HOLD UP

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does hold up mean? 

• HOLD UP (verb)
  The verb HOLD UP has 7 senses:

1. be the physical support of; carry the weight of

2. hold up something as an example; hold up one's achievements for admiration

3. cause to be slowed down or delayed

4. rob at gunpoint or by means of some other threat

5. continue to live and avoid dying

6. resist or confront with resistance

7. resist or withstand wear, criticism, etc.

  Familiarity information: HOLD UP used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• HOLD UP (verb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Be the physical support of; carry the weight of

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

hold; hold up; support; sustain

Context example:

What's holding that mirror?

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

bracket (support with brackets)

brace (support by bracing)

truss (support structurally)

prop; prop up; shore; shore up (support by placing against something solid or rigid)

underpin (support from beneath)

pole (support on poles)

buoy; buoy up (keep afloat)

chock (support on chocks)

carry (bear or be able to bear the weight, pressure,or responsibility of)

block (support, secure, or raise with a block)

scaffold (provide with a scaffold for support)

Sentence frames:

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

Sense 2

Meaning:

Hold up something as an example; hold up one's achievements for admiration

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

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

display; exhibit; expose (to show, make visible or apparent)

Sentence frames:

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

Sense 3

Meaning:

Cause to be slowed down or delayed

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

delay; detain; hold up

Context example:

she delayed the work that she didn't want to perform

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

decelerate; retard; slow; slow down; slow up (lose velocity; move more slowly)

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

catch (delay or hold up; prevent from proceeding on schedule or as planned)

stall (deliberately delay an event or action)

buy time (act so as to delay an event or action in order to gain an advantage)

stonewall (engage in delaying tactics or refuse to cooperate)

Sentence frames:

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

Derivation:

holdup (the act of delaying; inactivity resulting in something being put off until a later time)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Rob at gunpoint or by means of some other threat

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Synonyms:

hold up; stick up

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

rob (take something away by force or without the consent of the owner)

"Hold up" entails doing...:

assail; assault; attack; set on (attack someone physically or emotionally)

Domain category:

crime; criminal offence; criminal offense; law-breaking ((criminal law) an act punishable by law; usually considered an evil act)

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

mug (rob at gunpoint or with the threat of violence)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

holdup (robbery at gunpoint)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Continue to live and avoid dying

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

endure; go; hold out; hold up; last; live; live on; survive

Context example:

One crash victim died, the other lived

"Hold up" entails doing...:

be; live (have life, be alive)

Verb group:

be; live (have life, be alive)

exist; live; subsist; survive (support oneself)

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

hold up; hold water; stand up (resist or withstand wear, criticism, etc.)

perennate (survive from season to season, of plants)

live out (live out one's life; live to the end)

Sentence frames:

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

Sentence example:

The business is going to hold up

Sense 6

Meaning:

Resist or confront with resistance

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

defy; hold; hold up; withstand

Context example:

The bridge held

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

hold out; resist; stand firm; withstand (stand up or offer resistance to somebody or something)

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

brave; brave out; endure; weather (face and withstand with courage)

Sentence frames:

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

Sense 7

Meaning:

Resist or withstand wear, criticism, etc.

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

hold up; hold water; stand up

Context example:

This theory won't hold water

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

endure; go; hold out; hold up; last; live; live on; survive (continue to live and avoid dying)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

 Context examples 

Hold up, man, or you’ll be into the fire!

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

“No walk for me today,” sighed Catherine; “but perhaps it may come to nothing, or it may hold up before twelve.”

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

Even in her hysteria she knew it, and she was glad that she had been able to hold up under the strain until everything had been accomplished.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

By that time, it was beginning to hold up, and I was determined that nothing should stop me from getting away—and then—only think!

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

Hold up your dress and put your hat on straight, it looks sentimental tipped that way and will fly off at the first puff.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Coastal seagrass beds hold up to 83,000 metric tons of carbon per square kilometer, mostly in the soils beneath them.

(Sharks, the seagrass protectors, National Science Foundation)

The cells of Earth’s plants and animals would not hold up well on Titan, where surface temperatures average minus 290 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 179 degrees Celsius), and lakes brim with liquid methane.

(NASA Finds Moon of Saturn Has Chemical That Could Form ‘Membranes’, NASA)

You romantic Daisy! said Steerforth, laughing still more heartily: why should I trouble myself, that a parcel of heavy-headed fellows may gape and hold up their hands?

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Grasslands make up more than 40% of the world's ice-free land and can hold up to 30% of the world's carbon, making them critical allies in the fight against climate change.

(Environmental change is triggering an identity switch in grasslands, National Science Foundation)

I’d rather you left millin’ alone, Boy Jim, said he, and so had the missus; but if mill you must, it will not be my fault if you cannot hold up your hands to anything in the south country.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)