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:
Ugly as this story gets, the result is beautiful to behold.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026
Being able to listen to various attempts as the band and producer George Martin build “I’m Looking Through You” from the ground up, for example, is a wonder to behold.
From Salon ● Sep. 28, 2026
The uprising is a sight to behold, and this summer I went to Albania and beheld it.
From Slate ● Sep. 8, 2026
Over the past two weeks, the mad scramble for upside exposure in the U.S. equities market has been a sight to behold, according to Nomura’s Charlie McElligott.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 10, 2026
Just when we considered ourselves fully prepared and were fixing to depart, lo and behold, we learned that the Pan American Airline would only allow forty-four pounds to be carried across the ocean.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
“For the listener, who listens in the snow, / And, nothing himself, beholds / Nothing that is not there and the nothing that is.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 16, 2026
In the Phaedrus, Plato describes the soul sprouting and growing wings when it beholds something beautiful.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 15, 2022
Into the space once taken up by monthly pains and forbidden longings arrive mystical visions in which she beholds the Virgin Mary, first as virgin and then as mother.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 7, 2021
On the other hand, she receives great kindness and hospitality from nomadic families and beholds, with awe, pristine landscapes and spectacular, star-spangled night skies.
From Washington Post ● May 23, 2019
Only thirty years ago there stood but a few herdsmen's huts, where now the visitor beholds block after block of handsome stone private residences, or magnificent shops.
The uprising is a sight to behold, and this summer I went to Albania and beheld it.
From Slate ● Sep. 8, 2026
But ordinary Russians beheld the Lockshins’ bright, hopeful faces on the news with disbelief and derision.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 10, 2024
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
She unfolded it and beheld the words It’s your fault.
From "Breadcrumbs" by Anne Ursu
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
These products have been verified compliant with modern standards for beholding eclipses.
From Slate ● Mar. 3, 2024
Defying the storm that threatened, the clouds that curtained the sun now pass, and we three survivors of a long-ago tragedy stand together in silence, beholding one another in the sun’s light.
From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein
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.
