noun binding power and influence.
2. hold ·noun the authority or ground to take or keep; claim.
3. hold ·noun something that may be grasped; means of support.
4. hold ·n.i. to derive right or title;
generally with of.
5. hold ·n.i. to restrain one's self; to refrain.
6. hold ·noun a place of confinement; a prison; confinement; custody; guard.
7. hold ·vt to bear, carry, or manage; as he holds himself erect; he holds his head high.
8. hold ·n.i. not to give way; not to part or become separated; to remain unbroken or unsubdued.
9. hold ·noun a place of security; a fortified place; a fort; a castle;
often called a stronghold.
10. hold ·noun the whole interior portion of a vessel below the lower deck, in which the cargo is stowed.
11. hold ·n.i. in general, to keep one's self in a given position or condition; to remain fixed. hence:.
12. hold ·n.i. not to more; to halt; to stop; - mostly in the ·imv.
13. hold ·n.i. not to fall away, desert, or prove recreant; to remain attached; to cleave;-often with with, to, or for.
14. hold ·noun a character placed over or under a note or rest, and indicating that it is to be prolonged;
called also pause, and corona.
15. hold ·vt to impose restraint upon; to limit in motion or action; to bind legally or morally; to confine; to restrain.
xvi. hold ·vt 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.
xvii. hold ·vt to have; to possess; to be in possession of; to occupy; to derive title to; as, to hold office.
xviii. hold ·vt to maintain in being or action; to carry on; to prosecute, as a course of conduct or an argument; to continue; to sustain.
xix. hold ·vt to retain in one's keeping; to maintain possession of, or authority over; not to give up or relinquish; to keep; to defend.
xx. hold ·vt to accept, as an opinion; to be the adherent of, openly or privately; to persist in, as a purpose; to maintain; to sustain.
xxi. hold ·noun the act of holding, as in or with the hands or arms; the manner of holding, whether firm or loose; seizure; grasp; clasp; gripe; possession;
often used with the verbs take and lay.
xxii. hold ·n.i. not to fail or be found wanting; to continue; to last; to endure a test or trial; to abide; to persist.
xxiii. hold ·vt to consider; to regard; to esteem; to account; to think; to judge.
xxiv. hold ·vt 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.
xxv. hold ·vt 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.