hold up

phraseB22 meaningsNot compared — the two pools are counted one word at a time, so a phrase has no score

To hold up is to delay something. Also, quite differently, to rob at gunpoint.

The delaying sense is by far the commoner, and being held up in traffic is the standard excuse for lateness, with the noun a hold-up meaning the delay itself. The robbery sense gave English the same noun for an armed raid, from the instruction to hold your hands up. There are two more: holding up a shelf means supporting it, and an argument that holds up survives examination.

Definitions of hold up

1phrasehold upTo delay somebody or something.B2
“Roadworks will hold up the traffic for weeks.”
2phrasesupportTo support something from below.B2
“Two brackets hold up the whole shelf.”

Practised in Phrasal Verbs, A Man Called Ove

First appears in chapter 4 of A Man Called Ove.

Practise this word

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hold up

phraseB22 meaningsNot compared — the two pools are counted one word at a time, so a phrase has no score

To hold up is to delay something. Also, quite differently, to rob at gunpoint.

Definitions of hold up

1phrasehold upTo delay somebody or something.B2
“Roadworks will hold up the traffic for weeks.”
2phrasesupportTo support something from below.B2
“Two brackets hold up the whole shelf.”

Practised in Phrasal Verbs, A Man Called Ove

First appears in chapter 4 of A Man Called Ove.

Practise this word