Hold

/həʊld/ · verb

Meaning

(transitive) To grasp or grip..

Definitions by Sense

1. (transitive) To grasp or grip.
2. (transitive) To contain or store.
3. (heading) To maintain or keep to a position or state.
4. (heading) To maintain or keep to particular opinions, promises, actions.
5. (tennis, ambitransitive) To win one's own service game.
6. To take place, to occur.
7. To organise an event or meeting (usually in passive voice).
8. (archaic) To derive right or title.

Example Sentences

Hold the pencil like this.

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[…].

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.

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.

This package holds six bottles.

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

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

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.

Synonyms for hold

Antonyms for hold

Related Words

Word Forms

• holds
• holding
• held
• holden
• more hold
• most hold

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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