hold

See also: Hold and hołd

English

Pronunciation
  • (Received Pronunciation) enPR: hōld, IPA(key): /həʊld/, [həʊɫd]
  • (General American) enPR: hōld, IPA(key): /hoʊld/, [hoəɫd]
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Homophone: holed
  • Rhymes: -əʊld

Etymology 1

From Middle English holden, from Old English healdan, from Proto-Germanic *haldaną (“to tend, herd”), maybe from Proto-Indo-European *kel- (“to drive”) (compare Latin celer (“quick”), Tocharian B kälts (“to goad, drive”), Ancient Greek κέλλω (kéllō, “to drive”), Sanskrit kaláyati (“he impels”)).[1][2] Cognate to West Frisian hâlde, Low German holden, holen, Dutch houden, German halten, Danish and Norwegian Bokmål holde, Norwegian Nynorsk halda.

Verb

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 752825175, page 035:
      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. B. Maxwell, chapter 23, in The Mirror and the Lamp:
      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) To be or remain valid; to apply (usually in the third person).
      to hold true;  The proposition holds.
      • (Can we date this quote?) John Locke
        The rule holds in land as all other commodities.
    6. To keep oneself in a particular state.
      to hold firm;  to hold opinions
      • 1922, Ben Travers, chapter 2, in A Cuckoo in the Nest‎:
        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.
      • (Can we date this quote?) William Shakespeare
        We cannot hold mortality's strong hand.
      • (Can we date this quote?) Richard Crashaw
        Death! what do'st? O, hold thy blow.
      • (Can we date this quote?) Thomas Macaulay
        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.
    9. (intransitive, chiefly imperative) Not to move; to halt; to stop.
      • (Can we date this quote?) William Shakespeare
        And damned be him that first cries, "Hold, enough!"
    10. (intransitive) Not to give way; not to part or become separated; to remain unbroken or unsubdued.
    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.
      • 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.
      • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 1, in The Celebrity:
        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.
    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.
      • Bible, Psalms lxxxiii.1:
        Hold not thy peace, and be not still.
      • (Can we date this quote?) John Milton
        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.
      • Bible, 2 Thessalonians ii.15:
        Stand fast and hold the traditions which ye have been taught.
      • (Can we date this quote?) John Dryden
        But still he held his purpose to depart.
    5. (archaic) To restrain oneself; to refrain; to hold back.
      • (Can we date this quote?) John Dryden
        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 2010, p. 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. B. Maxwell, chapter 5, in The Mirror and the Lamp:
      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.
Conjugation
conjugation of hold
infinitive hold
present participle holding
past participle held
simple progressive perfect perfect progressive
present I hold we hold I am holding we are holding I have held we have held I have been holding we have been holding
you hold you hold you are holding you are holding you have held you have held you have been holding you have been holding
he holds they hold he is holding they are holding he has held they have held he has been holding they have been holding
past I held we held I was holding we were holding I had held we had held I had been holding we had been holding
you held you held you were holding you were holding you had held you had held you had been holding you had been holding
he held they held he was holding they were holding he had held they had held he had been holding they had been holding
future I will hold we will hold I will be holding we will be holding I will have held we will have held I will have been holding we will have been holding
you will hold you will hold you will be holding you will be holding you will have held you will have held you will have been holding you will have been holding
he will hold they will hold he will be holding they will be holding he will have held they will have held he will have been holding they will have been holding
conditional I would hold we would hold I would be holding we would be holding I would have held we would have held I would have been holding we would have been holding
you would hold you would hold you would be holding you would be holding you would have held you would have held you would have been holding you would have been holding
he would hold they would hold he would be holding they would be holding he would have held they would have held he would have been holding they would have been holding
imperative hold
Synonyms
Antonyms
Derived terms
Terms derived from hold (verb)
Translations
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Translations to be checked

Noun

hold (plural holds)

  1. A grasp or grip.
    • 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 7, in Mr. Pratt's Patients:
      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. A place where animals are held for safety
  3. 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.
  4. Something reserved or kept.
    We have a hold here for you.
  5. 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.
  6. The ability to persist.
    • 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.
  7. 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.
  8. (wrestling) A position or grip used to control the opponent.
    He got him in a tight hold and pinned him to the mat.
  9. (exercise (sport)) An exercise involving holding a position for a set time
  10. (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)‎, retrieved 2013-12-18:
    The House Hold on the game is 10,000, this is the amount of decision or risk the house wishes to assume.
  11. (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)‎, retrieved 2013-12-18:
    As of Monday night the total Melbourne Cup hold was $848,015
  12. (tennis) An instance of holding one's service game, as opposed to being broken.
  13. 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, Moonfleet Chapter 4
      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.
  14. A fruit machine feature allowing one or more of the reels to remain fixed while the others spin.
  15. (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.
  16. 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.
  17. (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.
Synonyms

(exercise): isometric exercise

Derived terms
Translations
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Translations to be checked

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

References
  1. Robert K. Barnhart, ed., Chambers Dictionary of Etymology, s.v. "hold¹" (1988; reprint, Chambers, 2008), 486.
  2. D.Q. Adams, "Drive", in Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture (London: Fitzroy Dearborn, 1997), 170.

Etymology 2

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

Noun

hold (plural holds)

  1. (nautical, aviation) The cargo area of a ship or aircraft, (often cargo hold).
    Put that in the hold.
Translations

Etymology 3

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”).

Adjective

hold (comparative more hold, superlative most hold)

  1. (obsolete) Gracious; friendly; faithful; true.

