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4 definitions found
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 :   [ gcide ]

  Hold \Hold\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Held; p. pr. & vb. n.
     Holding. Holden, p. p., is obs. in elegant writing,
     though still used in legal language.] [OE. haldan, D. houden,
     OHG. hoten, Icel. halda, Dan. holde, Sw. h[*a]lla, Goth.
     haldan to feed, tend (the cattle); of unknown origin. Gf.
     Avast, Halt, Hod.]
     [1913 Webster]
     1. 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.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              The loops held one curtain to another. --Ex. xxxvi.
                                                    12.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Thy right hand shall hold me.         --Ps. cxxxix.
                                                    10.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              They all hold swords, being expert in war. --Cant.
                                                    iii. 8.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              In vain he seeks, that having can not hold.
                                                    --Spenser.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              France, thou mayst hold a serpent by the tongue, . .
              .
              A fasting tiger safer by the tooth,
              Than keep in peace that hand which thou dost hold.
                                                    --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. To retain in one's keeping; to maintain possession of, or
        authority over; not to give up or relinquish; to keep; to
        defend.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              We mean to hold what anciently we claim
              Of deity or empire.                   --Milton.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. To have; to possess; to be in possession of; to occupy; to
        derive title to; as, to hold office.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              This noble merchant held a noble house. --Chaucer.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Of him to hold his seigniory for a yearly tribute.
                                                    --Knolles.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              And now the strand, and now the plain, they held.
                                                    --Dryden.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     4. To impose restraint upon; to limit in motion or action; to
        bind legally or morally; to confine; to restrain.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              We can not hold mortality's strong hand. --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Death! what do'st? O, hold thy blow.  --Grashaw.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              He had not sufficient judgment and self-command to
              hold his tongue.                      --Macaulay.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     5. To maintain in being or action; to carry on; to prosecute,
        as a course of conduct or an argument; to continue; to
        sustain.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Hold not thy peace, and be not still. --Ps. lxxxiii.
                                                    1.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Seedtime and harvest, heat and hoary frost,
              Shall hold their course.              --Milton.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     6. 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.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              I would hold more talk with thee.     --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     7. 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.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Broken cisterns that can hold no water. --Jer. ii.
                                                    13.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              One sees more devils than vast hell can hold.
                                                    --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     8. To accept, as an opinion; to be the adherent of, openly or
        privately; to persist in, as a purpose; to maintain; to
        sustain.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Stand fast and hold the traditions which ye have
              been taught.                          --2 Thes.
                                                    ii.15.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              But still he held his purpose to depart. --Dryden.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     9. To consider; to regard; to esteem; to account; to think;
        to judge.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              I hold him but a fool.                --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              I shall never hold that man my friend. --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              The Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his
              name in vain.                         --Ex. xx. 7.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     10. To bear, carry, or manage; as he holds himself erect; he
         holds his head high.
         [1913 Webster]
  
               Let him hold his fingers thus.       --Shak.
         [1913 Webster]
  
     To hold a wager, to lay or hazard a wager. --Swift.
  
     To hold forth,
         (a) v. t.to offer; to exhibit; to propose; to put
             forward. ``The propositions which books hold forth
             and pretend to teach.'' --Locke.
         (b) v. i. To talk at length; to harangue.
  
     To held in, to restrain; to curd.
  
     To hold in hand, to toy with; to keep in expectation; to
        have in one's power. [Obs.]
        [1913 Webster]
  
              O, fie! to receive favors, return falsehoods,
              And hold a lady in hand.              --Beaw. & Fl.
  
     To hold in play, to keep under control; to dally with.
        --Macaulay.
  
     To hold off, to keep at a distance.
  
     To hold on, to hold in being, continuance or position; as,
        to hold a rider on.
  
     To hold one's day, to keep one's appointment. [Obs.]
        --Chaucer.
  
     To hold one's own. To keep good one's present condition
        absolutely or relatively; not to fall off, or to lose
        ground; as, a ship holds her own when she does not lose
        ground in a race or chase; a man holds his own when he
        does not lose strength or weight.
  
     To hold one's peace, to keep silence.
  
