Hold
(Hold), 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.] [OE. haldan, D. houden, OHG. hoten, Icel. halda, Dan.
holde, Sw. hålla, Goth. haldan to feed, tend (the cattle); of unknown origin. Gf. Avast, Halt, Hod.]
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.
Ex. 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. 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 deity or empire.
Milton. 3. To have; to possess; to be in possession of; to occupy; to derive title to; as, to hold office.
This noble merchant held a noble house.
Chaucer.
Of him to hold his seigniory for a yearly tribute.
Knolles.
And now the strand, and now the plain, they held.
Dryden. 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.
Grashaw.
He had not sufficient judgment and self-command to hold his tongue.
Macaulay. 5. 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.
Ps. lxxxiii. 1.
Seedtime and harvest, heat and hoary frost,
Shall hold their course.
Milton. 6. To prosecute, have, take, or join in, as something which is the result of united action; as to, hold a
meeting, a festival, a session, etc.; hence, to direct and bring about officially; to conduct or preside at; as,
the general held a council of war; a judge holds a court; a clergyman holds a service.
I would hold more talk with thee.
Shak.
