hold 
Ferd. Nay, sir, 'tis only my regard for my sister makes 
me speak. 
Jerome. Then pray, sir, in future, let your regard for 
your father make you hold your tongue. 
Sheridan, The Duenna, i. 3. 
To hold out. (tf> To extend; stretch forth; hence, to 
offer ; propose. 
Fortune holds out these to you as rewards. B. Jonson. 
Health and virtue, gifts 
That can alone make sweet the bitter draught 
That life holds out to all. Cowper, Task, i. 752. 
(6) To continue to resist or endure. [Rare.] 
He cannot long hold out these pangs. 
Shak., 2 Hen. IV., iv. 4. 
To hold over, (a) To postpone ; keep for future consider- 
ation or action : as, to hold over a bill or an amendment. 
You haven't got the money for a deal about you ? Then 
I'll tell you what I'll do with you ; I'll hold you ocer. 
Dickens, Mutual Friend, i. 7. 
(&) Said of a tone in music whose duration extends over 
from one measure to the next. To hold tack with. 
(naut.), to keep course and speed with. 
They [the States] made young Count Maurice their Gov- 
ernor, who, for twenty-five Years together, held tack with 
the Spaniard, and during those Traverses of War was very 
fortunate. Howell, Letters, I. ii. 15. 
To hold talet, to keep account. 
Of other heuene than here thei holden no tale. 
Piers Plowman (C), ii. 9. 
To hold the belt. See telt.lo hold the market, to 
control the market by buying and holding a certain com- 
modity, as stock. To hold the plow, to guide or man- 
age a plow in turning up the soil. To hold to bail. See 
bail'i. To hold under one's girdlet. See girdlei.To 
hold up. (a) To keep in an erect position ; raise : as, to 
hold up the head ; to hold up an object to be seen. 
But neither bended knees, pure hands held up, 
Sad sighs, deep groans, nor silver-shedding tears, 
Could penetrate her uncompassionate sire. 
Shak., T. G. of V., iii. 1. 
Playing, whose end ... is, to hold, as 'twere, the mir- 
ror up to nature. Shak., Hamlet, iii. 2. 
(6) To sustain ; keep from falling or sinking ; hence, to 
support; uphold. 
When I said, My foot slippeth ; thy mercy, Lord, held 
me up. Ps. xciv. 18. 
Know him [the king of England] in us, that here hold 
up his right. Shak., K. John, ii. 2. 
(c) To forcibly stop and rob on the highway : as, to hold 
up a stage or a mail-carrier. [Western U. S.] To hold 
water, (a) Naut., to stop the progress of a boat by hold- 
ing the blades of the oars flat against the current. (6) To 
be sound or consistent throughout ; not to be leaky or un- 
tenable : as, the argument does not hold water. To leave 
or give one the bag to hold. See bagi. =Syn. 6 and 7. 
Own, Occupy, etc. See possess. 
II. intraus. 1. To keep or maintain a grasp 
or connection, literally or figuratively; adhere ; 
cling; be or remain unbroken or undetached ; 
not to give way : as, hold on by a rope ; the an- 
chor holds well ; he holds to his agreement. 
He take the swerde, and put it in the stith, and it heilde 
as wele, or better, than it aide be-fore. 
Merlin (E. E. T. S.), i. 101. 
II one [point] break, the other will hold. 
Shak., T. N., I. 5. 
"There was no anchor, none, 
To hold by." Francis, laughing, clapt his hand 
On Everard's shoulder, with " I hold by him." 
Tennyson, The Epic. 
It was . . . impossible that he [Emerson] could con- 
tinue his ministrations over a congregation which held 
to the ordinance he wished to give up. 
0. W. Holmes, Emerson, iii. 
2. To maintain a position or a condition ; stand 
fast ; remain ; continue ; last : as, hold still ; 
the garrison held out; my promise holds good. 
Our force by land 
Hath nobly held. Shak., A. and C., iii. 11. 
The wet season begins here [in Tonquin] the latter end 
of April or the beginning of May, and holds till the latter 
end of August. Dumpier, Voyages, II. i. 34. 
See here, my child, how fresh the colours look, 
How fast they hold, like colours of a shell. 
Tennyson, Geraint. 
She is making for the Rigolets, . . . and will tie up at 
the little port of St. Jean . . . before sundown, if the 
wind holds anywise as it is. 
6. W. Cable, The Grandissimes, p. 358. 
3. To hold one's way; keep going on; go for- 
ward; proceed. 
Then on we held for Carlisle toun. 
Kinmont Willie (Child's Ballads, VI. 63). 
Beneath the moon's unclouded light, 
I held awa' to Annie, 0. Burns, Rigs o' Barley. 
We crossed the fields, and held along the forest. 
The Press (Philadelphia), April 16, 1886. 
4. To be restrained; refrain; cease or pause 
in doing something : commonly used in the im- 
perative. 
Hold ! the general speaks to you. 
Shak., Othello, ii. 3. 
