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sp; to retain. The loops held one curtain to another. Ex. xxxvi. 12. Thy right hand shall hold me. Ps. cxxxix. 10. They all hold swords, being expert in war. Cant. iii. In vain he seeks, that having can not hold. Spenser. France, thou mayst hold a serpent by the tongue, . . . A fasting tiger safer by the tooth, Than ke…

Check; hindrance; restraint; obstacle. The only holdback is the affection . . . that we bear to our wealth. Hammond.

One who is employed in the hold of a vessel.

One who speaks in public; an haranguer; a preacher. Addison.

Something used to secure and hold in place something else, as a long fiat-headed nail, a catch a hook, a clinch, a clamp, etc.; hence, a support. "His holdfast was gone." Bp. Montagu.

That which holds, binds, or influences. Burke.

Near the wind; as, to lay a ship ahold. [Obs.] Shak.

The hold or grip of an anchor, or that to which it holds.

t; to regard with the eyes. When he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived. Num. xxi. 9. Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. John. i. 29.

Obliged; bound in gratitude; indebted. But being so beholden to the Prince. Tennyson.

One who beholds; a spectator.

Obliged; beholden. [Obs.] I was much bound and beholding to the right reverend father. Robynson (More's Utopia). So much hath Oxford been beholding to her nephews, or sister's children. Fuller.

, The state of being obliged or beholden. [Obs.] Sir P. Sidney.

A person who holds a bill or acceptance.

A mode of tenure by the payment of a small duty in white rent (silver) or otherwise.

See Blanch holding.

A person who holds the bonds of a public or private corporation for the payment of money at a certain time.

A support for a book, holding it open, while one reads or copies from it.

A headborough; a borsholder.

The head or chief of a tithing, or borough (see 2d Borough); the headborough; a parish constable. Spelman.