hold
n. countablen. The large space inside a ship or airplane where goods and luggage are stored for a journey. It's the main storage area, separate from where passengers sit.
n. The interior space within a ship's hull or an aircraft's fuselage designated for stowing cargo.
The ship's hold is full of containers.
The ground crew loaded all passenger luggage into the aircraft's hold before takeoff.
Inspectors descended into the vast, dark hold of the cargo ship to verify that the sensitive equipment was properly secured against the anticipated rough seas.
Derived from Middle English holden, derived from Old English healdan, derived from Proto-West Germanic haldan, derived from Proto-Germanic haldaną (“to tend, herd”), maybe derived from Proto-Indo-European *kel- (“to drive”). Doublet of halt. Cognates *West Frisian hâlde *Low German holden, holen *Dutch houden *German halten *Danish *Norwegian Bokmål holde *Norwegian Nynorsk halda. Compare Latin celer (“quick”), Tocharian B käl- (“to goad, drive”), Ancient Greek κέλλω (kéllō, “to drive”), Sanskrit कलयति (kalayati, “to impel”).
Alteration (due to hold) of hole. Cognate with Dutch hol (“hole, cave, den, cavity, cargo hold”), Dutch holte (“cavity, hollow, den”).
From Middle English hold, holde, from Old English hold (“gracious, friendly, kind”), from Proto-West Germanic holþ, from Proto-Germanic hulþaz (“favourable, gracious, loyal”), from Proto-Indo-European *kel- (“to tend, incline, bend, tip”). Cognate with German hold (“gracious, friendly, sympathetic, grateful”), Danish and Swedish huld (“fair, kindly, gracious”), Icelandic hollur (“faithful, dedicated, loyal”), German Huld (“grace, favour”).
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apron-string hold
An estate held by a man during his wife's life.
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buy and hold
A passive investment strategy where an investor purchases an asset and retains it for many years, rather than trading it frequently.
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don't hold your breath
Don't wait. Said cynically to suggest that what has just been mentioned is unlikely to happen soon or at all.