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say it: hohld
hold is a verb and noun meaning "cause to continue in a certain state, position, or activity; e.g., `keep clean'". It carries 45 recorded senses.
to close within bounds, or otherwise limit or deprive of free movement
“This holds the local until the express passengers change trains”
“About a dozen animals were held inside the stockade”
“The illegal immigrants were held at a detention center”
“The terrorists held the journalists for ransom”
have room for; hold without crowding
“This hotel can accommodate 250 guests”
“The theater admits 300 people”
“The auditorium can't hold more than 500 people”
remain in a certain state, position, or condition
“The weather held”
“They held on the road and kept marching”
have as a major characteristic
“The novel holds many surprises”
“The book holds in store much valuable advise”
hold the attention of
“The soprano held the audience”
“This story held our interest”
“She can hold an audience spellbound”
take and maintain control over, often by violent means
“The dissatisfied students held the President's office for almost a week”
cover as for protection against noise or smell
“She held her ears when the jackhammer started to operate”
“hold one's nose”
drink alcohol without showing ill effects
“He can hold his liquor”
“he had drunk more than he could carry”
understanding of the nature or meaning or quality or magnitude of something
“he has a good grasp of accounting practices”
time during which some action is awaited
“instant replay caused too long a delay”
“he ordered a hold in the action”
a state of being confined (usually for a short time)
“his detention was politically motivated”
“the prisoner is on hold”
“he is in the custody of police”
the space in a ship or aircraft for storing cargo
Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.
Definitions, synonyms and semantic relations for hold come from Princeton University’s WordNet. The pronunciation comes from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. Commonness is measured against a corpus of everyday English. Full sources and licences.