Hold

(20), v. t. [imp. & p. p. HELD; p. pr. & vb. n. HOLDING. HOLDEN, p. p., is obs. in elegant writing, though still used in legal language.] [A.-S. & O. S. healden, Dan. holde, Icel. hallda, Sw. hålla, D. houden, N. H. Ger. hallen, O. H. Ger. hallan, to hold, keep; Goth. haldan, to feed, tend, the cattle.]

1Sense 1. To cause to remain in a given situation, position, or relation, within certain limits, or the like; to prevent from falling or escaping; to sustain; to restrain; to keep in the grasp; to retain.

The loops held one curtain to another. Exod. xxxvi. 12.

Thy right hand shall hold me. Ps. cxxxix. 10.

They all hold swords, being expert in war. Cant. iii. 8.

In vain he seeks, that having can not hold. Spenser.

France, thou mayst hold a serpent by the tongue, . . . A fasting tiger safer by the tooth. Than keep in peace that hand which thou dost hold. Shak.

2Sense 2. To retain in one's keeping; to maintain possession of, or authority over; not to give up or relinquish; to keep; to defend.

We mean to hold what anciently we claim Of empire. Milton.

3Sense 3. To be in possession of; to possess; to occupy; to derive title to.

Of him to hold his seigniory for a yearly tribute. Knolles.

And now the strand, and now the plain, they held. Dryden.

4Sense 4. To impose restraint upon; to limit in motion or action; to bind legally or morally; to confine; to restrain.

We can not hold mortality's strong hand. Shak.

Death! what do'st? O, hold thy blow. Crashaw.

He had not sufficient judgment and self-command to hold his tongue. Macaulay.

5Sense 5. To keep up in being or action; to carry on; to prosecute, as a course of conduct or an argument; to continue; to sustain.

Night and Chaos, ancestors of Nature, hold Eternal anarchy. Milton.

Seed-time and harvest, heat and hoary frost, Shall hold their course. Milton.

6Sense 6. To prosecute, have, take, or join in, as something which is the result of united action; as, to hold counsel, deliberations, a meeting, a festival, a session, or the like; hence, to direct and bring about officially; as, the king holds a Parliament; a judge holds a court; a clergyman holds a service.

7Sense 7. To receive and retain; to contain, as a vessel, any thing put into it; hence, to be able to receive and retain; to have capacity for; to measure in containing power. “Broken cisterns that can hold no water.” Jer. ii. 13.

8Sense 8. To accept, as an opinion; to be the adherent of, openly or privately; to persist in, as a purpose; to maintain; to sustain.

But still he held his purpose to depart. Dryden.

9Sense 9. To consider; to regard; to esteem; to account; to think; to judge; to maintain. “I hold him but a fool.” Shak.

I shall never hold that man my friend. Shak.

The Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. Exod. xx. 7.

To hold a wager, to lay; to stake or to hazard a wager. Swift.—To hold forth, to offer; to exhibit; to propose; to put forward. “Observe the connection of ideas in the propositions which books hold forth and pretend to teach.” Locke.—To hold in, to restrain; to curb.—To hold in hand, to toy with; to keep in expectation. [Obs.]

O, fie! to receive favors, return falsehoods, And hold a lady in hand. Beau. & Fl.

—To hold off, to keep at a distance.—To hold on, to continue or proceed in; as, to begin a quarrel, and then hold it on.—To hold one's own. (a.) To keep good one's present condition; not to fall off, or to lose ground. (b.) (Naut.) To keep up; not to lose ground or be left behind; as, a ship holds her own when she sails as fast as another ship, or keeps her course.—To hold out. (a.) To extend; to stretch forth; to offer. “The king held out to Esther the golden scepter.” Esther v. 2. “Fortune holds out these to you as rewards.” B. Jonson. (b.) To continue to suffer; to endure. “He can not long hold out these pangs.” Shak.—To hold up, to raise; to lift; to sustain; to support; as, hold up your head. “He holds himself up in virtue.” Sidney.

v. i. 1. To keep one's self in a given position or condition; to remain fixed; as, (a.) Not to move; to halt; to stop; —mostly in the imperative. “And damned be he that first cries, ‘Hold! enough.’” Shak. (b.) Not to give way; not to part or become separated; to remain unbroken or unsubdued. “Our force by land hath nobly held.” Shak. (c.) Not to fall or be found wanting; to continue; to last; to endure; to abide; to persist. “While our obedience holds.” Milton. (d.) Not to prove false, fallacious, insufficient, inapplicable; to be valid; to continue on being tested. “The rule holds in lands as well as in other things.” Locke. (e.) Not to fall away, become detached, prove recreant, or desert; to remain attached; to cleave; —often with with, for, or to. “He will hold to the one, and despise the other.” Matt. vi. 24.

2Sense 2. To restrain one's self; to refrain.

His dauntless heart would fain have held From weeping. Dryden.

3Sense 3. To derive right or title; to acknowledge dependence for possessions; —generally with of.

My crown is absolute, and holds of none. Dryden.

His imagination holds immediately from nature, and “owes no allegiance” but “to the elements.” Hazlitt.

To hold forth, to speak in public; to harangue; to preach; to proclaim. L'Estrange. — To hold in, to restrain one's self; as, he was tempted to laugh, and could hardly hold in. — To hold off, to keep at a distance; to avoid connection. — To hold on, to keep fast hold; to cling; to continue; to go on. “The trade held on many years.” Swift. — To hold out, to last; to endure; to continue; to maintain one's self; not to yield or give way. — To hold over, to remain in office, possession, &c., beyond the regular term. — To hold to or with, to take sides with a person or an opinion. — To hold together, to be joined; not to separate; to remain in union. Dryden. Locke. — To hold up. (a.) To support one's self; to remain unbent or unbroken; as, to hold up under misfortunes. (b.) To cease raining; to cease; to stop; as, it holds up; it will hold up. (c.) To keep up; not to fall behind. Collier.