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\Hold\, n. [D. hol hole, hollow. See {Hole}.] (Naut.)
The whole interior portion of a vessel below the lower deck,
in which the cargo is stowed.
\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. h[*a]lla, 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 hat 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.
7. To receive and retain; to contain as a vessel; as, this
pail holds milk; hence, to be able to receive and retain;
to have capacity or containing power for.
Broken cisterns that can hold no water. --Jer. ii.
13.
One sees more devils than vast hell can hold.
--Shak.
8. To accept, as an opinion; to be the adherent of, openly or
privately; to persist in, as a purpose; to maintain; to
sustain.
Stand fast and hold the traditions which ye have
been taught. --2 Thes.
ii.15.
But still he held his purpose to depart. --Dryden.
9. To consider; to regard; to esteem; to account; to think;
to judge.
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. --Ex. xx. 7.
10. To bear, carry, or manage; as he holds himself erect; he
holds his head high.
Let him hold his fingers thus. --Shak.
{To hold a wager}, to lay or hazard a wager. --Swift.
{To hold forth}, to offer; to exhibit; to propose; to put
forward. ``The propositions which books hold forth and
pretend to teach.'' --Locke.
{To held in}, to restrain; to curd.
{To hold in hand}, to toy with; to keep in expectation; to
have in one's power. [Obs.]
O, fie! to receive favors, return falsehoods, And
hold a lady in hand. --Beaw. & Fl.
{To hold in play}, to keep under control; to dally with.
--Macaulay.
{To hold off}, to keep at a distance.
{To hold on}, to hold in being, continuance or position; as,
to hold a rider on.
{To hold one's day}, to keep one's appointment. [Obs.]
--Chaucer.
{To hold one's own}.
(a) To keep good one's present condition absolutely or
relatively; not to fall off, or to lose ground; as, a
ship holds her own when she does not lose ground in a
race or chase; a man holds his own when he does not
lose strength or weight.
{To hold one's peace}, to keep silence.
{To hold out}.
(a) To extend; to offer. ``Fortune holds out these to you
as rewards.'' --B. Jonson.
(b) To continue to do or to suffer; to endure. ``He can
not long hold out these pangs.'' --Shak.
{To hold up}.
(a) To raise; to lift; as, hold up your head.
(b) To support; to sustain. ``He holds himself up in
virtue.''--Sir P. Sidney.
(c) To exhibit; to display; as, he was held up as an
example.
(d) To rein in; to check; to halt; as, hold up your
horses.
{To hold water}.
(a) Literally, to retain water without leaking; hence
(Fig.), to be whole, sound, consistent, without gaps
or holes; -- commonly used in a negative sense; as,
his statements will not hold water. [Collog.]
(b) (Naut.) To hold the oars steady in the water, thus
checking the headway of a boat.
\Hold\, n. i.
In general, to keep one's self in a given position or
condition; to remain fixed. Hence:
1. Not to more; to halt; to stop;-mostly in the imperative.
And damned be him that first cries, ``Hold,
enough!'' --Shak.
2. Not to give way; not to part or become separated; to
remain unbroken or unsubdued.
Our force by land hath nobly held. --Shak.
3. Not to fail or be found wanting; to continue; to last; to
endure a test or trial; to abide; to persist.
While our obedience holds. --Milton.
The rule holds in land as all other commodities.
--Locke.
4. Not to fall away, desert, or prove recreant; to remain
attached; to cleave;-often with with, to, or for.
He will hold to the one and despise the other.
--Matt. vi. 24
5. To restrain one's self; to refrain.
His dauntless heart would fain have held From
weeping, but his eyes rebelled. --Dryden.
6. To derive right or title; -- generally with of.
My crown is absolute, and holds of none. --Dryden.
His imagination holds immediately from nature.
--Hazlitt.
{Hold on!} {Hold up!} wait; stop; forbear. [Collog] -- {To
hold forth}, to speak in public; to harangue; to preach.
--L'Estrange.
{To hold in}, to restrain one's self; as, he wanted to laugh
and could hardly hold in.
{To hold off}, to keep at a distance.
{To hold on}, to keep fast hold; to continue; to go on. ``The
trade held on for 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, etc., beyond
a certain date.
{To hold to or with}, to take sides with, as a person or
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.
--Hudibras.
(c) To keep up; not to fall behind; not to lose ground.
--Collier.
\Hold\, n.
1. The act of holding, as in or with the hands or arms; the
manner of holding, whether firm or loose; seizure; grasp;
clasp; gripe; possession; -- often used with the verbs
take and lay.
Ne have I not twelve pence within mine hold.
--Chaucer.
Thou should'st lay hold upon him. --B. Jonson.
My soul took hold on thee. --Addison.
Take fast hold of instruction. --Pror. iv.
13.
2. The authority or ground to take or keep; claim.
The law hath yet another hold on you. --Shak.
3. Binding power and influence.
Fear . . . by which God and his laws take the surest
hold of. --Tillotson.
4. Something that may be grasped; means of support.
If a man be upon an high place without rails or good
hold, he is ready to fall. --Bacon.
5. A place of confinement; a prison; confinement; custody;
guard.
They . . . put them in hold unto the next day.
--Acts. iv. 3.
King Richard, he is in the mighty hold Of
Bolingbroke. --Shak.
6. A place of security; a fortified place; a fort; a castle;
-- often called a {stronghold}. --Chaucer.
New comers in an ancient hold --Tennyson.
7. (Mus.) A character [thus ?] placed over or under a note or
rest, and indicating that it is to be prolonged; -- called
also {pause}, and {corona}.
\Hold\, v. t.
{To hold up}. To stop in order to rob, often with the demand
to hold up the hands. [Colloq.] Hole \Hole\, n. (Games)
(a) A small cavity used in some games, usually one into which
a marble or ball is to be played or driven; hence, a
score made by playing a marble or ball into such a hole,
as in golf.
(b) (Fives) At Eton College, England, that part of the floor
of the court between the step and the pepperbox.
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