     To hold out.
         (a) To extend; to offer. ``Fortune holds out these to you
             as rewards.'' --B. Jonson.
         (b) To continue to do or to suffer; to endure. ``He can
             not long hold out these pangs.'' --Shak.
  
     To hold up.
         (a) To raise; to lift; as, hold up your head.
         (b) To support; to sustain. ``He holds himself up in
             virtue.''--Sir P. Sidney.
         (c) To exhibit; to display; as, he was held up as an
             example.
         (d) To rein in; to check; to halt; as, hold up your
             horses.
         (e) to rob, usually at gunpoint; -- often with the demand
             to ``hold up'' the hands.
         (f) To delay.
  
     To hold water.
         (a) Literally, to retain water without leaking; hence
             (Fig.), to be whole, sound, consistent, without gaps
             or holes; -- commonly used in a negative sense; as,
             his statements will not hold water. [Colloq.]
         (b) (Naut.) To hold the oars steady in the water, thus
             checking the headway of a boat.
             [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 :   [ gcide ]

  Play \Play\, n.
     1. Amusement; sport; frolic; gambols.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Any exercise, or series of actions, intended for amusement
        or diversion; a game.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              John naturally loved rough play.      --Arbuthnot.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. The act or practice of contending for victory, amusement,
        or a prize, as at dice, cards, or billiards; gaming; as,
        to lose a fortune in play.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     4. Action; use; employment; exercise; practice; as, fair
        play; sword play; a play of wit. ``The next who comes in
        play.'' --Dryden.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     5. A dramatic composition; a comedy or tragedy; a composition
        in which characters are represented by dialogue and
        action.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              A play ought to be a just image of human nature.
                                                    --Dryden.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     6. The representation or exhibition of a comedy or tragedy;
        as, he attends ever play.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     7. Performance on an instrument of music.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     8. Motion; movement, regular or irregular; as, the play of a
        wheel or piston; hence, also, room for motion; free and
        easy action. ``To give them play, front and rear.''
        --Milton.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              The joints are let exactly into one another, that
              they have no play between them.       --Moxon.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     9. Hence, liberty of acting; room for enlargement or display;
        scope; as, to give full play to mirth.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Play actor, an actor of dramas. --Prynne.
  
     Play debt, a gambling debt. --Arbuthnot.
  
     Play pleasure, idle amusement. [Obs.] --Bacon.
  
     A play upon words, the use of a word in such a way as to be
        capable of double meaning; punning.
  
     Play of colors, prismatic variation of colors.
  
     To bring into play, To come into play, to bring or come
        into use or exercise.
  
     To hold in play, to keep occupied or employed.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              I, with two more to help me,
              Will hold the foe in play.            --Macaulay.
        [1913 Webster]

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) :   [ web1913 ]

  Play \Play\, n.
     1. Amusement; sport; frolic; gambols.
  
     2. Any exercise, or series of actions, intended for amusement
        or diversion; a game.
  
              John naturally loved rough play.      --Arbuthnot.
  
     3. The act or practice of contending for victory, amusement,
        or a prize, as at dice, cards, or billiards; gaming; as,
        to lose a fortune in play.
  
     4. Action; use; employment; exercise; practice; as, fair
        play; sword play; a play of wit. ``The next who comes in
        play.'' --Dryden.
  
     5. A dramatic composition; a comedy or tragedy; a composition
        in which characters are represented by dialogue and
        action.
  
              A play ought to be a just image of human nature.
                                                    --Dryden.
  
     6. The representation or exhibition of a comedy or tragedy;
        as, he attends ever play.
  
     7. Performance on an instrument of music.
  
     8. Motion; movement, regular or irregular; as, the play of a
        wheel or piston; hence, also, room for motion; free and
        easy action. ``To give them play, front and rear.''
        --Milton.
  
              The joints are let exactly into one another, that
              they have no play between them.       --Moxon.
  
     9. Hence, liberty of acting; room for enlargement or display;
        scope; as, to give full play to mirth.
  
     Play actor, an actor of dramas. --Prynne.
  
     Play debt, a gambling debt. --Arbuthnot.
  
     Play pleasure, idle amusement. [Obs.] --Bacon.
  
