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• hold-up
  hold-up

  noun

  a robbery, esp an armed one
• hold up
  hold up

  Offer or present as an example, as in The teacher held Bernie's essay up as a model for the class to follow . [c. 1600]

hold-up

British  

noun

1. a robbery, esp an armed one

2. a delay; stoppage

3. an excessive charge; extortion

4. (usually plural) a stocking that is held up by an elasticated top without suspenders

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verb

1. (tr) to delay; hinder

   we were held up by traffic

2. (tr) to keep from falling; support

3. (tr) to stop forcibly or waylay in order to rob, esp using a weapon

4. (tr) to exhibit or present

   he held up his achievements for our admiration

5. (intr) to survive or last

   how are your shoes holding up?

6. bridge to refrain from playing a high card, so delaying the establishment of (a suit)

7. to confess a mistake or misdeed

hold up Idioms  

1. Offer or present as an example, as in The teacher held Bernie's essay up as a model for the class to follow . [c. 1600]

2. Obstruct or delay, as in We were held up in traffic . [c. 1900]

3. Rob, as in He was held up in a dark alley, with no help nearby . This usage, which gave rise to the noun holdup for a robbery, alludes to the robbers' demand that the victims hold their hands high. [Late 1800s]

4. Also, hold out . Continue to function without losing force or effectiveness, endure. For example, We held up through that long bitter winter , or The nurse was able to hold out until someone could relieve her . [Late 1500s]

5. See hold one's head high .

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

hold-up hold up

For years, though, there has been a hold-up: The legislation the team said it needed hadn’t passed.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 27, 2026

The hold-up has meant thousands of staff for the TSA - which also operates under DHS - have been working without pay for more than a month.

From BBC ● Mar. 21, 2026

Coupled with elite hold-up and playmaking prowess, Kane is redefining the centre-forward role.

From BBC ● Mar. 3, 2026

That led to a hold-up of several minutes before the game resumed, with Vinicius then being jeered by the home fans.

From Barron's ● Feb. 17, 2026

“Gonna check things out up ahead—see if anyone knows what the hold-up is.”

From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman

But the company also makes statements about security and AI risks that don’t hold up to scrutiny, he said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026

The States urged islanders not to attempt to remove nests, which can expand rapidly during August and September and hold up to 2,000 hornets.

From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026

The screens that hold up over time are rooted in conviction and conscience, not the election calendar.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 6, 2026

Nanninga said engineers have watched how stainless steel aged over the 100 years it has been in use, and he thinks the material will hold up well in this national exercise of self-storage.

From Barron's ● Jul. 2, 2026

I hold up my drawing, showing the intricate plan I spent most of the morning working on, every detail perfectly accounted for and coinciding with a different person and a task.

From "Five Feet Apart" by Rachael Lippincott

Related Words

• delay
• detain
• hinder
• impede
• interrupt
• stay
• stop
• suspend