), esp. particularly skilfully. M18.
c. Sport. Prove a match for; restrict (an opponent) to (a draw etc.). L19.
Racing Post Heiress Green..held Another Earl by a head in the Coolmine Race.
Keep from falling; support in or with the hands, arms, etc. OE.
New Yorker She was holding the baby. 'Would you like to hold him, Beverly?' M. Amis I held the telephone at arm's length, and stared at it.
b. fig. Uphold, support. OE-E16.
c. Grasp so as to control (lit. & fig.). L16.
T. Biddlecombe Going to the first fence there was no way I was going to hold the horse.
d. Bear (a particular treatment). L16-M17.
Shakespeare Coriolanus Now humble as the ripest mulberry That will not hold the handling.
Have or keep within it; contain or be able to contain; have the capacity for; (of a person) consume (liquor etc.) without undue intoxication. OE.
V. Woolf Crumpling the bag which had held the cherries. S. Lewis Their favourite motion-picture theatre was the Chateau, which held three thousand spectators. G. Greene They were..crushed at a small table, just large enough to hold three whiskies. D. Ballantyne It's Betty that can't hold the liquor.
Have or keep as one's own; possess, be the owner, occupant, incumbent, or tenant of; have gained as a qualification or honour. OE.
P. Massinger I hold my dukedom from you, as your vassal. Sir W. Scott My Sovereign holds in ward my land. A. Carnegie We held the record and many visitors came to marvel at the marvel. C. Hill Arminians held all the best bishoprics and deaneries. N. Symington For the next three years he held posts in different hospitals. Soldier He also holds the Long Service and Good Conduct Medal.
b. Keep possession of (a place etc.) against attack. ME.
Sloan Wilson A very small island which the British had held for two months.
c. Be in (a place); retain possession or occupation of; dominate; engross, retain the attention of. ME.
Milton The star, that bids the shepherd fold, Now the top of heaven doth hold. J. R. Seeley The intoxication of the Marengo campaign still held him. K. Amis The journal held no more than half his attention. S. Bellow He checked their smiles, holding them all with his serious, worn, blue gaze. R. Carver He spent his time repairing things, now that he could no longer hold a job in the aerospace industry. Stage & Television Today Carr..is a gifted, confident comedian who held the audience.
Not let go; keep, retain; keep (a person etc.) in a specified place, condition, etc. (cf. sense 11 below); make (a person) adhere to (terms, a promise etc.). OE.
R. Bush Vivienne held him to standards of emotional forthrightness he wished to but could not sustain. A. Trew A beam of light..pierced the darkness, picked up the skimmer and held it.
b. Continue to occupy; remain in (a place); not leave. LME-L18.
W. A. Osbaldistone The hare will hold the highways more than at any other time.
c. Keep back, detain, delay. Also (orig. US) detain (a person) in custody. L19.
J. Rathbone There were no convictions, but she had been held for questioning on three occasions. J. Cheever I don't want you to hold dinner for me.
Keep together; keep in existence or operation, carry on; conduct (a meeting); observe, celebrate, (a festival etc.); engage in (a conversation); keep (company, silence, etc.); use (insolent etc.) language. OE.
P. Kavanagh Peter walked in the garden..and there held commune with the spirits of wealth and influence. P. Ackroyd The seance was to be held near Ealing Common.
Keep unbroken or inviolate; abide by (a command, a promise, etc.). OE-E17.
Shakespeare Merry Wives of Windsor To Master Brook you yet shall hold your word.
Restrain, refrain from; colloq. withhold, cease, stop. OE.
T. Jefferson The only restraining motive which may hold the hand of a tyrant. Dickens I wish you'd hold your noise!
a. Have in mind, entertain (a feeling, sentiment, etc.). arch. OE.
H. W. Torrens The first..who acknowledged the..theory and held great account of those who practised it.
b. Accept the truth of (a belief, doctrine, etc.); think or believe that, believe to be or to be, regard as, (arch. also for). ME.
J. Conrad A kind of railway contractor..who held the doctor for an ass. I. Murdoch It may be relevant here to add that I hold no religious beliefs whatever. C. Rycroft He also held that most of the dreams of adults express repressed erotic wishes. W. Golding Words I must ever hold sacred. A. Briggs Wives..were held to be subordinate to their husbands.
c. Have a specified feeling towards. ME.
T. S. Eliot They hold these monkeys in peculiar veneration.
d. Of a judge or court: lay down, decide. M17.
Independent The justices held that they could not grant a protection order.
Keep (one's body, head, etc.) in a particular attitude or position. ME.
W. C. Russell She held her face averted. D. Hammett She held her small body stiffly erect.
Oblige, constrain. Long arch. rare. ME.
S. Williams They could not view themselves as holden..to submit.
Offer or accept as a wager, bet. LME-M18.
T. D'Urfey I'll hold ye five Guineas to four.
II. verb intrans.
Maintain one's position (against an adversary); (of a place) be held or occupied, hold out. OE.
Shakespeare Anthony & Cleopatra Our force by land Hath nobly held.
Continue in a (specified) state or course; last. ME.
I. Banks My luck holds. Miss Arrol is in. H. Weinzweig He could come back next week, to see if the tuning held.
b. Be or remain valid, apply. ME.
H. R. Mill This law does not hold for gases.
c. Of the weather: continue fine. L19.
L. Whistler The weather held, and with the may bushes lathered in blossom the scene grew unearthly.
Maintain a hold, cling. ME.
Tennyson There was no anchor, none, To hold by.
b. In imper. Here, take this. L15-E17.
Shakespeare Macbeth Hold, take my sword.
c. Of a female animal: retain the seed of the male; conceive. E17.
d. Boxing. Grasp an opponent with the hands, in contravention of the rules. E20.