     A play upon words, the use of a word in such a way as to be
        capable of double meaning; punning.
  
     Play of colors, prismatic variation of colors.
  
     To bring into play, To come into play, to bring or come
        into use or exercise.
  
     To hold in play, to keep occupied or employed.

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) :   [ web1913 ]

  Hold \Hold\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Held; p. pr. & vb. n.
     Holding. Holden, p. p., is obs. in elegant writing,
     though still used in legal language.] [OE. haldan, D. houden,
     OHG. hoten, Icel. halda, Dan. holde, Sw. h[*a]lla, Goth.
     haldan to feed, tend (the cattle); of unknown origin. Gf.
     Avast, Halt, Hod.]
     1. 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.
  
              The loops held one curtain to another. --Ex. xxxvi.
                                                    12.
  
              Thy right hand shall hold me.         --Ps. cxxxix.
                                                    10.
  
              They all hold swords, being expert in war. --Cant.
                                                    iii. 8.
  
              In vain he seeks, that having can not hold.
                                                    --Spenser.
  
              France, thou mayst hold a serpent by the tongue, . .
              . A fasting tiger safer by the tooth, Than keep in
              peace that hand which thou dost hold. --Shak.
  
     2. To retain in one's keeping; to maintain possession of, or
        authority over; not to give up or relinquish; to keep; to
        defend.
  
              We mean to hold what anciently we claim Of deity or
              empire.                               --Milton.
  
     3. To have; to possess; to be in possession of; to occupy; to
        derive title to; as, to hold office.
  
              This noble merchant held a noble house. --Chaucer.
  
              Of him to hold his seigniory for a yearly tribute.
                                                    --Knolles.
  
              And now the strand, and now the plain, they held.
                                                    --Dryden.
  
     4. To impose restraint upon; to limit in motion or action; to
        bind legally or morally; to confine; to restrain.
  
              We can not hold mortality's strong hand. --Shak.
  
              Death! what do'st? O,hold thy blow.   --Grashaw.
  
              He hat not sufficient judgment and self-command to
              hold his tongue.                      --Macaulay.
  
     5. To maintain in being or action; to carry on; to prosecute,
        as a course of conduct or an argument; to continue; to
        sustain.
  
              Hold not thy peace, and be not still. --Ps. lxxxiii.
                                                    1.
  
              Seedtime and harvest, heat and hoary frost, Shall
              hold their course.                    --Milton.
  
     6. 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.
  
              I would hold more talk with thee.     --Shak.
  
     7. 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.
  
              Broken cisterns that can hold no water. --Jer. ii.
                                                    13.
  
              One sees more devils than vast hell can hold.
                                                    --Shak.
  
     8. To accept, as an opinion; to be the adherent of, openly or
        privately; to persist in, as a purpose; to maintain; to
        sustain.
  
              Stand fast and hold the traditions which ye have
              been taught.                          --2 Thes.
                                                    ii.15.
  
              But still he held his purpose to depart. --Dryden.
  
     9. To consider; to regard; to esteem; to account; to think;
        to judge.
  
              I hold him but a fool.                --Shak.
  
              I shall never hold that man my friend. --Shak.
  
              The Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his
              name in vain.                         --Ex. xx. 7.
  
     10. To bear, carry, or manage; as he holds himself erect; he
         holds his head high.
  
               Let him hold his fingers thus.       --Shak.
  
     To hold a wager, to lay or hazard a wager. --Swift.
  
     To hold forth, to offer; to exhibit; to propose; to put
        forward. ``The propositions which books hold forth and
        pretend to teach.'' --Locke.
  
     To held in, to restrain; to curd.
  
     To hold in hand, to toy with; to keep in expectation; to
        have in one's power. [Obs.]
  
              O, fie! to receive favors, return falsehoods, And
              hold a lady in hand.                  --Beaw. & Fl.
  
     To hold in play, to keep under control; to dally with.
        --Macaulay.
  
     To hold off, to keep at a distance.
  
     To hold on, to hold in being, continuance or position; as,
        to hold a rider on.
  
     To hold one's day, to keep one's appointment. [Obs.]
        --Chaucer.
  
     To hold one's own.

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