HOLD IN

Pronunciation (US):

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does hold in mean? 

• HOLD IN (verb)
  The verb HOLD IN has 3 senses:

1. close in

2. lessen the intensity of; temper; hold in restraint; hold or keep within limits

3. hold back; keep from being perceived by others

  Familiarity information: HOLD IN used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• HOLD IN (verb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Close in

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

confine; enclose; hold in

Context example:

darkness enclosed him

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

bear; carry; contain; hold (contain or hold; have within)

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

border; bound (form the boundary of; be contiguous to)

embank (enclose with banks, as for support or protection)

rail; rail in (enclose with rails)

box in; box up (enclose or confine as if in a box)

frame (enclose in a frame, as of a picture)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Lessen the intensity of; temper; hold in restraint; hold or keep within limits

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

check; contain; control; curb; hold; hold in; moderate

Context example:

control your anger

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

hold back; keep; keep back; restrain (prevent the action or expression of)

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

conquer; stamp down; subdue; suppress (bring under control by force or authority)

damp (restrain or discourage)

crucify; mortify; subdue (hold within limits and control)

abnegate; deny (deny oneself (something); restrain, especially from indulging in some pleasure)

train (cause to grow in a certain way by tying and pruning it)

catch (check oneself during an action)

bate (moderate or restrain; lessen the force of)

thermostat (control the temperature with a thermostat)

counteract; countercheck (oppose or check by a counteraction)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 3

Meaning:

Hold back; keep from being perceived by others

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Synonyms:

conceal; hold back; hold in

Context example:

She conceals her anger well

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

occult (hide from view)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

 Context examples 

As to the circumstances of her birth, though in a legal sense she may be called Nobody, it will not hold in common sense.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

How they laughed when the secret came out, never dreaming how many love letters that little post office would hold in the years to come.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

The letter which I hold in my hand is from Lord St. Simon.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I have, therefore, prepared for my friend Mr. Thomas Traddles, and I now hold in my hand, a document, which accomplishes the desired object.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

So far as I am a judge this human bone is the analogue of the one which you hold in your hand.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“Inland it is,” said he, “and yet I have done good work for the fleet there. What do you suppose I hold in this bag?”

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Now, at present I am in the position of these same readers, for I hold in this hand several threads of one of the strangest cases which ever perplexed a man’s brain, and yet I lack the one or two which are needful to complete my theory.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I sold my spoil, mes garcons, for as many gold-pieces as I could hold in my hufken, and for seven days I lit twelve wax candles upon the altar of St. Andrew; for if you forget the blessed when things are well with you, they are very likely to forget you when you have need of them.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I remember, before the dwarf left the queen, he followed us one day into those gardens, and my nurse having set me down, he and I being close together, near some dwarf apple trees, I must needs show my wit, by a silly allusion between him and the trees, which happens to hold in their language as it does in ours.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

I was already firmly convinced, Watson, that there were not three separate mysteries here, but one only, and that if I could read the Musgrave Ritual aright I should hold in my hand the clue which would lead me to the truth concerning both the butler Brunton and the maid Howells.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)