Times The referee had to speak to both men for holding.
e. Be in possession of illicit drugs. US slang. M20.
Maintain an attachment to; adhere to, abide by, (a choice, purpose, etc.). ME.
J. Buchan In a pedestrian world he held to the old cavalier grace. P. Gay Freud persisted in holding to the cardinal ideas of psychoanalysis all his life.
Hold property by tenure; derive title to something (of or from a superior). Also fig., (foll. by of, on) depend on, belong or pertain to. ME.
W. Longman Men holding by knight's service. W. S. Lilly No wonder, for genius holds of the noumenal.
Foll. by with: maintain allegiance to, side with; colloq. approve of (usu. in neg. contexts). ME.
M. Hanmer Some there were, that held with both sides. Cornhill Magazine I don't hold with him buying flowers when his children haven't got enough to eat.
Avail, be of use. (Usu. in neg. & interrog. contexts.) Only in ME.
Keep going (in a specified direction); continue on (one's way etc.). ME.
Conan Doyle I've held on my course when better men..have asked me to veil topsails. Field Instead of holding to Oakhill Wood, the pack bore to the right.
Remain unbroken; not give way. LME.
Illustrated London News The helm was perfectly sound, and the lashings held bravely.
Take place; occur, prevail. arch. LME.
Shakespeare Richard II What news from Oxford? Do these justs and triumphs hold?
Restrain oneself. arch. L16.
Shelley 'Hold, hold!' He cried,'I tell thee 'tis her brother!'
Have a capacity (now rare); Hunting (of a covert) contain game. L16.
Hounds A cold, raw day with little scent and the coverts that normally hold were bare.
Phrases, & with adverbs in specialized senses: (A selection of cross-refs. only is included: see esp. other nouns) hold a candle to the Devil arch. serve or assist a wicked person, be active in wickedness. hold a person's hand: see HAND noun. hold a person's nose to the grindstone: see GRINDSTONE noun. hold at bay: see BAY noun1 2. hold a torch for: see TORCH noun. hold a wolf by the ears: see WOLF noun. hold back (a) impede the progress of; restrain; (b) keep (a thing) to or for oneself; (c) refrain or shrink (from). hold cheap: see CHEAP adjective. hold court: see COURT noun1. hold dear: see DEAR adjective1. hold down (a) repress (lit. & fig.); (b) colloq. be competent enough to keep (one's job etc.). hold everything! cease action or movement. hold forth (a) keep up, go on with; (b) go on, proceed; (c) offer (an inducement etc.); (d) (usu. derog.) speak at length or tediously, preach. hold good be valid; apply. hold hands: see HAND noun. hold hard (a) pull hard at the reins in order to stop a horse; (b) in imper. (colloq.) stop! wait! hold harmless: see HARMLESS 3. hold in (a) keep in check, confine; (b) continue in a particular state etc.; restrain oneself, refrain. hold in DEMESNE. hold it! = hold everything! above. hold it against regard it to the discredit of (that). hold it good think it advisable (to do). hold off verb phr. trans. & intrans. delay; not begin; keep at a distance. hold on (a) verb phr. trans. keep in place on something; (b) verb phr. trans. continue, keep up; (c) verb phr. intrans. keep one's grasp of something, not let go; (d) verb phr. intrans. continue, go on; (e) verb phr. intrans. (colloq.) wait a moment (freq. in imper.); (f) verb phr. intrans. (when telephoning) not ring off. hold one's BREATH. hold one's ground: see GROUND noun. hold one's head high behave proudly and confidently. hold one's horses colloq. stop; slow down. hold one's nose: see NOSE noun. hold one's own: see OWN adjective & pronoun. hold one's peace: see PEACE noun. hold one's serve, hold one's service in tennis etc., win a game in which one is the server. hold one's tongue: see TONGUE noun. hold one's way: see WAY noun. hold one's whistle: see WHISTLE noun 2. hold out (a) verb phr. trans. stretch out, proffer, (a hand etc.); offer (an inducement etc.); (b) verb phr. trans. represent to be; (c) verb phr. trans. (now rare) keep out, exclude; (d) verb phr. trans. keep up, continue; formerly also, bear or sustain to the end; (e) verb phr. trans. occupy or defend to the end; (f) verb phr. intrans. maintain resistance; persist, last; continue to make a demand for; (g) hold out on (colloq.), refuse something to (a person). hold over (a) Law remain in office etc. beyond the regular term; (b) keep for future consideration, postpone. hold over (a person) threaten (a person) constantly with. hold serve, hold service = hold one's serve above. hold the bag: see BAG noun. hold the baby: see BABY noun 1. hold the clock on: see CLOCK noun1. hold the field: see FIELD noun. hold the fort: see FORT noun 1. hold the line (a) not yield; (b) maintain a telephone connection. hold the stage dominate a conversation etc. hold to bail Law bind by bail. hold together (cause to) cohere. hold to ransom keep (a person) prisoner until a ransom is paid; demand concessions from by threats, esp. of industrial action. hold true = hold good above. hold up (a) maintain (the head etc.) erect; fig. support, sustain; (b) exhibit, display; subject openly to (contempt, derision, etc.); (c) let alone, give up; keep back, withhold; (d) stop and rob by violence or threats; (e) arrest the progress of, obstruct; (f) not fall, keep up; (g) hold out, endure; (h) give in, surrender; (i) (of the weather) remain fine, not rain. hold water (a) not let water through or out; fig. (of reasoning) be sound, bear examination; (b) stop a boat by holding the blades of the oars flat against the boat's way. not able to hold a candle, not fit to hold a candle: see CANDLE noun. hold wedlock: see WEDLOCK noun 1. there is no holding him, there is no holding her, etc., he, she, etc., is restive, high-spirited, determined, etc. too hot to hold one: see HOT adjective.