ahold

American  

[uh-hohld] / əˈhoʊld /

noun

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

   He took ahold of my arm. Grab ahold!

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adverb

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

   to keep a vessel ahold.

idioms

1. get ahold of, hold.

Etymology

Origin of ahold

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

Example Sentences

“You can’t change your iris if someone does manage to get ahold of that information.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 26, 2026

“I think flag football is a sport the whole world can grab ahold of,” Snoop said.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 21, 2026

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

From Salon • Aug. 26, 2025

So imagine my surprise when she recently got ahold of mine and started scrolling and swiping with the muscle memory of a bored teen on TikTok.

From Slate • Nov. 16, 2024

I felt ’round to see if maybe I could get ahold of a chunking stone and go down fighting, but my fingers waren’t running over nothing but more roots and twigs.

From "Elijah of Buxton" by Christopher Paul Curtis