What does "hold" mean?
A grasp or grip.
Hold
/həʊld/ adj, noun, verb, slang
adj, noun, verb, slang ·Top 500 ·Elementary level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A grasp or grip.
- Grammar: hold is listed as adj, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: cargo hold, clutch, grasp, grip.
- Useful contrasts: gentle tug, italian forza movement, ungrasped.
- Usage evidence: Hold on, someone is knocking at my door.
How to use "hold"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "hold" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "hold" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "hold" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "hold" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "hold" is acting as adj, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "cargo hold" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "hold", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A grasp or grip.
"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."
- 2 The cargo area of a ship or aircraft (often holds or cargo hold).
"We watched our luggage being loaded into the hold of the plane."
- 3 the act of grasping wordnet
- 4 An act or instance of holding.
"Can I have a hold of the baby?"
- 5 the space in a ship or aircraft for storing cargo wordnet
Show 24 more definitions
- 6 A place where animals are held for safety
- 7 the appendage to an object that is designed to be held in order to use or move it wordnet
- 8 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."
- 9 a cell in a jail or prison wordnet
- 10 Something reserved or kept.
"We have a hold here for you."
- 11 a stronghold wordnet
- 12 Power over someone or something.
"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."
- 13 power by which something or someone is affected or dominated wordnet
- 14 The ability to persist.
"This year I slept and woke with pain, I almost wish’d no more to wake, And that my hold on life would break Before I heard those bells again: […]"
- 15 understanding of the nature or meaning or quality or magnitude of something wordnet
- 16 The property of maintaining the shape of styled hair.
"Sculpturing gels provide stiffer hold than styling gels, which provide better hold than mousses."
- 17 a state of being confined (usually for a short time) wordnet
- 18 A position or grip used to control the opponent.
"He got him in a tight hold and pinned him to the mat."
- 19 time during which some action is awaited wordnet
- 20 An exercise involving holding a position for a set time
- 21 The percentage the house wins on a gamble, the house or bookmaker's hold.
"The House Hold on the game is 10,000, this is the amount of decision or risk the house wishes to assume."
- 22 The wager amount, the total hold.
"As of Monday night the total Melbourne Cup hold was $848,015"
- 23 An instance of holding one's service game, as opposed to being broken.
- 24 The part of an object one is intended to grasp, or anything one can use for grasping with hands or feet.
"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."
- 25 A fruit machine feature allowing one or more of the reels to remain fixed while the others spin.
- 26 A pause facility. dated
"A hold facility is available; H holds, and S restarts."
- 27 The queueing system on telephones and similar communication systems which maintains a connection when all lines are busy.
"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."
- 28 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.
- 29 A region of airspace reserved for aircraft being kept in a holding pattern.
Verb
- 1 To grasp or grip. transitive
"Hold the pencil like this."
- 2 keep from exhaling or expelling wordnet
- 3 To contain or store. transitive
"This package holds six bottles."
- 4 remain committed to wordnet
- 5 To maintain or keep to a position or state.; To have and keep possession of something. transitive
"Hold my coat for me."
Show 55 more definitions
- 6 assert or affirm wordnet
- 7 To maintain or keep to a position or state.; To reserve. transitive
"Hold a table for us at 7:00."
- 8 keep in mind or convey as a conviction or view wordnet
- 9 To maintain or keep to a position or state.; To cause to wait or delay. transitive
"Hold the elevator."
- 10 hold the attention of wordnet
- 11 To maintain or keep to a position or state.; To detain. transitive
"Hold the suspect in this cell."
- 12 be in accord; be in agreement wordnet
- 13 To maintain or keep to a position or state.; To be or remain valid; to apply (usually in the third person). copulative, intransitive
"to hold true"
- 14 declare to be wordnet
- 15 To maintain or keep to a position or state.; To keep oneself in a particular state. copulative, intransitive
"to hold firm"
- 16 bind by an obligation; cause to be indebted wordnet
- 17 To maintain or keep to a position or state.; To impose restraint upon; to limit in motion or action; to bind legally or morally; to confine; to restrain. transitive
"We cannot hold mortality's strong hand."
- 18 protect against a challenge or attack wordnet
- 19 To maintain or keep to a position or state.; To bear, carry, or manage. transitive
"He holds himself proudly erect."
- 20 aim, point, or direct wordnet
- 21 To maintain or keep to a position or state.; Not to move; to halt; to stop. imperative, intransitive
"Lay on, Macduff, and damned him that first cries hold, enough!"
- 22 drink alcohol without showing ill effects wordnet
- 23 To maintain or keep to a position or state.; Not to give way; not to part or become separated; to remain unbroken or unsubdued. intransitive
"Our force by land hath nobly held."
