Jump to:

• 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.

---

Held ² American  

[held] / hɛld /

noun

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

---

held British  

/ hɛld /

verb

1. the past tense and past participle of hold 1

---

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

“This isn’t something we would flag if we were testing your soil in your yard,” Held said.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 20, 2026

Held at the London Palladium, the WhatsOnStage Awards have been running since 2001 and are voted for by the general public.

From BBC • Mar. 8, 2026

Held together with scrounged parts and ingenuity, Iran’s aging jets are falling in dogfights.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 6, 2026

Held in police custody for 11 hours, which would have included questioning under caution, Mountbatten-Windsor was released while the investigation into his conduct continues.

From Salon • Feb. 20, 2026

Held me like she knew I really needed to be held.

From "Endangered" by Eliot Schrefer