hold forth

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hold forth

1. (transitive, idiomatic) To extend or offer, propose.
2. (intransitive, idiomatic) Talk at great length; expatiate; harangue.
   • 1913, D. H. Lawrence, Sons and Lovers, chapter 5:

     The girls all liked to hear him talk. They often gathered in a little circle while he sat on a bench, and held forth to them, laughing.

   • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 2, in The Mirror and the Lamp‎:

     [T]hey did not like him coming round of an evening and drinking weak whisky-and-water while he held forth on railway debentures and corporation loans.