- 24 have or hold in one's hands or grip wordnet
- 25 To maintain or keep to a position or state.; To remain continent; to control an excretory bodily function.
"to hold one's bladder"
- 26 be the physical support of; carry the weight of wordnet
- 27 To maintain or keep to particular opinions, promises, actions.; To maintain, to consider, to opine. transitive
"She holds that passive index funds beat actively managed ones: she says that "set it and forget it," when done right, beats playing the market as a gambler."
- 28 to close within bounds, or otherwise limit or deprive of free movement wordnet
- 29 To maintain or keep to particular opinions, promises, actions.; To bind (someone) to a consequence of his or her actions. transitive
"He was held responsible for the actions of those under his command."
- 30 cover as for protection against noise or smell wordnet
- 31 To maintain or keep to particular opinions, promises, actions.; To maintain in being or action; to carry on; to prosecute, as a course of conduct or an argument; to continue; to sustain.
"Hold not thy peace, and be not still."
- 32 support or hold in a certain manner wordnet
- 33 To maintain or keep to particular opinions, promises, actions.; To accept, as an opinion; to be the adherent of, openly or privately; to persist in, as a purpose; to maintain; to sustain.
"Stand fast and hold the traditions which ye have been taught."
- 34 organize or be responsible for wordnet
- 35 To maintain or keep to particular opinions, promises, actions.; To restrain oneself; to refrain; to hold back. archaic
"His dauntless heart would fain have held / From weeping, but his eyes rebelled."
- 36 maintain (a theory, thoughts, or feelings) wordnet
- 37 To win one's own service game. ambitransitive
- 38 cause to come to an abrupt stop wordnet
- 39 To take place, to occur.
"He came into the hall where the wedding-festival had held […]."
- 40 have or possess, either in a concrete or an abstract sense wordnet
- 41 To organise an event or meeting (usually in passive voice).
"Elections will be held on the first Sunday of next month."
- 42 secure and keep for possible future use or application wordnet
- 43 To derive right or title. archaic
"My Crovvn is abſolute, and holds of none."
- 44 have rightfully; of rights, titles, and offices wordnet
- 45 In a food or drink order at an informal restaurant etc., requesting that a component normally included in that order be omitted. imperative
"One ham-and-cheese sandwich; hold the mustard."
- 46 take and maintain control over, often by violent means wordnet
- 47 To be in possession of illicit drugs for sale. intransitive, slang
"[…] first thing clients would say to me would be 'Are you holding?' I'd say yes if we had our supply and no if it was dangerous."
- 48 keep from departing wordnet
- 49 arrange for and reserve (something for someone else) in advance wordnet
- 50 lessen the intensity of; temper; hold in restraint; hold or keep within limits wordnet
- 51 stop dealing with wordnet
- 52 be valid, applicable, or true wordnet
- 53 be pertinent or relevant or applicable wordnet
- 54 cause to continue in a certain state, position, or activity wordnet
- 55 remain in a certain state, position, or condition wordnet
- 56 contain or hold; have within wordnet
- 57 be capable of holding or containing wordnet
- 58 resist or confront with resistance wordnet
- 59 have room for; hold without crowding wordnet
- 60 have as a major characteristic wordnet
Adjective
- 1 Gracious; friendly; faithful; true. obsolete
"at the proper moment, I stepped forward with a gay heart and a hold one"
Antonyms
Example
"Hold on, someone is knocking at my door."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "hold"?
Common synonyms include: cargo hold, clutch, grasp, grip, keep, wait.
How do you use "hold" in a sentence?
Hold on, someone is knocking at my door.
How do you pronounce "hold"?
Pronounced /həʊld/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
Derived from Middle English holden, derived from Old English healdan, derived from Proto-West Germanic *haldan, derived from Proto-Germanic *haldaną (“to tend, herd”), maybe derived from Proto-Indo-European *kel- (“to drive”). Doublet of halt. Cognates *West Frisian hâlde *Low German holden, holen *Dutch houden *German halten *Danish *Norwegian Bokmål holde *Norwegian Nynorsk halda. Compare Latin celer (“quick”), Tocharian B käl- (“to goad, drive”), Ancient Greek κέλλω (kéllō, “to drive”), Sanskrit कलयति (kalayati, “to impel”).
Etymology 2
Alteration (due to hold) of hole. Cognate with Dutch hol (“hole, cave, den, cavity, cargo hold”), Dutch holte (“cavity, hollow, den”).
Etymology 3
From Middle English hold, holde, from Old English hold (“gracious, friendly, kind”), from Proto-West Germanic *holþ, 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”).