ahold

[uh-hohld]

noun

1. Informal.,  a hold or grasp (often followed byof ).

   He took ahold of my arm. Grab ahold!

adverb

1. Nautical Archaic.,  close to the wind and on a single tack.

   to keep a vessel ahold.

Word History and Origins

Origin of ahold¹

First recorded in 1600–10; a- ¹ + hold ¹ (noun)

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. get ahold of, hold.

Example Sentences

“You can’t get ahold of them,” she said of her firm, which has filed cases on behalf of hundreds of new plaintiffs since the settlement was finalized.

From Los Angeles Times

He couldn’t get ahold of his insurance adjuster, so he searched for phone numbers of company executives.

From Los Angeles Times

I think that introducing an essay into a system like this would actually make it be more prone to misuse, because there would be all kinds of ways of getting ahold of template essays that have been approved by prior applicants, going to ChatGPT, using who knows what.

From Slate

“Like most public health organizations, we weren’t able to get ahold of our program people in February,” he said.

From Salon

Burns, who was taking care of Kawahara’s home and cats in Quilcene, Wash., while he was fishing, said she knew something had gone awry when on Monday, Aug. 11, she was unable to get ahold of Kawahara via text or his satellite phone.

From Los Angeles Times