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to take and keep something in your hand or arms:
Can you hold the bag while I open the door?
He was holding a gun.
The little girl held her mother's hand.
He held her in his arms.
[ + obj + adj ] Could you hold the door open, please?
Rosie held out an apple for the horse.
All those who agree, please hold up your hand (= raise your arm).
Will the rope be strong enough to hold my weight?
Each wheel is held on with four bolts.
The parts are held together with glue.
I have to hold my nose when I jump into water.
They walked along holding hands.
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to contain or be able to contain something:
This jug holds exactly one pint.
One bag won't hold all of the shopping - we'd better take two.
Computers can hold huge amounts of information.
Who can tell what the future holds?
She's very religious, so death holds no fear for her.
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to have something, especially a position or money, or to control something:
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3
to have a particular position in a competition:
She holds the world record.
They held the lead until the 89th minute.
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4
to keep something, especially when it might have been lost:
I asked the shop to hold the dress for me until this afternoon.
You have to be a fairly good speaker to hold an audience's attention/interest.
The police are holding several people in custody (= at the police station) for questioning.
[ + obj + noun ] The terrorists held him hostage for 18 months.
I was held prisoner in a tiny attic room.
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to have something such as a meeting or an election:
Could we hold a meeting to discuss this tomorrow afternoon?
The election will be held on 8 August.
I find it's almost impossible to hold a sensible conversation with her.
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to cause to stay or continue in the same way as before:
Let's hope our good luck holds.
I hope the repair holds until we get the car to a garage.
The old adage that money talks still holds true (= is still true).
The government is committed to holding exports at their present level.
The ship/aircraft held its course.
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to believe an idea or opinion:
You sold it to me, so if it breaks I'll hold you responsible (= consider you to blame).
[ + to infinitive ]
formal a legal decision that we hold to be unconstitutional
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to wait, or to stop something temporarily:
They've decided to hold all future deliveries until the invoice has been paid.
How long can you hold your breath (= stop breathing)?
Will you hold my calls for the next half hour please?
She's on the phone at the moment - will you hold (the line) (= wait on the phone until she can speak to you)?
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9
If you ask someone to hold something, you do not want them to include it:
I'd like a ham sandwich on rye, hold the lettuce.
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the act of holding something or someone, or the way you do this:
Keep a tight hold on your tickets.
Don't worry if you lose hold of the reins - the horse won't wander off.
He took hold of one end of the carpet and tugged.
I just managed to grab hold of Lucy before she fell in the pool.
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power or control over something or someone:
Their company has a strong hold on/over the computer market.
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If you are on hold when using the phone, you are waiting to speak to someone:
Mr Briggs is on hold.
He's on the phone at the moment- can I put you on hold?
Everything's on hold again because of the bad weather.
The movie has been put on hold until the financial situation improves.
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the space in a ship or aircraft in which goods are carried
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to take and keep something in your hand or arms:
[ T ] The nurse held the child in her arms.
[ I ] Hold tight (= firmly) to the railing.
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to move something away from your body:
[ M ] Rosie held an apple out to the horse.
[ M ] Close your eyes and hold out your hands.
[ M ] All those who agree, please hold your hand up.
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to keep something in a particular place or position:
[ M ] Could you hold the door open for me, please?
[ M ] I can’t fasten this skirt unless I hold my stomach in (= keep it tight with my muscles so that it does not stick out).
[ M ] Each wheel is held on by/with four bolts.
[ M ] Individual parts are held together with glue.
[ I ] Hold still (= Do not move)!
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to continue or cause to continue in the same way as before:
[ I ] If the weather holds, we can go sailing.
[ T ] The ship held its course.
[ T ] She seemed to hold the note she was singing for more than a minute.
Einstein’s theories still hold true today.
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to stop something from happening, or to delay something temporarily:
[ T ] How long can you hold your breath?
[ I ] Her line is busy, would you like to hold?
[ T ] I’d like a salad, but hold the dressing.
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to support or contain something or be able to contain or support it:
This bottle holds exactly one pint.
Modern computers can hold (= store) huge amounts of information.
Will the rope be strong enough to hold the weight?
The new drug holds promise for relieving chronic pain.
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to keep control or possession of something:
His speech held the audience’s attention for over an hour.
He was held prisoner for three days.
After many days of fighting, the rebels now hold the town.
The champion held the lead until the last lap.
He currently holds the position of managing editor.
She holds three different accounts with the same bank.
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to organize or cause a meeting, election, or social event to happen:
The election will be held on the 8th of November.