Lay on, Macdufl ; 
And damn'd be him that first cries, "Hold, enough." 
Shak., Macbeth, v. 7. 
One of his fellows (that loved him well) could not hold, 
but with a muskett shot Hocking. 
Bradford, Plymouth Plantation, p. 317. 
180 
2855 
5. To have a possession, right, or privilege; 
derive title: followed by of, from, or under: 
as, to hold directly of or from the crown ; ten- 
ants holding under long leases. 
They holde of noo man but of theym selfe, saffe they pay 
tribute to the Turke. Sir 11. Guylforde, Pylgrymage, p. 10. 
Allodium is a Law-word contrary to Feudum, and it 
signifies Land that holds of no body. 
Selden, Table-Talk, p. 64. 
His imagination holds immediately from Nature. 
Hazlitt. 
In every county or Dukedom or Kingdom there were 
great tenants holding directly of its head and on some sort 
of parity with him. 
Maine, Early Hist, of Institutions, p. 131. 
6. Inshooting, to take aim Hold hard! stop! halt! 
"Hold hard!" said the conductor; "I'mblowed if we 
ha'n't forgot the gentleman. " Dickens, Sketches, Tales, xi. 
To hold ahead, to aim in front of moving game. To 
hold forth, to speak in public ; harangue ; preach ; pro- 
claim. 
If this virtuoso excels in one thing more than another, 
it is in canes. He has spent his most select hours in the 
knowledge of them ; and is arrived at that perfection, that 
he is able to hold forth upon canes longer than upon any 
one subject in the world. Steele, Tatler, No. 142. 
He [Wordsworth] held forth on poetry, painting, poli- 
tics, and metaphysics, and with a great deal of eloquence. 
Greville, Personal Traits of British Authors, p. 21. 
To hold in, to restrain or contain one's self. 
I am full of the fury of the Lord ; I am weary with hold- 
ing in. Jer. vi. 11. 
To hold Off, to keep aloof or at a distance ; be offish. 
I tell you true, I cannot hold off longer, 
Nor give no more hard language. 
Fletcher, Wildgoose Chase, v. 3. 
Some thought that Philip did but trifle with her ; 
Some that she but held of to draw him on. 
Tennyson, Enoch Arden. 
To hold on. (a) To keep fast hold ; cling. 
"There are no Sailors," said Sir Anthony, "like the Eng- 
lish Sailors, for Courage and for Holding on." 
Harper's Mag., LXXVIII. 18. 
(&) To continue ; keep going. 
The trade held on many years. Swift. 
(c) To stop ; halt : chiefly in the imperative. [Colloq.] (d) 
To aim directly at moving game. To hold out, to en- 
dure ; last ; be constant ; continue in action, resistance, etc. 
If you could hold out till she saw you, she says, 
It would be better for you. 
B. Jonson, Alchemist, iii. 2. 
They [the Brazilians] rule themselues by the Sunne, and 
goe two or three hundred leagues thorow the woods : no 
horse will holde out with them. 
Purehas, Pilgrimage, p. 848. 
A worse loss is apprehended, Stirling Castle, which could 
hold out but ten days ; and that term expires to-morrow. 
Walpole, Letters, II. 3. 
To hold over, to remain in office or in possession beyond 
the regular term : as, he held over until his successor was 
appointed. To hold together, to be kept from falling 
to pieces ; remain united. 
O, it is a great matter, when brethren love and hold to- 
gether. Latimer, 2d Sermon bef. Edw. VI., 1560. 
Paul. How fares our gracious lady ? 
Emtt. As well as one so great and so forlorn 
May hold together. Shak., W. T., ii. 2. 
Yet, sooner or later, a time must come when the origi- 
nal Household can no longer hold together. Its bulk be- 
comes unmanageable. 
W. E. Hearn, Aryan Household, p. 139. 
To hold up. (o) To keep up one's courage or firmness : 
as, to hold up under misfortune. 
The wife, who watch'd his face, 
Paled at a sudden twitch of his iron mouth, 
And "0 pray God that he hold up," she thought, 
"Or surely I shall shame myself and him." 
Tennyson, Aylmer's Field. 
(&) To stop ; cease ; especially, to stop raining. 
We are pleased with all weathers, let it rain or hold up, 
be calm or windy. 
Marston, Jonson, and Chapman, Eastward Ho, ii. 1. 
Though nice and dark the point appear, 
Quoth Ralph, it may hold up and clear. 
S. Butler, Hudibras, I. ii. 404. 
(c) To continue the same speed ; keep up the pace : a word 
of command to hunting-dogs, (d) In sporting, to maintain 
one's record, score, performance, or winnings. To hold 
With, to side with ; take part with. 
With ypocritis sche may not holde, 
Ne consente with wrong getyng. 
Hymns to Virgin, etc. (E. E. T. S.), p. 116. 
I hold well with Plato, and do nothing marvel that he 
would make no laws for them that refused those laws, 
whereby all men should have and enjoy equal portions of 
wealth and commodities. 
