Showing results for "held"

• past participle of hold.
• past tense form of hold.

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• held
  held

  verb

  simple past tense and a past participle of hold.
• Held
  Held

  noun

  John, Jr., 1889–1958, U.S. cartoonist, illustrator, and writer.

held

¹ American  

[held] / hɛld /

verb

1. simple past tense and a past participle of hold.

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Held ² American  

[held] / hɛld /

noun

1. John, Jr., 1889–1958, U.S. cartoonist, illustrator, and writer.

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held British  

/ hɛld /

verb

1. the past tense and past participle of hold 1

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Other Word Forms

• unheld
  adjective

Explanation

Anything that's held is controlled or kept by someone (or something). A city, for example, might be held by an attacking army. A rebel-held town is occupied by an invading group of rebels, and a Republican-held government is controlled by that particular political party. When Americans win so many medals in the Olympics that they break a world record, you might hear it described as a US-held record. Held comes from the Old English haldan, "to possess, contain, or rule."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

held Held

The sheer amount of time that gasoline prices have held above $4 a gallon this year is “contributing to household financial anxiety,” the analysts said.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 10, 2026

When I held the iPhone Duo open, the crease was barely visible.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026

The new map carved the district held by Calvert, a Corona Republican and 33-year fixture in Congress, into three different pieces.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026

Friday's game is the first of three matches in Melbourne to be held over four years, under a contract between the NFL and the state of Victoria.

From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026

The velvet was soft and the inner lining held a secret pocket, which Nine had explained was for emergency food, because if human children didn’t eat constantly, they became ferocious beasts.

From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman

Held on the shores of Lake Issyk-Kul –- a vast mountain lake in northern Kyrgyzstan -- athletes have been competing in dozens of disciplines: from intellectual board games to arm-wrestling.

From Barron's ● Sep. 4, 2026

Held at the 1971 crab derby in Crisfield, Md., it drew less attention than sailboat races, greased pig contests and the crowning of Miss Crustacean.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026

Held since 1999, Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez will take place this year from Sept. 26 to October 4.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026

Held in large venues around the world throughout the year, it involves a gruelling circuit of eight strength-based exercise stations with a one-kilometre run between each.

From BBC ● Mar. 24, 2026

Held at the Army’s Camp Grant, not far from Riverbank, the test day was a disaster.

From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield