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:
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
For sheer spectacle, behold the first physical build of General Grievous’ Wheel Bike, an invention previously only realized in CGI but built specifically for the museum at Lucas’ request.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026
The uprising is a sight to behold, and this summer I went to Albania and beheld it.
From Slate ● Sep. 8, 2026
Our critic raved that “Both indoors and out, Porter proved that there was beauty where one was inclined to behold it. This show is an invaluable opportunity to do just that.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
Lo and behold, who should come strolling down the hall?
From "The Season of Styx Malone" by Kekla Magoon
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
Theologically speaking, pride turns itself inward; it beholds the self and deems it sufficient.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 4, 2018
She beholds to the right and the left a quaking bog of abstractions and metaphysical definitions, whereon if a critic so much as set his foot he is sucked down into the bottomless mire.
From Shelburne Essays, Third Series by Paul Elmer More
The uprising is a sight to behold, and this summer I went to Albania and beheld it.
From Slate ● Sep. 8, 2026
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
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
When we first beheld our most important Wolf-Rayet target, a star designated WR 104, on a computer monitor, it was a shimmering spiral that resembled a weirdly distorted Christmas bauble.
From Scientific American ● Aug. 18, 2023
But I will often remember this day, O Illustrious One, and this hour when my eyes beheld a holy man.”
From "Siddhartha" by Hermann Hesse
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
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
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
