To hold off

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. h[*a]lla, Goth. haldan to feed, tend (the cattle); of unknown origin. Gf. {Avast}, {Halt}, {Hod}.] [1913 Webster] 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]