Sir T. More, Utopia (tr. by Robinson), i. 
hold 1 (hold), n. [< ME. hold, hald, hold, sup- 
port, protection, power, possession, custody, a 
stronghold, castle, dwelling, < AS. heald, ge- 
heald, hold, protection, custody, guard ; from 
theverb: see hold 1 , v.] 1. The act of holding; 
a grasp, grip, or clutch; a seizure or taking 
possession ; hence, controlling force : as, to take 
hold; to lay hold of; to keep hold of a thing; 
imagination has a strong hold upon him. 
hold-beam 
And at the last they kest ij grett ankers to gedyer, And 
as God wold they toke hold. 
Torkington, Diane of Eng. Travell, p. 62. 
Take fast hold of instruction. Prov. iv. 13, 
When the Roman left us, and their law 
Relax'd its hold upon us. Tennyson, Guinevere. 
2. Something which may be grasped for sup- 
port ; that which supports ; support. 
Scarce had he done, when Ezechias . . . 
Hies to the Temple, tears his purple weed, 
And f als to Prayer, as sure hold at need. 
Sylvester, tr. of Du Bartas's Weeks, ii., The Decay. 
He that stands upon a slippery place 
Makes nice of no vile hold to stay him up. 
Shak,, K. John, iii. 4. 
The loose earth freshly turned up afforded no hold to 
the feet. Prescott, Ferd. and Isa., ii. 12. 
3. Confinement; imprisonment; keeping. 
Kynge Mordrams wente vnto the pryson where that 
vnhappye kynge hadde loseph and his company in holde. 
Joseph of Arimalhie (E. E. T. S.), p. 32. 
They laid hands on them, and put them in ImM. unto 
the next day. Acts iv. 3. 
4. A fortified place; a place of security; a 
castle ; a stronghold. 
They are also Lords of Bitlis, and some other Cities and 
holds in those parts. Purchax, Pilgrimage, p. 348. 
The next morning to Leedes Castle, once a famous hold, 
now hired by me of my Lord Culpeper for a prison. 
Evelyn, Diary, May 8, 1666. 
5. A dwelling; habitation. [North. Eng. and 
Scotch; also hauld, hand, etc.] 6. In law, land 
in possession; holding; the estate held ; tenure: 
as, freehold, estate held in fee or for life, this be- 
ing anciently the estate or tenure of a freeman ; 
leasehold, a holding by lease. 7. In musical 
notation, the sign /r\ or ^, placed over or under 
a note or rest, indicating a pause, the duration 
of which depends upon the performer's discre- 
tion; a pause or fermata. It is also placed over 
a bar to indicate either the end of a repeat or 
a pause between two distinct sections Apron- 
string hold. See apron-string. To catch hold of, to 
clap hold of, to take hold of. See the verbs. 
hold 2 t. a. [< ME. hold, holde, huld, < AS. hold 
= OS. hold, OFries. hold, houd = OHG. hold, 
MHG. holt, G. hold = leel. hullr = Sw. Dan. 
liuld = Goth, hulths, gracious, friendly.] Gra- 
cious; friendly; faithful; true. 
Euer as the witty werwolf wold hem lede, 
Faire thei him folwed as here trend holde. 
Waiiam of Palerne (E. E. T. S.), 1. 2833. 
hold 3 (hold), n. [So named, in popular appre- 
hension, because it 'holds' or contains the car- 
go (as if a particular use of hold 1 , n.); but prop. 
hole, being a particular use of hole 1 in same 
sense (see hole 1 , n., 4), after the D. use : D. hoi, 
a hole, cave, den, cavity, "het hoi van een schip, 
the ship's hold or hull" (Sewel). Not found in 
ME.; the entry in Prompt. Parv., p. 243, "hoole 
[var. holle~\ of a schyppe, carina," refers rather 
to the hull of a ship ; cf. "hoole [var. holl, hole], 
or liuslee, siUqua; hoole of pesyn or benys," etc.: 
see ftwW*.] Naut., the interior of a ship or ves- 
sel below the deck, or below the lower deck, in 
which the stores and freight are stowed. 
You have not seen a hulk better stuffed in the hold. 
Shak., 2 Hen. IV., ii. 4. 
Captains of the hold. See captain. Depth of the 
hold. See depth. 
holdback (hold'bak), n. [< hold 1 , v., + back 1 , 
adv.] 1. Check; hindrance; restraint. 
The only holdback is the affection and passionate love 
that we bear to our wealth. Hammond, Works, IV. 555. 
2. The iron or strap on the shaft or pole of a 
vehicle to which the breeching or backing-gear 
is attached. 
hold-beam (hold'bem), n. Naut., one of the 
lowest range of beams in a merchant vessel. 
In a man-of-war they support the orlop-deck. 
f 
Cross-section of Wooden Ship. 
H t hold-beam ; .If, main-beam ; A', keel ; K' t keelson. 
