Dictionary

hold up en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Mid-Atlantic, US) audio
• (Australia) audio

Meanings

1. (informal, intransitive) To wait or delay.
   • Hold up a minute. I want to check something.
2. (transitive) To impede; detain.
   • I've got to get to work now. Why are you holding me up?
   • What is holding up traffic?
   • Herds of wandering reindeer are frequently seen, and may even hold up the train while they cross the unfenced line to reach their feeding grounds. 1958 December 14, M. D. Greville and H. A. Vallance, “Sweden's Inland Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 829:
   • It worked to perfection. Ferrari's decision not to stop on the next lap simply made life easier, especially when Alonso was held up by Marussia's Charles Pic during that period - for which the Frenchman earned a drive-through penalty. 2012 May 13, Andrew Benson, “Williams's Pastor Maldonado takes landmark Spanish Grand Prix win”, in BBC Sport:
3. (idiomatic, transitive) To impede; detain. ▸ To detain by threatening, usually with a weapon, in order to commit robbery.
   • "Down, Dom!" he cried, "throw yourself down! Break in, Guido. Break in the door. We are held up!" 1914, Ernest Bramah, Max Carrados:
   • The guy tried to hold up a bank.
4. (transitive) To support or lift.
   • Mind you, clothes were clothes in those days. […] Frills, ruffles, flounces, lace, complicated seams and gores: not only did they sweep the ground and have to be held up in one hand elegantly as you walked along, but they had little capes or coats or feather boas. 1977, Agatha Christie, chapter 4, in An Autobiography, part II, London: Collins, →ISBN:
   • Hold up the table while I slide this underneath.
   • In order to accommodate the new platform 4 and the reversibly signalled slow line, a deep cutting had to be cut back and held up in places with a concrete retaining wall. 1962 June, David Walters, “The new station and layout at Coventry”, in Modern Railways, page 405:
5. (figuratively, transitive) To support or lift. ▸ To highlight, as if lifting up for display.
   • held up for public ridicule
   • His lectures held up Napoleon as an example of the phenomenon.
6. (idiomatic, transitive) To support or lift. ▸ To fulfil or complete one's part of an agreement.
   • I don't think he's holding up his end of the bargain.
7. (idiomatic, intransitive) To persist. ▸ To withstand; to stand up to; to survive.
   • hold up to heavy use
   • hold up to scrutiny
   • The now infamous '108 woodlands' figure published by the Woodlands Trust, and later used by others to infer that HS2 would destroy 108 woodlands, does not hold up to scrutiny. 2023 August 23, Chris Howe, “Green screen: HS2's route through the shires”, in RAIL, number 990, page 34:
8. (intransitive) To persist. ▸ To keep up; not to fall behind; not to lose ground.
   • For what will the World say; Why could not he hold up? What made him come on so heavily, but that he wanted either Management or Metal 1697, Jeremy Collier, Essays upon Several Moral Subjects:
9. (idiomatic, intransitive) To persist. ▸ To maintain composure despite hardship.
   • how're you holdin up?
10. (intransitive, of a work) To persist. ▸ To continue to be seen as favorable, to avoid seeming dated.
    • Bride of Frankenstein is an old film, but it holds up.

Forms

Deriveds

hold up one's end · hold-up · hold up to · holdup

Relateds

uphold · hold on · forhold · hang up · hold it · stick up · hold off

Synonyms

hang on · stick up · hold on

Translations (65)

ro jefui (to rob at gunpoint) · es entorpecer (to impede, detain) · pl opóźnić (to wait or delay) · it impedire (to impede, detain) · sv klara (to withstand; to stand up to; to survive) · fi pysyä mukana (to keep up; not to fall behind; not to lose ground) · it sostenere (to withstand; to stand up to; to survive) · sv tåla (to withstand; to stand up to; to survive) · fi täyttää (to fulfil / fulfill or complete one's part of an agreement) · it aspettare (to wait or delay) · fi pitää pintansa (to keep up; not to fall behind; not to lose ground) · it rapinare (to rob at gunpoint) · fi kestää (to withstand; to stand up to; to survive) · de ausrauben (to rob at gunpoint) · es mantener (to fulfil / fulfill or complete one's part of an agreement) · fr retenir (to impede, detain) · fi pidätellä (to impede, detain) · it ritardare (to wait or delay) · fi kannatella (to support or lift) · it rallentare (to wait or delay) · de zurückhalten (to impede, detain) · it fronteggiare (to withstand; to stand up to; to survive) · fi olla myöhässä (to wait or delay) · fi noudattaa (to fulfil / fulfill or complete one's part of an agreement) · fi odottaa (to wait or delay) · it frenare (to wait or delay) · sv stötta (to support or lift) · ru приподнимать (to support or lift) · es esperar (to wait or delay) · el αργώ (to wait or delay) · it alzare (to support or lift) · es cumplir (to fulfil / fulfill or complete one's part of an agreement) · ro înfrunta (cu curaj) (to withstand; to stand up to; to survive) · fi läpäistä (to withstand; to stand up to; to survive) · es retrasar (to impede, detain) · fi viivästyä (to wait or delay) · ru выдерживать (to withstand; to stand up to; to survive) · fi nostaa (to support or lift) · pl wstrzymać (to wait or delay) · fi viivyttää (to impede, detain) · es sostener (to support or lift) · sv hindra (to impede, detain) · it sollevare (to support or lift) · ro stăvili (to withstand; to stand up to; to survive) · fi kohottaa (to support or lift) · fi ryöstää aseella uhaten (to rob at gunpoint) · es aguaitar (to wait or delay) · hu feltart (to impede, detain) · it attenersi (to fulfil / fulfill or complete one's part of an agreement) · fi viivästyttää (to wait or delay) · de überfallen (to rob at gunpoint) · sv stödja (to support or lift) · fi venata (to wait or delay) · ru задерживать (to impede, detain) · it mantenere (to fulfil / fulfill or complete one's part of an agreement) · de warten (to wait or delay) · sv vänta (to wait or delay) · ru задерживать (to wait or delay) · ro prăda (to rob at gunpoint) · gld туру- (to impede, detain) · ru ждать (to wait or delay) · evn тури- (to impede, detain) · ro întârzia (to wait or delay) · he החזיק מעמד (to withstand; to stand up to; to survive) · sa यच्छति (to support or lift)