to hold back
141
3.2
- phrasal verb
- /hoʊld bæk/
- Many barriers can hold back progress in education, such as lack of resources.
- hold back economic growth
- hold back political change
- things holding back progress
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Watch on YouTubeAnd the big one that holds me back is bulldozing.
- And the big one that holds me back is bulldozing.
- Freedom to not be held back by anything outside of me.
- However, a lot of the things in life that hold us back are us.
- What do you think is holding people back the most?
- I think we're increasingly being held back by these kinds of issues.
- I wonder what's holding him back from the full producer title.
- And Amy and I were holding her hair back as she vomited.
- And yet we let those stories hold us back from greatness.
Examples
-
What's been holding you back from the next level?
-
Well, what's held you back?
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It's not like we're holding ourselves back because we want control.
-
No one individual can hold back this time and make it stop.
-
What do you think is holding people back the most?
-
The slow pace of political change has held back economic change as well.
Academic text (1991) -
I think we're increasingly being held back by these kinds of issues.
-
So, what's holding you back?
-
Speaker, our children are being held back by Conservative cuts.
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That's exactly what's holding us back.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
To make something end and not continue
989
3.0
To stop movement, access, or progress
196
3.9
Force a person or thing to move backward in body and feeling
161
2.8
To cause a delay in plans or progress
89
5.1
To block a path or view
78
4.0
To stop an opponent from moving forward by keeping your position
77
7.4
To stop someone from doing what they want
75
3.6
To make it difficult for people or things to do something
71
5.3
To hold back a feeling or reaction so it does not show
59
6.5
To slow the progress or movement of people and things
53
4.2
To cause a delay and slow progress
47
4.2
To make it harder for someone or something to move forward
28
6.7
To limit growth or activity so it cannot continue
27
4.9
Make people or things move backward by using strength and stop feelings by holding them back
26
2.0
To stop someone from going forward or entering
26
4.6
Keep strong feelings under control so you do not act on them
24
3.9
To stop or slow the progress of something
20
3.7
Stop something from growing or spreading
17
8.7
To stop someone from making progress toward a goal
17
5.7
To limit the progress or success of something
12
6.1
Stop a process or action from happening
5
8.0
To stop or slow progress
4
6.1
To stop someone or something from making progress
1
5.9
Causing delay or blocking progress
1
5.7
Making movement or progress slower and more difficult
1
5.6
To stop someone on purpose from doing what they planned
Antonyms
How Hindered
Surface Forms
Morphology
hold + back
The meaning 'to prevent someone or something from moving forward or making progress' is directly derivable from combining 'hold' (to restrain) with 'back' (indicating backward movement or prevention of forward motion). This compositional motion/restraint pattern is common in English phrasal verbs and cross-linguistically familiar, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would likely infer the meaning.
Etymology
Hold back comes from the image of stopping movement, like a rope or a hand that keeps people or water from going forward. If you stop something from moving ahead, you are holding it back, so the phrase means 'to stop someone or something from moving forward'.