have a hold over

1. Also, have a hold on. Have a controlling influence over. For example, Blackmailers have a hold over their victims, or, as Shakespeare put it in The Merchant of Venice (4:1): “The law has yet another hold on you.” [Late 1500s]

Example Sentences

"From my own experience my hate comments are from men in my community and because I am a brown girl they feel like they have a hold over me," she says.

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“You should step up to the microphone and say that Putin is a war criminal and that what he is doing is a crime, that the war against Ukraine is a crime. Say this, and then we’ll understand that Putin doesn’t have a hold over you.”

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Kyrgios, who has already upset his betters, thinks the stars do have a hold over the next generation – but shouldn’t.

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"One question we have now is: Does the Kremlin still have a hold over him because of other lies that they know about?"

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“It is not – and it has never been – the great common melting pot that would ensure cultural freedom and courteous exchange. Today it is one of the last instruments that allows France to say it can still dominate the world, still have a hold over its former colonies.”

Read more on The Guardian