Antonyms for hold-up


Grammar : Noun
Spell : hohld
Phonetic Transcription : hoʊld


Definition of hold-up

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.
  • As in raise : noun increase in salary or position
  • As in setback : noun disappointment
  • As in wait : noun pause, delay
  • As in bottleneck : noun obstacle
  • As in retardation : noun delay
  • As in delay : noun deferment, interruption
  • As in hitch : noun problem, difficulty
Example sentences :
  • And that's how the Padova family fell into playing the hold-up game.
  • Extract from : « Shorty McCabe » by Sewell Ford
  • I'm here to tell you that I've got evidence to prove that Ford was a rustler an' a hold-up.
  • Extract from : « Oh, You Tex! » by William Macleod Raine
  • The hold-up is severe, usually, and becomes in itself a thing to be managed.
  • Extract from : « The Untroubled Mind » by Herbert J. Hall
  • "We left him back there talking with one of the hold-up men," replied George.
  • Extract from : « The Call of the Beaver Patrol » by V. T. Sherman
  • The hold-up had been real after all,—instead of a planned, joking affair.
  • Extract from : « The Cross-Cut » by Courtney Ryley Cooper
  • A place better adapted for a hold-up could hardly be devised.
  • Extract from : « Where the Strange Trails Go Down » by E. Alexander Powell
  • “We—we used to—to play at hold-up when he was a boy,” she gasped.
  • Extract from : « Brand Blotters » by William MacLeod Raine
  • The only point was to find out where the hold-up left the lateral.
  • Extract from : « Brand Blotters » by William MacLeod Raine
  • Evidently, the thieves had managed to communicate with a confederate, and this was a hold-up.
  • Extract from : « In Her Own Right » by John Reed Scott
  • Nor did they know on what night he had planned to pull off the hold-up.
  • Extract from : « Crooked Trails and Straight » by William MacLeod Raine

Synonyms for hold-up

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