behold
Americanverb (used with object)
-
beholds,
present (3rd person singular)
-
beheld,
past participle, past
-
beholding
present participle
interjection
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
beholdsimple
-
beholdssimple
-
have beheldperfect
-
has beheldperfect
-
am beholdingprogressive
-
are beholdingprogressive
-
is beholdingprogressive
-
have been beholdingperfect progressive
-
has been beholdingperfect progressive
Past
-
beheldsimple
-
had beheldperfect
-
was beholdingprogressive
-
were beholdingprogressive
-
had been beholdingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of behold
First recorded before 900; Middle English beholden, Old English behaldan “to keep”; see be-, hold 1
Explanation
To behold is to see. You could behold the changing sky as the sun sets. It’s old-fashioned and fancy, so magicians like to use it, as in “Behold! I shall pull a rabbit out of my hat!” Have you ever heard "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder"? That can help you remember that to behold is to see something and to hold it in your attention. To behold is to look intensely — it’s much more than a glance. A good example of beholding is when you take the time to check out something special like that beautiful sunset, or a bunny hopping out of a hat and handing out candy.
Vocabulary lists containing behold
"Frankenstein"
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Awkward
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"The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet," Vocabulary from Act 3
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"I looked inside the front cover and, lo and behold, on the second page there was a Kiama Library stamp," Simmons said, with the library's borrowing conditions also detailed on the inside cover.
From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026
In 1776, American cities weren’t much to behold.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 1, 2026
Societies across the world valued gold as a symbol of divinity, immortality, and authority; its rarity made it a special privilege to behold and possess.
From Slate ● Jun. 11, 2026
The charge into chips by investors has been something to behold.
From MarketWatch ● May 28, 2026
Then the fire settled on their foreheads like silver stars and they became at once righteous and wise and terrible to behold.
From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss
Arriving at the high point of the journey, elevation-wise, Ms. Kessler beholds the Cruz de Ferro, an iron cross regarded as an important source of spiritual uplift.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 23, 2026
In the Phaedrus, Plato describes the soul sprouting and growing wings when it beholds something beautiful.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 15, 2022
“Whenever there is desire, one beholds the manifestations.“
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2020
Two-thirds into “Drifts” the narrator realizes she is pregnant, and as she beholds her “exquisitely tender and changing body” her diction stoops slightly into the hackneyed.
From New York Times ● May 19, 2020
The will, of which life is the mirror, and knowledge free from will, which beholds it clearly in that mirror.
From The World As Will And Idea (Vol. 1 of 3) by Schopenhauer, Arthur
Its concerns and desires are our 21st century concerns and desires, with Hildegard beheld as a proto-feminist icon.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 7, 2025
At least, it did until very recently, when we fully beheld the wretched manifestations of Meta’s desperate A.I. push.
From Slate ● Apr. 25, 2025
She hiked uphill from her riverside worksite and beheld a vista of sheer mountain slopes unbroken by rivers or streams.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 1, 2024
It remains firmly planted in our hearts, just as it was in the hearts of the shepherds when they first beheld the baby in the manger.
From Washington Times ● Dec. 24, 2023
When I considered the city, I could not believe that it could be filled with people; when I beheld the people, I was amazed that a city could hold them.
From "Circumference" by Nicholas Nicastro
There is a particular thrill in beholding a portrait as old and as lifelike as Isidora’s, just over a foot in height and 6 inches wide.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 20, 2026
“The Times posed the question, ‘Will Swift ever voluntarily step away from the spotlight?’ as if beholding a woman in full flow and power invariably summoned the fantasy of her involuntary removal from the scene.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 22, 2025
In the context of the story, the narrator is describing his descent into insanity after beholding the most grotesque, ungodly beast in existence.
From Salon ● Mar. 18, 2025
Still, while beholding this inspiring mobilization, a basic question kept nagging at me: How do you even get tens of thousands of people in one Zoom call, let alone 100,000?
From Slate ● Aug. 2, 2024
Her frantic joy at beholding me again moved me much.
From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
