Found 1 items, similar to To hold in play.
English → English (gcide) Definition: To hold in play Hold \Hold\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Held; p. pr. & vb. n. Holding. Holden, p. p., is obs. in elegant writing, though still used in legal language.] [OE. haldan, D. houden, OHG. hoten, Icel. halda, Dan. holde, Sw. h[*a]lla, Goth. haldan to feed, tend (the cattle); of unknown origin. Gf. Avast, Halt, Hod.] [1913 Webster] 1. To cause to remain in a given situation, position, or relation, within certain limits, or the like; to prevent from falling or escaping; to sustain; to restrain; to keep in the grasp; to retain. [1913 Webster] The loops held one curtain to another. --Ex. xxxvi. 12. [1913 Webster] Thy right hand shall hold me. --Ps. cxxxix. 10. [1913 Webster] They all hold swords, being expert in war. --Cant. iii. 8. [1913 Webster] In vain he seeks, that having can not hold. --Spenser. [1913 Webster] France, thou mayst hold a serpent by the tongue, . . . A fasting tiger safer by the tooth, Than keep in peace that hand which thou dost hold. --Shak. [1913 Webster] 2. To retain in one's keeping; to maintain possession of, or authority over; not to give up or relinquish; to keep; to defend. [1913 Webster] We mean to hold what anciently we claim Of deity or empire. --Milton. [1913 Webster] 3. To have; to possess; to be in possession of; to occupy; to derive title to; as, to hold office. [1913 Webster] This noble merchant held a noble house. --Chaucer. [1913 Webster] Of him to hold his seigniory for a yearly tribute. --Knolles. [1913 Webster] And now the strand, and now the plain, they held. --Dryden. [1913 Webster] 4. To impose restraint upon; to limit in motion or action; to bind legally or morally; to confine; to restrain. [1913 Webster] We can not hold mortality's strong hand. --Shak. [1913 Webster] Death! what do'st? O, hold thy blow. --Grashaw. [1913 Webster] He had not sufficient judgment and self-command to hold his tongue. --Macaulay. [1913 Webster] 5. To maintain in being or action; to carry on; to prosecute, as a course of conduct or an argument; to continue; to sustain. [1913 Webster] Hold not thy peace, and be not still. --Ps. lxxxiii. 1. [1913 Webster] Seedtime and harvest, heat and hoary frost, Shall hold their course. --Milton. [1913 Webster] 6. To prosecute, have, take, or join in, as something which is the result of united action; as to, hold a meeting, a festival, a session, etc.; hence, to direct and bring about officially; to conduct or preside at; as, the general held a council of war; a judge holds a court; a clergyman holds a service. [1913 Webster] I would hold more talk with thee. --Shak. [1913 Webster] 7. To receive and retain; to contain as a vessel; as, this pail holds milk; hence, to be able to receive and retain; to have capacity or containing power for. [1913 Webster] Broken cisterns that can hold no water. --Jer. ii. 13. [1913 Webster] One sees more devils than vast hell can hold. --Shak. [1913 Webster] 8. To accept, as an opinion; to be the adherent of, openly or privately; to persist in, as a purpose; to maintain; to sustain. [1913 Webster] Stand fast and hold the traditions which ye have been taught. --2 Thes. ii.15. [1913 Webster] But still he held his purpose to depart. --Dryden. [1913 Webster] 9. To consider; to regard; to esteem; to account; to think; to judge. [1913 Webster] I hold him but a fool. --Shak. [1913 Webster] I shall never hold that man my friend. --Shak. [1913 Webster] The Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. --Ex. xx. 7. [1913 Webster] 10. To bear, carry, or manage; as he holds himself erect; he holds his head high. [1913 Webster] Let him hold his fingers thus. --Shak. [1913 Webster] To hold a wager, to lay or hazard a wager. --Swift. To hold forth, (a) v. t.to offer; to exhibit; to propose; to put forward. “The propositions which books hold forth and pretend to teach.” --Locke. (b) v. i. To talk at length; to harangue. To held in, to restrain; to curd. To hold in hand, to toy with; to keep in expectation; to have in one's power. [Obs.] [1913 Webster] O, fie! to receive favors, return falsehoods, And hold a lady in hand. --Beaw. & Fl. To hold in play, to keep under control; to dally with. --Macaulay. To hold off, to keep at a distance. To hold on, to hold in being, continuance or position; as, to hold a rider on. To hold one's day, to keep one's appointment. [Obs.] --Chaucer. To hold one's own. To keep good one's present condition absolutely or relatively; not to fall off, or to lose ground; as, a ship holds her own when she does not lose ground in a race or chase; a man holds his own when he does not lose strength or weight. To hold one's peace, to keep silence. To hold out. (a) To extend; to offer. “Fortune holds out these to you as rewards.” --B. Jonson. (b) To continue to do or to suffer; to endure. “He can not long hold out these pangs.” --Shak. To hold up. (a) To raise; to lift; as, hold up your head. (b) To support; to sustain. “He holds himself up in virtue.”--Sir P. Sidney. (c) To exhibit; to display; as, he was held up as an example. (d) To rein in; to check; to halt; as, hold up your horses. (e) to rob, usually at gunpoint; -- often with the demand to “hold up” the hands. (f) To delay. To hold water. (a) Literally, to retain water without leaking; hence (Fig.), to be whole, sound, consistent, without gaps or holes; -- commonly used in a negative sense; as, his statements will not hold water. [Colloq.] (b) (Naut.) To hold the oars steady in the water, thus checking the headway of a boat. [1913 Webster] Play \Play\, n. 1. Amusement; sport; frolic; gambols. [1913 Webster] 2. Any exercise, or series of actions, intended for amusement or diversion; a game. [1913 Webster] John naturally loved rough play. --Arbuthnot. [1913 Webster] 3. The act or practice of contending for victory, amusement, or a prize, as at dice, cards, or billiards; gaming; as, to lose a fortune in play. [1913 Webster] 4. Action; use; employment; exercise; practice; as, fair play; sword play; a play of wit. “The next who comes in play.” --Dryden. [1913 Webster] 5. A dramatic composition; a comedy or tragedy; a composition in which characters are represented by dialogue and action. [1913 Webster] A play ought to be a just image of human nature. --Dryden. [1913 Webster] 6. The representation or exhibition of a comedy or tragedy; as, he attends ever play. [1913 Webster] 7. Performance on an instrument of music. [1913 Webster] 8. Motion; movement, regular or irregular; as, the play of a wheel or piston; hence, also, room for motion; free and easy action. “To give them play, front and rear.” --Milton. [1913 Webster] The joints are let exactly into one another, that they have no play between them. --Moxon. [1913 Webster] 9. Hence, liberty of acting; room for enlargement or display; scope; as, to give full play to mirth. [1913 Webster] Play actor, an actor of dramas. --Prynne. Play debt, a gambling debt. --Arbuthnot. Play pleasure, idle amusement. [Obs.] --Bacon. A play upon words, the use of a word in such a way as to be capable of double meaning; punning. Play of colors, prismatic variation of colors. To bring into play, To come into play, to bring or come into use or exercise. To hold in play, to keep occupied or employed. [1913 Webster] I, with two more to help me, Will hold the foe in play. --Macaulay. [1913 Webster]