hold in
Britishverb
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to curb, control, or keep in check
-
to conceal or restrain (feelings)
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.
An “unprecedented” situation was taking hold in Orange County on Friday, as a chemical tank was at risk of spewing a highly toxic chemical that can cause severe respiratory distress and hospitalization, officials said.
From Los Angeles Times • May 23, 2026
That’s roughly the percentage you can comfortably hold in stocks, particularly if you are risk-averse.
From MarketWatch • May 6, 2026
In the late ’60s, the media portrayed Solanas as just another radical member of the divisive second-wave feminist movement taking hold in America.
From Salon • Apr. 29, 2026
It took a few decades for advertising to take hold in radio—the first commercial didn’t go out over the airwaves until 1920—but it was tied to TV from the start.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 15, 2026
I felt something leaden take hold in my stomach just then, my anxiety hardening into dread.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
