to hold out

Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

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. [1913 Webster]

The loops held one curtain to another.— Ex. xxxvi. 12.[1913 Webster]

Thy right hand shall hold me.— Ps. cxxxix. 10.[1913 Webster]

They all hold swords, being expert in war.— Cant. iii. 8.[1913 Webster]

In vain he seeks, that having can not hold.— Spenser.[1913 Webster]

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.[1913 Webster]

2.To retain in one's keeping; to maintain possession of, or authority over; not to give up or relinquish; to keep; to defend. [1913 Webster]

We mean to hold what anciently we claim Of deity or empire.— Milton.[1913 Webster]

3.To have; to possess; to be in possession of; to occupy; to derive title to; as, to hold office. [1913 Webster]

This noble merchant held a noble house.— Chaucer.[1913 Webster]

Of him to hold his seigniory for a yearly tribute.— Knolles.[1913 Webster]

And now the strand, and now the plain, they held.— Dryden.[1913 Webster]

4.To impose restraint upon; to limit in motion or action; to bind legally or morally; to confine; to restrain. [1913 Webster]

We can not hold mortality's strong hand.— Shak.[1913 Webster]

Death! what do'st? O, hold thy blow.— Grashaw.[1913 Webster]

He had not sufficient judgment and self-command to hold his tongue.— Macaulay.[1913 Webster]

5.To maintain in being or action; to carry on; to prosecute, as a course of conduct or an argument; to continue; to sustain. [1913 Webster]

Hold not thy peace, and be not still.— Ps. lxxxiii. 1.[1913 Webster]

Seedtime and harvest, heat and hoary frost, Shall hold their course.— Milton.[1913 Webster]

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. [1913 Webster]

I would hold more talk with thee.— Shak.[1913 Webster]

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. [1913 Webster]

Broken cisterns that can hold no water.— Jer. ii. 13.[1913 Webster]

One sees more devils than vast hell can hold.— Shak.[1913 Webster]

8.To accept, as an opinion; to be the adherent of, openly or privately; to persist in, as a purpose; to maintain; to sustain. [1913 Webster]

Stand fast and hold the traditions which ye have been taught.— 2 Thes. ii.15.[1913 Webster]

But still he held his purpose to depart.— Dryden.[1913 Webster]

9.To consider; to regard; to esteem; to account; to think; to judge. [1913 Webster]

I hold him but a fool.— Shak.[1913 Webster]

I shall never hold that man my friend.— Shak.[1913 Webster]

The Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.— Ex. xx. 7.[1913 Webster]

10.To bear, carry, or manage; as he holds himself erect; he holds his head high. [1913 Webster]

Let him hold his fingers thus.— Shak.[1913 Webster]

To hold a wager, to lay or hazard a wager. --Swift.

To hold forth, (a) v. t.to offer; to exhibit; to propose; to put forward. "The propositions which books hold forth and pretend to teach." --Locke. (b) v. i. To talk at length; to harangue.

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.] [1913 Webster]

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. 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. (e) to rob, usually at gunpoint; -- often with the demand to "hold up" the hands. (f) To delay.

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. [Colloq.] (b) (Naut.) To hold the oars steady in the water, thus checking the headway of a boat. [1913 Webster]

1.Not to move; to halt; to stop; -- mostly in the imperative. [1913 Webster]

And damned be him that first cries, "Hold, enough!"— Shak.[1913 Webster]

2.Not to give way; not to part or become separated; to remain unbroken or unsubdued. [1913 Webster]

Our force by land hath nobly held.— Shak.[1913 Webster]

3.Not to fail or be found wanting; to continue; to last; to endure a test or trial; to abide; to persist. [1913 Webster]

While our obedience holds.— Milton.[1913 Webster]

The rule holds in land as all other commodities.— Locke.[1913 Webster]

4.Not to fall away, desert, or prove recreant; to remain attached; to cleave; -- often with with, to, or for. [1913 Webster]

He will hold to the one and despise the other.— Matt. vi. 24[1913 Webster]

5.To restrain one's self; to refrain. [1913 Webster]

His dauntless heart would fain have held From weeping, but his eyes rebelled.— Dryden.[1913 Webster]

6.To derive right or title; -- generally with of. [1913 Webster]

My crown is absolute, and holds of none.— Dryden.[1913 Webster]

His imagination holds immediately from nature.— Hazlitt.[1913 Webster]

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 To hold 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. [1913 Webster]