to hold back
16
3.5
- phrasal verb
:
posponer
- It's easy to give in now to whims and desires, but actually, if you hold back, it's better.
You may still hold back on that loud laugh of yours for a while.
- You may still hold back on that loud laugh of yours for a while.
- I think I'm going to, I'm going to hold back.
- But in waiting to see that, I'm going to hold back.
- And so they hold back on the conflict when we need to get into that conflict.
- We're, we're holding back at the moment until we have something, something worth saying.
- But what I did do, I didn't hold back even knowing that death was a possibility.
- That in the UK we've been quite good on this, but in the US they've seemed to have held back.
- But let's just hold back on the judgement as a human being because if you're a judge mental person, guess who else you're judging yourself.
Examples
-
Do you find that when you can hold back, you can actually learn a lot more?
-
It's important to hold back when making a decision until you have all the facts.
-
And I would just hold back on that a while longer.
-
We're, we're holding back at the moment until we have something, something worth saying.
-
With your father, it's best to hold back a little.
Fiction book (1997) -
You may still hold back on that loud laugh of yours for a while.
-
And so they hold back on the conflict when we need to get into that conflict.
-
And protective mode can often mean that you hold back, which makes sense.
-
Up ahead, barely visible in the rain, The Kid is holding back his horse impatiently.
Fiction book (1993) -
I held back for a day, because, well— because I wanted something to look forward to, I guess.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
To stay in one place or delay action until something happens
∞
1.3
To wait for a short time during a phone call
318
2.5
To pause before saying or doing something because you feel unsure
166
4.3
To delay doing something on purpose to get more time
159
1.6
Move away and keep a safe distance from something or someone for safety
113
2.9
Delay something until a later time
111
3.4
To wait a short time or keep going through a hard time
103
3.5
To do nothing when you should help
83
3.9
To delay doing something until someone answers or a situation changes
80
3.7
To wait patiently and not act
78
3.8
To wait before doing something
47
5.6
To stop shooting or attacking and wait before taking action
37
4.2
To wait before doing something
34
4.2
Delay making a decision about something while thinking about it
34
4.6
To hesitate and stay behind the group
22
7.4
Wait patiently and stay calm during a delay
15
5.5
To delay something until a later time
6
4.8
To delay doing something to get more time
4
5.0
To delay on purpose to get more time before deciding or acting
2
9.3
To delay making a decision to gain time or avoid conflict
1
5.6
To delay dealing with something until later and make it less important
1
8.0
To delay making a decision or taking action
1
7.2
Tell someone to wait and be patient
To wait before acting and risk losing a chance
Delay making a decision by waiting instead of choosing
To be slow on purpose because you do not want to do something
To delay doing something because you do not want to do it
Antonyms
How Hesitant
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 has the literal image of keeping a horse or a ball from moving forward. If you hold a horse by the reins or keep a ball in your hands, you wait before you let it go, so the phrase can mean 'to wait or hesitate before doing something'.