hold back
Britishverb
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to restrain or be restrained
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(tr) to withhold
he held back part of the payment
noun
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a strap of the harness joining the breeching to the shaft, so that the horse can hold back the vehicle
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something that restrains or hinders
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Also, keep back.
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Retain in one's possession or control, as in He held back vital information , or I managed to keep back my tears . [First half of 1500s]
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Restrain one-self, as in She held back from joining the others , or I wanted to denounce him right there, but I kept back for fear of making a scene . The first usage dates from the second half of the 1500s, the variant from the early 1800s.
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Impede the progress of, as in The barriers held back traffic during the funeral procession , or Her daughter was kept back and had to repeat first grade .
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.
Although UCLA’s offense turned in a strong performance, its defense struggled to hold back a Purdue team that lost its 19th consecutive conference game.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 20, 2026
New dams and debris basins turned the vast natural waterways and springs and creeks of old L.A. into a chutes-and-ladders system to divert and hold back water and mud, before the next time.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2026
The estimable podcaster Dwarkesh Patel tweeted last week that “any global agreement to hold back a technology with enormous near-term economic and military benefits will be extremely fragile.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026
On Sky Sports, former Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge did not hold back in his criticism.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
Sometimes I find them so exquisite I have to struggle to hold back my tears.
From "The Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank
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.
