hold

Etymology 1

From Middle English holden, from Old English healdan, from Proto-West Germanic *haldan, from Proto-Germanic *haldaną (“to tend, herd”), maybe from Proto-Indo-European *kel- (“to drive”). Compare Latin celer (“quick”), Tocharian B käl- (“to goad, drive”), Ancient Greek κέλλω (kéllō, “to drive”), Sanskrit कलयति (kalayati, “to impel”). Cognate to West Frisian hâlde, Low German holden, holen, Dutch houden, German halten, Danish and Norwegian Bokmål holde, Norwegian Nynorsk halda.

verb

1. (transitive) To grasp or grip.
   Hold the pencil like this.
   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. 2013 September-October, Henry Petroski, “The Evolution of Eyeglasses”, in American Scientist
2. (transitive) To contain or store.
   This package holds six bottles.
3. (heading) To maintain or keep to a position or state.
   1. (transitive) To have and keep possession of something.
      Hold my coat for me.  The general ordered the colonel to hold his position at all costs.
      She was Nicolas Sarkozy's pin-up for diversity, the first Muslim woman with north African parents to hold a major French government post. But Rachida Dati has now turned on her own party elite with such ferocity that some have suggested she should be expelled from the president's ruling party. December 14, 2011, Angelique Chrisafis, “Rachida Dati accuses French PM of sexism and elitism”, in Guardian
   2. (transitive) To reserve.
      Hold a table for us at 7:00.
   3. (transitive) To cause to wait or delay.
      Hold the elevator.
   4. (transitive) To detain.
      Hold the suspect in this cell.
   5. (intransitive, copulative) To be or remain valid; to apply (usually in the third person).
      to hold true;  The proposition holds.
      Free speech is a basic human right that holds even during a state of emergency. 2021-07-20, Masayuki Yuda, “Foodpanda faces backlash after calling Thai protest 'terrorism'”, in Nikkei Asia, Nikkei Inc, retrieved 2021-07-20
   6. (intransitive, copulative) To keep oneself in a particular state.
      to hold firm
      Mother[…]considered that the exclusiveness of Peter's circle was due not to its distinction, but to the fact that it was an inner Babylon of prodigality and whoredom, from which every Kensingtonian held aloof, except on the conventional tip-and-run excursions in pursuit of shopping, tea and theatres. 1922, Ben Travers, chapter 2, in A Cuckoo in the Nest
   7. (transitive) To impose restraint upon; to limit in motion or action; to bind legally or morally; to confine; to restrain.
      We cannot hold mortality's strong hand. 1623, William Shakespeare, The Life and Death of King John (Act iv, scene 2)
      Death! what do'st? O, hold thy blow. 1646, Richard Crashaw, Vpon the Death of Mr. Herrys
   8. (transitive) To bear, carry, or manage.
      He holds himself proudly erect.  Hold your head high.
      Let him hold his fingers thus, and through that cranny shall Pyramus and Thisby whisper . 1595, William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream
   9. (intransitive, chiefly imperative) Not to move; to halt; to stop.
      Lay on, Macduff, and damned him that first cries hold, enough! 1606, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Macbeth
   10. (intransitive) Not to give way; not to part or become separated; to remain unbroken or unsubdued.
       Our force by land hath nobly held. 1623, William Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra
   11. To remain continent; to control an excretory bodily function.
       to hold one's bladder;  to hold one's breath
4. (heading) To maintain or keep to particular opinions, promises, actions.
   1. (transitive) To maintain, to consider, to opine.
      We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. 1776, Thomas Jefferson et al., United States Declaration of Independence
   2. (transitive) To bind (someone) to a consequence of his or her actions.
      He was held responsible for the actions of those under his command.  I'll hold him to that promise.
   3. To maintain in being or action; to carry on; to prosecute, as a course of conduct or an argument; to continue; to sustain.
      Seedtime and harvest, heat and hoary frost, / Shall hold their course. 1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book II
   4. To accept, as an opinion; to be the adherent of, openly or privately; to persist in, as a purpose; to maintain; to sustain.
      These reasons mov'd her starlike husband's heart, But still he held his purpose to depart: 1700, Ovid (John Dryden), Ceyx and Alcyone
   5. (archaic) To restrain oneself; to refrain; to hold back.
      His dauntless heart would fain have held / From weeping, but his eyes rebelled. 1685, John Dryden, Threnodia Augustalis: A Funeral Pindaric Poem
5. (tennis, transitive, intransitive) To win one's own service game.
6. To take place, to occur.
   He came into the hall where the wedding-festival had held […]. 1824, James Hogg, The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner, Oxford, published 2010, page 9
7. To organise an event or meeting (usually in passive voice).
   Elections will be held on the first Sunday of next month.
8. (archaic) To derive right or title.
   His imagination holds immediately from nature. 1817, William Hazlitt, The Round Table
9. (imperative) In a food or drink order at an informal restaurant etc., requesting that a component normally included in that order be omitted.
   One ham-and-cheese sandwich; hold the mustard.
   A martini, please, and hold the olive.
10. (slang, intransitive) To be in possession of illicit drugs for sale.
    […] 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. 1933, Goat Laven, Rough Stuff: The Life Story of a Gangster, page 122

