VERB
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wait before acting
the scientists held off announcing their results until they repeated the experiment -
hold back; keep from being perceived by others
She conceals her anger well -
prevent the action or expression of
hold back your anger
keep your cool
she struggled to restrain her impatience at the delays
keep your cool -
refrain from doing
she forbore a snicker -
hold back, as of a danger or an enemy; check the expansion or influence of
Check the growth of communism in South East Asia
Turn back the tide of communism
Arrest the downward trend
Contain the rebel movement -
secure and keep for possible future use or application
The landlord retained the security deposit
I reserve the right to disagree
How To Use hold back In A Sentence
- Yet now he is dead, as dead as any ordinary pikeman who fought to hold back the Horde at the terminus of the Salmisti Bridge. Kingdoms of Light
- All we ask is that you will hold back a tithe of the dues you pay to the abbey, and pay them instead to the town for murage and pavage. St. Peter's Fair
- Secondly, do NOT think that you are going to hold back the ending because "I want the editor to be knocked endwise by the twist when s/he reads the book". Archive 2007-03-01
- She closed her eyes tightly in a vain attempt to hold back the tears.
- If one goes by the findings of behavioural studies, one would think twice before assigning baby-sitting functions for the telly or hold back from going ga ga over the toddler who lisps ad-lib.
- The boss couldn' t hold back his anger any longer.
- She was brushing her bright blue hair, putting two pigtails in her hair and a heart clip to hold back loose strands.
- They built dykes and dam to hold back the rising flood waters.
- They built dykes and dam to hold back the rising flood waters.
- Hard, I found, to hold back a tear, and the goose pimples were not from the cold because it was a hot day, even in the quire. Simon Hoggart's week: Keeping ahead of the rhinos