Anagrams

German

Etymology

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

Pronunciation
  • Audio(file)

Adjective

hold (comparative holder, superlative am holdesten)

  1. (archaic, poetic) friendly, comely, graceful
    • 1907, Carl Spitteler, Die Mädchenfeinde, Siebentes Kapitel, Beim Narrenſtudenten
      • Um aber auf deinen holden Kadettengeneral zurückzukommen, ſo will ich dir, weil du mir dein Geheimnis anvertraut haſt, auch etwas Geheimnisvolles verraten […]

Declension
Positive forms of hold
number & gender singular plural
masculine feminine neuter all genders
predicative er ist hold sie ist hold es ist hold sie sind hold
strong declension
(without article)		 nominative holder holde holdes holde
genitive holden holder holden holder
dative holdem holder holdem holden
accusative holden holde holdes holde
weak declension
(with definite article)		 nominative der holde die holde das holde die holden
genitive des holden der holden des holden der holden
dative dem holden der holden dem holden den holden
accusative den holden die holde das holde die holden
mixed declension
(with indefinite article)		 nominative ein holder eine holde ein holdes (keine) holden
genitive eines holden einer holden eines holden (keiner) holden
dative einem holden einer holden einem holden (keinen) holden
accusative einen holden eine holde ein holdes (keine) holden
Comparative forms of hold
number & gender singular plural
masculine feminine neuter all genders
predicative er ist holder sie ist holder es ist holder sie sind holder
strong declension
(without article)		 nominative holderer holdere holderes holdere
genitive holderen holderer holderen holderer
dative holderem holderer holderem holderen
accusative holderen holdere holderes holdere
weak declension
(with definite article)		 nominative der holdere die holdere das holdere die holderen
genitive des holderen der holderen des holderen der holderen
dative dem holderen der holderen dem holderen den holderen
accusative den holderen die holdere das holdere die holderen
mixed declension
(with indefinite article)		 nominative ein holderer eine holdere ein holderes (keine) holderen
genitive eines holderen einer holderen eines holderen (keiner) holderen
dative einem holderen einer holderen einem holderen (keinen) holderen
accusative einen holderen eine holdere ein holderes (keine) holderen
Superlative forms of hold
number & gender singular plural
masculine feminine neuter all genders
predicative er ist am holdesten sie ist am holdesten es ist am holdesten sie sind am holdesten
strong declension
(without article)		 nominative holdester holdeste holdestes holdeste
genitive holdesten holdester holdesten holdester
dative holdestem holdester holdestem holdesten
accusative holdesten holdeste holdestes holdeste
weak declension
(with definite article)		 nominative der holdeste die holdeste das holdeste die holdesten
genitive des holdesten der holdesten des holdesten der holdesten
dative dem holdesten der holdesten dem holdesten den holdesten
accusative den holdesten die holdeste das holdeste die holdesten
mixed declension
(with indefinite article)		 nominative ein holdester eine holdeste ein holdestes (keine) holdesten
genitive eines holdesten einer holdesten eines holdesten (keiner) holdesten
dative einem holdesten einer holdesten einem holdesten (keinen) holdesten
accusative einen holdesten eine holdeste ein holdestes (keine) holdesten

Further reading
  • hold in Duden online

Hungarian

Etymology

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

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): [ˈhold]
  • Hyphenation: hold

Noun

hold (plural holdak)

  1. moon, natural satellite
  2. unit of surface area, originally meant the same as acre, has different kinds ranging from 3500 m² to 8400 m²
  3. (attributive usage) lunar
    holdfogyatkozás ― lunar eclipse

Declension
Inflection (stem in -a-, back harmony)
singular plural
nominative hold holdak
accusative holdat holdakat
dative holdnak holdaknak
instrumental holddal holdakkal
causal-final holdért holdakért
translative holddá holdakká
terminative holdig holdakig
essive-formal holdként holdakként
essive-modal — —
inessive holdban holdakban
superessive holdon holdakon
adessive holdnál holdaknál
illative holdba holdakba
sublative holdra holdakra
allative holdhoz holdakhoz
elative holdból holdakból
delative holdról holdakról
ablative holdtól holdaktól
Possessive forms of hold
possessor single possession multiple possessions
1st person sing. holdam holdjaim
2nd person sing. holdad holdjaid
3rd person sing. holdja holdjai
1st person plural holdunk holdjaink
2nd person plural holdatok holdjaitok
3rd person plural holdjuk holdjaik

Derived terms
Compound words

Icelandic

Etymology

From Old Norse hold, from Proto-Germanic *huldą.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): [hɔlt]
  • Rhymes: -ɔlt

Noun

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."

Declension
declension of hold
n-s singular
indefinite definite
nominative hold holdið
accusative hold holdið
dative holdi holdinu
genitive holds holdsins

Middle English

Etymology

From Old English hold.

Adjective

hold

  1. friendly, faithful

Noun

hold

  1. carcase, flesh

Norwegian Bokmål

Verb

hold

  1. imperative of holde

Derived terms

Old English

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /hold/

Etymology 1

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.

Noun

hold n

  1. Dead body; carcass
    Swa swa grædige ræmmas ðar ðar hi hold geseoþ. Like greedy ravens when they see a corpse.

Etymology 2

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).

Adjective

hold (+ dative)

  1. gracious, loyal, kind
    Swa hold is God mancynne ðæt he hæfþ geset his englas us to hyrdum. God is so gracious to mankind that he has appointed angels as our guardians.

Old High German

Adjective

hold

  1. friendly

Derived terms

Descendants

Spanish

Noun

hold m (plural holds)

  1. (baseball) hold
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