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. 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 7, in Mr. Pratt's Patients
   Keep a firm hold on the handlebars.
2. An act or instance of holding.
   Can I have a hold of the baby?
3. A place where animals are held for safety
4. 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.
   Because there were no “launch commit criteria” regarding surface booster temperatures that might cause a hold on the launch, the ice team did not report the temperatures to the launch controllers. 2008, R. Michael Gordon, The Space Shuttle Program: How NASA Lost Its Way, page 98
5. Something reserved or kept.
   We have a hold here for you.
6. 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. 2008, Christopher Clarke-Milton, Dawn of the Messiah - Book 1, page 199
   War has a hold on our cultural imaginations as an inevitable force, it is peace that has no benefactor. 2013, Wim Wenders, Mary Zournazi, Inventing Peace: A Dialogue on Perception, page 107
7. The ability to persist.
   Despite their seemingly strong hold on life, as indicated by the persistence of movement in decapitation tests, rattlers are relatively frail creatures and are easily killed. 1982, Laurence Monroe Klauber, Karen Harvey McClung, Rattlesnakes, Their Habits, Life Histories, and Influence, page 48
8. The property of maintaining the shape of styled hair.
   Sculpturing gels provide stiffer hold than styling gels, which provide better hold than mousses. 2004, Zoe Diana Draelos, Hair Care: An Illustrated Dermatologic Handbook, page 221
9. (wrestling) A position or grip used to control the opponent.
   He got him in a tight hold and pinned him to the mat.
10. (exercise) An exercise involving holding a position for a set time
11. (gambling) The percentage the house wins on a gamble, the house or bookmaker's hold.
    2002, "Reality", “The Scorecard For Bookmakers”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), archived from the original on 2015-04-27:
    The House Hold on the game is 10,000, this is the amount of decision or risk the house wishes to assume.
12. (gambling) The wager amount, the total hold.
    2012, Sarah Fortnum, “Melbourne Cup 2012 From The Bookie’s Perspective”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), archived from the original on 2012-11-12:
    As of Monday night the total Melbourne Cup hold was $848,015
13. (tennis) An instance of holding one's service game, as opposed to being broken.
14. The part of an object one is intended to grasp, or anything one can use for grasping with hands or feet.
    The beginner will instinctively try to stick his toe straight in in a foot hold, which is very tiring on the calf muscles. 1995, Turlough Johnston, Madeleine Halldén, Rock Climbing Basics, page 86
15. A fruit machine feature allowing one or more of the reels to remain fixed while the others spin.
16. (video games, dated) A pause facility.
    A hold facility is available; H holds, and S restarts. 1983, New Generation Software, Knot in 3D (video game instruction leaflet)
    SCREEN 5 — Perhaps the toughest — going like the clappers sometimes works but generally you'll have to be smarter than that. If things get a little too hectic and you don't even have time to reach the HOLD key, try taking a short rest below the top of the stairs. 1987?, Imagine Software, Legend of Kage (video game instruction leaflet)
17. 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. 2003, Daniel Jackson, Paul Fulberg, Sonic Branding: An Essential Guide to the Art and Science of Sonic Branding, Palgrave Macmillan, page 6
    Even the "on-hold" messages on Southwest's telephone system are humorous, ensuring anyone inconvenienced by the hold is entertained. 2005, Lorraine Grubbs-West, Lessons in Loyalty: How Southwest Airlines Does it : an Insider's View, CornerStone Leadership Inst, page 56
    Note. After the device downloads its new configuration file, we can test placing a call on hold and the generic hold music will be heard. 2012, Tanner Ezell, Cisco Unified Communications Manager 8: Expert Administration Cookbook, Packt Publishing Ltd
18. (baseball) 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.
19. (aviation) A region of airspace reserved for aircraft being kept in a holding pattern.

Etymology 2

Alteration (due to hold) of hole. Cognate with Dutch hol (“hole, cave, den, cavity, cargo hold”), Dutch holte (“cavity, hollow, den”).

noun

1. (nautical, aviation) 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.

Etymology 3

From Middle English hold, holde, from Old English hold (“gracious, friendly, kind, favorable, true, faithful, loyal, devout, acceptable, pleasant”), 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”).

adj

1. (obsolete) Gracious; friendly; faithful; true.
   at the proper moment, I stepped forward with a gay heart and a hold one 1854, Nathaniel Hawthorne, “Passages from a Relinquished Work”, in Mosses from an Old Manse