Library / English Dictionary

HOLD IN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Hold back; keep from being perceived by others

Example:

She conceals her anger well

Synonyms:

conceal; hold back; hold in

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "hold in"):

occult (hide from view)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Lessen the intensity of; temper; hold in restraint; hold or keep within limits

Example:

control your anger

Synonyms:

check; contain; control; curb; hold; hold in; moderate

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "hold in" is one way to...):

hold back; keep; keep back; restrain (prevent the action or expression of)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "hold in"):

conquer; stamp down; subdue; suppress (bring under control by force or authority)

damp (restrain or discourage)

crucify; mortify; subdue (hold within limits and control)

abnegate; deny (deny oneself (something); restrain, especially from indulging in some pleasure)

train (cause to grow in a certain way by tying and pruning it)

catch (check oneself during an action)

bate (moderate or restrain; lessen the force of)

thermostat (control the temperature with a thermostat)

counteract; countercheck (oppose or check by a counteraction)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 3

Meaning:

Close in

Example:

darkness enclosed him

Synonyms:

confine; enclose; hold in

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Hypernyms (to "hold in" is one way to...):

bear; carry; contain; hold (contain or hold; have within)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "hold in"):

border; bound (form the boundary of; be contiguous to)

embank (enclose with banks, as for support or protection)

rail; rail in (enclose with rails)

box in; box up (enclose or confine as if in a box)

frame (enclose in a frame, as of a picture)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Credits

 Context examples: 

I have exposed one whom I hold in my heart, to trials and aspersions—I call them aspersions, even to have been conceived in anybody's inmost mind—of which she never, but for me, could have been the object.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)