have a hold over

Idioms  

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]

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Example Sentences

I have a hold over you besides that of your oath.

From The Haunted Room A Tale by A. L. O. E.

The fact is he and some one else have a hold over me.

From A Coin of Edward VII A Detective Story by Hume, Fergus

When Benson told his story I asked myself, Could Charles' conduct be dictated by the desire to have a hold over Benson—with a view to blackmail later on?

From The Shrieking Pit by Rees, Arthur J. (Arthur John)

I have a hold over you, and you will do my bidding.

From Jacqueline of Golden River by Coleman, Ralph P. (Ralph Pallen)

For my pride's sake I desired that my reasons should be reserved for myself alone; for my actual benefit it was necessary that I should have a hold over my colleagues in office.

From The Fortunes Of Glencore by Lever, Charles James