We’re holding our annual New Year’s Day party again.
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to believe an idea or opinion to be correct, or to state that something is true:
He holds unpopular views on many subjects.
I hold him responsible for the damage to my car.
[ + that clause ] Murphy’s law holds that if anything can go wrong, it probably will.
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23
the act of taking and keeping something in your hand or arms, or the way you do this:
Don’t lose hold of the dog’s leash.
If you can get/grab/take hold of that end of the box, I’ll take this end and we’ll lift it.
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If something is on hold, it is intentionally delayed:
The space launch is on hold until the weather clears.
His line is busy – can I put you on hold?
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control or power over something or someone:
The team is strengthening its hold on first place.
She has a strong hold on her daughters.
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the space in a ship or aircraft where goods are carried
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(in some sports) a position in which one person prevents another from moving:
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to have something, especially a position or money, or to control something:
hold power/control The CEO holds power only as long as the directors approve of his methods.
hold a stake/an interest/shares The bank holds an interest in the real estate company.
hold a position/job/post Before taking his present post, he held the position of chief financial regulator.
hold a mortgage/loan She holds the mortgage, so she has the right to foreclose on the property.
hold the rights to sth Who holds the rights to screen these games?
hold a patent The world's largest biotech firm holds patents on the DNA sequences of thousands of varieties of grain.
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to keep something, especially when it might be needed in the future:
Accountants recommend holding records for more than seven years.
Ten seats are being held for the chief executives.
hold stocks/supplies We hold large stocks of all these items, and are generally able to guarantee next-day delivery.
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to keep money or an investment, and not sell it:
We'll hold the bonds until the resale market improves.
For these stocks, the recommendation is: Hold!
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to contain or be able to contain a number of people or things:
Each container can hold 500 pounds of cargo.
The auditorium is designed to hold 1,000 people.
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to make an event, especially a meeting, happen:
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to stay, or make something stay, at the same level as before:
hold a rate/price/tax The Federal Reserve held interest rates at 3%.
The Chancellor is expected to hold capital gains tax at its present rate.
The markets held steady, despite the report of higher inflation.
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to make a judgment in a court of law:
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to wait when you are phoning until you can talk to the person that you want to speak to:
He'll answering another call right now. Can you hold?
Please hold the line. I'll try to connect you.
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to be in a strong position when you are competing with someone else, because you have all the advantages:
Management holds all the cards when it comes to the negotiations over job cuts.
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to speak in a formal situation, such as at a conference or meeting:
Martin held the floor for almost an hour.
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to deal with a situation, or do someone's job, while they are away:
She went off on vacation, leaving me to hold down the fort.
Will you hold the fort while I go for lunch?
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to keep or defend an opinion or an idea, even when other people do not agree with you:
We'll hold our ground until they accept our changes to the contract.
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to help someone to do something, especially when it is a new or difficult task:
A call center technician held my hand as he talked me through installing the hardware.
You shouldn't really need your boss to hold your hand any longer.
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to have a position of authority, especially in government:
A president can only hold office for two terms of four years each.
Things were not very different when the previous government held office.
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to continue to be in a strong or fairly strong position, even when there are difficulties:
hold your own against sb/sth They held their own against heavily marketed overseas brands.
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to control when and how money is spent:
Head office holds the purse strings, and we'll need approval to buy any new equipment.
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to be in control of something:
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to keep something until a time when it is needed for a particular purpose:
Four million additional tons of grain are held in reserve each month.
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to have control or influence over someone or something:
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to have or control the rights to land, buildings, or other property:
hold title to sth She held title to the property and all mineral rights.
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to not fall in price:
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power or control over someone or something:
a hold over sb/sth With the new law, Congress strengthened its hold over mortgage rates.
a hold on sth They're keeping their strong hold on the smartphone market.
a strong/tight hold
keep/tighten/lose your hold
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a suggestion that someone should not sell the shares that they own in a company, but that they should not buy any new shares:
Analysts changed "buys" to "holds" after the annual report appeared.
We have recently downgraded our recommendation for the Forest Group to "Hold".
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a delay by a bank to prevent money from being taken from an account:
It took three days for the hold on the payment to be cleared.
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the place on a ship or aircraft where goods are carried:
Inspectors examined the hold to look for stowaways.
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not being done now, but perhaps being done later:
Any new building has been put on hold until the economy improves.
The dollar is on hold at the same level it was at a year ago.
Technical support had me on hold for 20 minutes while they researched my question.
I'll just put you on hold while I ask my manager about this.
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to start to have an effect:
