hold 'em

American

[hohld uhm] / ˈhoʊld əm /

noun

a form of poker in which each player is dealt two cards face down and then makes the best five-card hand by combining these with three of five communal cards that are dealt to the center of the table.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

She sings, “This ain’t Texas / Ain’t no hold ’em / So lay your cards down down down,” in a Southern twang.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 11, 2024

Drop "poker" in a Google Trends search box and you'll see that the Texas hold 'em boom lasted for about three years, from 2004 to 2006.

From Salon • Nov. 14, 2022

Regular viewers credit the show for its alchemy of good no-limit hold ’em poker played at the highest stakes combined with reality-TV-style entertainment.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 3, 2022

By age 19 Esfandiari was playing no-limit Texas hold 'em at his local casino.

From BBC • Sep. 21, 2022

Colonel, you know we can’t hold ’em again.”

From "The Killer Angels: The Classic Novel of the Civil War" by Michael Shaara

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023