English

Verb

hold up ‎(third-person singular simple present holds up, present participle holding up, simple past and past participle held up)

1. (idiomatic, intransitive) To wait or delay.

   Hold up a minute. I want to check something.

2. (transitive) To impede; detain.

   I've got to be to work now. Why are you holding me up?

   What is holding up traffic?

   • 2012 May 13, Andrew Benson, “Williams's Pastor Maldonado takes landmark Spanish Grand Prix win”, in BBC Sport:

     It worked to perfection. Ferrari's decision not to stop on the next lap simply made life easier, especially when Alonso was held up by Marussia's Charles Pic during that period - for which the Frenchman earned a drive-through penalty.

3. To support or lift.

   Hold up the table while I slide this underneath.

   • 1977, Agatha Christie, An Autobiography, Part II, chapter4:

     Mind you, clothes were clothes in those days. […]  Frills, ruffles, flounces, lace, complicated seams and gores: not only did they sweep the ground and have to be held up in one hand elegantly as you walked along, but they had little capes or coats or feather boas.

4. (idiomatic) To withstand; to stand up to; to survive.

   hold up to scrutiny

   hold up to heavy use

5. (idiomatic) To fulfil / fulfill or complete one's part of an agreement.

   I don't think he's holding up his end of the bargain.

6. (idiomatic) To rob at gunpoint.

   The guy tried to hold up a bank.

7. To keep up; not to fall behind; not to lose ground.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Collier to this entry?)

Translations

Related terms

• hang up
• hold off
• hold it
• hold-up
• uphold
• stick up
• forhold

Derived terms

• hold up to
• hold up one's end

Anagrams

• uphold