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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

Gallrein did make a major open press appearance Monday, when a Trump-allied super PAC held a campaign event at a hotel on the grounds of the Cincinnati airport.

From Slate • May 19, 2026

The company affirmed its full fiscal-year guidance for comparable sales growth of approximately flat to 2%, while the outlook for total sales growth was held steady at 2.5% to 4.5%.

From MarketWatch • May 19, 2026

Jin is being held for suspected “illegal use of information networks” related to Zion’s online ministry, along with 17 others associated with the church.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 19, 2026

It held rates steady at that meeting, the last one with Jerome Powell as chairman of the Federal Reserve, but the big question now is how long that will last.

From Barron's • May 18, 2026

Tansy swept up Little Britches, who’d be crying herself sick in another minute, and held her tight.

From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck