hold on phrasal verb ( see also ↑ hold )
1 . spoken
a) to wait for a short time:
Hold on, I’ll just get my coat.
b) used when you have just noticed, heard, or remembered something interesting or wrong:
Hold on a minute! Isn’t that your brother’s car over there?
c) used to ask someone on the telephone to wait until the person they want to talk to is available:
Can you hold on? I’ll try to find her.
2 . to have your hands or arms tightly around something:
Hold on tight!
hold on to
Hold on to my arm.
3 . to continue doing something that is very difficult to do:
San Francisco held on to win 4–2.