up ‧ hold /ʌpˈhəʊld $ -ˈhoʊld/ BrE AmE verb ( past tense and past participle upheld /-ˈheld/) [transitive]
1 . to defend or support a law, system, or principle so that it continues to exist:
a committee that aims to uphold educational standards
2 . if a court upholds a decision made by another court, it states that the decision was correct OPP overrule :
The conviction was upheld by the Court of Appeal.
—upholder noun [countable]