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HOLD ON
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (verb)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Be persistent, refuse to stop
Example:
The child persisted and kept asking questions
Synonyms:
hang in; hang on; hold on; persevere; persist
Classified under:
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.
Hypernyms (to "hold on" is one way to...):
bear on; carry on; continue; preserve; uphold (keep or maintain in unaltered condition; cause to remain or last)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "hold on"):
obstinate (persist stubbornly)
ask for it; ask for trouble (persist with actions or an attitude despite the probability that it will cause trouble)
plug; plug away (persist in working hard)
follow; stick to; stick with (keep to)
Sentence frames:
Something ----s
Somebody ----s
Something is ----ing PP
Sense 2
Meaning:
Stop and wait, as if awaiting further instructions or developments
Example:
Hold on a moment!
Synonyms:
hold on; stop
Classified under:
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.
Hypernyms (to "hold on" is one way to...):
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s
Sense 3
Meaning:
Hold the phone line open
Example:
Please hang on while I get your folder
Synonyms:
hang on; hold on; hold the line
Classified under:
Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing
Hypernyms (to "hold on" is one way to...):
await; expect; look; wait (look forward to the probable occurrence of)
"Hold on" entails doing...:
call; call up; phone; ring; telephone (get or try to get into communication (with someone) by telephone)
Domain category:
telephone; telephony (transmitting speech at a distance)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s
Sense 4
Meaning:
Hold firmly
Synonyms:
grasp; hold on
Classified under:
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging
Hypernyms (to "hold on" is one way to...):
hold; take hold (have or hold in one's hands or grip)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "hold on"):
latch on (take hold of or attach to)
cling; hang (hold on tightly or tenaciously)
clasp (hold firmly and tightly)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s something
Sense 5
Meaning:
Retain possession of
Example:
She kept her maiden name after she married
Synonyms:
hold on; keep
Classified under:
Verbs of buying, selling, owning
Hypernyms (to "hold on" is one way to...):
have; have got; hold (have or possess, either in a concrete or an abstract sense)
Verb group:
hold open; keep; keep open; save (retain rights to)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "hold on"):
carry over; hold over (hold over goods to be sold for the next season)
deny; refuse (refuse to let have)
deduct; recoup; withhold (retain and refrain from disbursing; of payments)
preserve; save (to keep up and reserve for personal or special use)
hive away; lay in; put in; salt away; stack away; stash away; store (keep or lay aside for future use)
store (find a place for and put away for storage)
hold; hold back; keep back; retain (secure and keep for possible future use or application)
harbor; harbour (keep in one's possession; of animals)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s PP
Context examples:
He tried to shake her loose and still retain his hold on the gun.
(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)
The patriarchal lives of my protectors caused these impressions to take a firm hold on my mind; perhaps, if my first introduction to humanity had been made by a young soldier, burning for glory and slaughter, I should have been imbued with different sensations.
(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)
It is remarkable only for the fact that amid a perfect jungle of possibilities we, with our worthy collaborator, the inspector, have kept our close hold on the essentials and so been guided along the crooked and winding path.
(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
I had to hold on.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
For weeks at a time they would hold on steadily, day after day; and for weeks upon end they would camp, here and there, the dogs loafing and the men burning holes through frozen muck and gravel and washing countless pans of dirt by the heat of the fire.
(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)
Were it a decided thing, an actual refusal, I hope I should know how to bear it, and how to endeavour to weaken her hold on my heart, and in the course of a few years—but I am writing nonsense.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
And when it did get its teeth into him, it did not hold on but let go instantly and darted away again.
(White Fang, by Jack London)
Hold on to me, Jo, dear!
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
Hold on to your hat as everything will start to move fast.
(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)
I had lost my hold on Black Peter and was stranded in London without a shilling.
(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
