HOLD FAST

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does hold fast mean? 

• HOLD FAST (verb)
  The verb HOLD FAST has 1 sense:

1. stick to firmly

  Familiarity information: HOLD FAST used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• HOLD FAST (verb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Stick to firmly

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

adhere; bind; bond; hold fast; stick; stick to

Context example:

Will this wallpaper adhere to the wall?

Hypernyms (to "hold fast" is one way to...):

attach (become attached)

Verb group:

adhere; cleave; cling; cohere; stick (come or be in close contact with; stick or hold together and resist separation)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "hold fast"):

bind (form a chemical bond with)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP

Derivation:

holdfast (restraint that attaches to something or holds something in place)

 Context examples 

I think I can swim to the shore and pull the raft after me, if you will only hold fast to the tip of my tail.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

"You did right to hold fast to each other," I said: as if the monster- splinters were living things, and could hear me.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Then the old fox came once more, and scolded him for not following his advice; otherwise no evil would have befallen him: Yet, said he, I cannot leave you here, so lay hold of my tail and hold fast.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

Not until months afterward did Jo understand how she had the strength of mind to hold fast to the resolution she had made when she decided that she did not love her boy, and never could.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)