Phrase guide

hold down

verb · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

verb

Meaning 1

To restrain; to check.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: idiomatic, transitive

Examples

  • Please hold the noise down.
  • You hold him down while I search him.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: restrain, hold back, behedge, guard, govern, smother, bind, chasten, check, inhibit, contain, vanquish, cork, curb, quench, quell, bury, curtail, dampen, hamshackle, hold down, limit, repress, restrict, shackle, stay, stifle, stop, straiten, subdue, suppress, throttle, underbring, withhold, withstrain

Antonyms: none provided

2

verb

Meaning 2

To continue, to hold and to manage well; to keep; maintain; support.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: idiomatic, transitive

Examples

  • I held down that job for years.
  • Thank you to everyone who's been holding us down while we've been going through this difficult time.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

verb

Meaning 3

restrain

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • please hold down the noise so that the neighbors can sleep

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: limit, circumscribe, confine

4

verb

Meaning 4

keep

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • She manages to hold down two jobs

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: retain, hold, keep back, hold back

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

21 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • French: baisser — to restrain
  • French: maintenir à terre — to restrain
  • German: niederhalten — to restrain
  • German: unterdrucken — to restrain
  • Hungarian: lefog — to restrain
  • Hungarian: féken tart — to restrain
  • Italian: tenere a freno — to restrain
  • Russian: уде́рживать (udérživatʹ) — to restrain
  • Russian: угнета́ть (ugnetátʹ) — to restrain
  • Russian: подавля́ть (podavljátʹ) — to restrain
  • Spanish: retener — to restrain
  • Spanish: sujetar — to restrain
  • Spanish: detener — to restrain
  • German: halten — to continue to hold
  • German: sich halten in — to continue to hold
  • Hungarian: betölt — to continue to hold
  • Russian: уде́рживать (udérživatʹ) — to continue to hold
  • Russian: удержа́ться (uderžátʹsja) — to continue to hold
  • Spanish: seguir en — to continue to hold
  • Spanish: conservar — to continue to hold
  • Spanish: mantenerse en — to continue to hold