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Antonyms for held back

Grammar : Verb
Spell : hohld
Phonetic Transcription : hoÊŠld

Definition of held back

Origin :
  • Old English haldan (Anglian), healdan (West Saxon), "to contain, grasp; retain; foster, cherish," class VII strong verb (past tense heold, past participle healden), from Proto-Germanic *haldanan (cf. Old Saxon haldan, Old Frisian halda, Old Norse halda, Dutch houden, German halten "to hold," Gothic haldan "to tend"), originally "to keep, tend, watch over" (as cattle), later "to have." Ancestral sense is preserved in behold. The original past participle holden was replaced by held beginning 16c., but survives in some legal jargon and in beholden.
  • Hold back is 1530s, transitive; 1570s, intransitive; hold off is early 15c., transitive; c.1600, intransitive; hold out is 1520s as "to stretch forth," 1580s as "to resist pressure." Hold on is early 13c. as "to maintain one’s course," 1830 as "to keep one’s grip on something," 1846 as an order to wait or stop. To hold (one's) tongue "be silent" is from c.1300. To hold (one's) own is from early 14c. To hold (someone's) hand "give moral support" is from 1935. Phrase hold your horses "be patient" is from 1844. To have and to hold have been paired alliteratively since at least c.1200, originally of marriage but also of real estate.
  • verb repress
Example sentences :
  • The cavalry were advancing in a field, but they were yet held back to a slow walk.
  • Extract from : « The Rock of Chickamauga » by Joseph A. Altsheler
  • He held back a long time: "You who are so safe in good, why know evil?"
  • Extract from : « Bride of the Mistletoe » by James Lane Allen
  • Yet just because she wanted to do it so much, she held back.
  • Extract from : « Jan and Her Job » by L. Allen Harker
  • You held back and were cold often—perhaps too often—is it too late now?
  • Extract from : « The Great Hunger » by Johan Bojer
  • Hackett had fought and held back the frog-guards only that they might escape.
  • Extract from : « Astounding Stories of Super-Science, August 1930 » by Various
  • He held back the undergrowth again and peered into the depths.
  • Extract from : « Wild Justice: Stories of the South Seas » by Lloyd Osbourne
  • Hence they hesitated and held back; nor were their fears causeless.
  • Extract from : « Tony Butler » by Charles James Lever
  • Angela and Poppy accepted; Esther held back with shy reluctance.
  • Extract from : « The Carroll Girls » by Mabel Quiller-Couch
  • But she held back, scared and astonished at the other's appearance.
  • Extract from : « The Works of Guy de Maupassant, Volume VIII. » by Guy de Maupassant
  • Just then Matt stirred and tried to rise but was held back by Apple.
  • Extract from : « The Boy Scout Treasure Hunters » by Charles Henry Lerrigo

Synonyms for held back

Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019