Hold, verb, (old).—1. To bet; to wager. See Do you hold?
1584. Udall, Roister Doister, i., a (Dodsley, Old Plays, 4th ed., 1875, Hi., 7). I hold a groat ye will drink anon of this gear.
1551. W. Still, Gammer Gurton's Needle, iii., 3 (Dodsley, Old Plays, 4th ed., 1875, iii., 216, and passim). I hold thee a groat I shall patch thy coat.
1697. Vanbrugh, Provoked Wife, ii., 1. I'll hold you a guinea you don't make her tell it you.
1719. Durfey, Pills, etc., ii., 54. I'll hold ye five Guineas to four.
2. (venery) (or Hold it).—To be impregnated; to be got with child. [In certain parts of Scotland, it is said, a farm servant stating that she "disna haud" commands double wages.]
To hold on to, verb. phr. (colloquial),—To apply oneself; to be persistent : generally, to hold on like grim death.
1848. Ruxton, Life in the Far West, p. 71. He recovered, and wisely held on to for the future.
Hold up, verb. phr. (American and Australian).—1. To rob on the highway; to bail or stick up (q.v.). Also as subs. = a highwayman or road-agent (q.v.).
1888. Detroit Free Press, 8 Dec. One man held up six stage passengers in Arizona the other day and robbed them of $2,000. Each was armed, but it is customary to submit out there, and so up went their hands.
1888. Detroit Free Press, 13 Oct. Mounted on a white horse, he started on a land-prospecting tour and ran against a party of hold-ups.
1892. Lippincott, Oct., p. 495. Would hold the train up until I had finished.
2. (thieves').—To arrest. For synonyms, see Nab.
To hold the stage, verb. phr. (theatrical).—To have the chief place on the boards and the eye of an audience. Fr., avoir les planches.
To hold a candle to (the devil, etc.), verb. phr. (colloquial).—See Devil, and add the following quot.
1868. Reade and Boucicault, Foul Play, p. 65. But you see, sir, he has got the ear of the merchant ashore; and so I am obliged to hold a candle to the devil.
To hold a candle to, Verb. phr. (colloquial).—To vie with; to be comparable to; also to assist in or condone.
1886. R. L. Stevenson, Kidnapped, p. 79. They had killed poor Ransome; and was I to hold the candle to another murder?
To hold (or hang) on by the eyelids, eyelashes or eyebrows, verb. phr. (common).—To pursue an object desperately; to insist upon a point; to carry on a forlorn hope. See also quot. and Splash Board.
1883. Clark Russell, Sailor's Language, p. 69. Holding on with his eyelids. Said of a man aloft with nothing much to lay hold of.
To hold in hand, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To amuse; to possess the attention or the mind; to have in one's pocket.
To hold the market, verb, phr. (colloquial).—To buy stock and hold it to so large an extent that the price cannot decline.
Do you hold? phr. (streets).—Have you money to lend? Can you stand treat? Cf. verb., sense 1.
