The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Hold \Hold\ (h[=o]ld), 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; grip; possession; -- often used with the verbs take
      and lay.
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            Ne have I not twelve pence within mine hold.
                                                  --Chaucer.
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            Thou should'st lay hold upon him.     --B. Jonson.
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            My soul took hold on thee.            --Addison.
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            Take fast hold of instruction.        --Pror. iv.
                                                  13.
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   2. The authority or ground to take or keep; claim.
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            The law hath yet another hold on you. --Shak.
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   3. Binding power and influence.
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            Fear . . . by which God and his laws take the surest
            hold of.                              --Tillotson.
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   4. Something that may be grasped; means of support.
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            If a man be upon an high place without rails or good
            hold, he is ready to fall.            --Bacon.
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   5. A place of confinement; a prison; confinement; custody;
      guard.
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            They . . . put them in hold unto the next day.
                                                  --Acts. iv. 3.
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            King Richard, he is in the mighty hold
            Of Bolingbroke.                       --Shak.
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   6. A place of security; a fortified place; a fort; a castle;
      -- often called a stronghold. --Chaucer.
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            New comers in an ancient hold         --Tennyson.
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   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.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Stronghold \Strong"hold`\, n.
   A fastness; a fort or fortress; fortfield place; a place of
   security.
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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

stronghold
    n 1: a strongly fortified defensive structure [syn:
         stronghold, fastness]