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Glite Dictionary
to hold in

to hold in

65 4.5
To stop yourself from showing strong feelings
  • phrasal verb
  • /hoʊld ɪn/
translation icon : contenerse
  • After the sad news, he had to hold in his tears until he was alone.
  • hold in check

Fuck, I've been holding this in for so long.

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Examples

  • I sucked my breath back to hold my tears in, but they came anyway.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • I want all of you to hold that feeling in your hearts.

  • Some things you have to hold in just a little bit, right?

  • If you have a specific question, hold it in your mind.

    Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011)

  • Do not hold fear in your heart.

    K-12 (2019)

  • We have to be able to hold in consciousness those two things.

  • They can barely hold it in.

    Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie (2012)

  • So don't hold it in, don't suppress yourself, don't make excuses.

    Stephan Speaks

  • She tried to hold in her laughter during the serious meeting.

  • When faced with the unfair treatment, she chose to hold in her anger rather than react.

Synonyms

to control
vsto hold in
∞ 2.4

To have power over people, things, or situations

applies this to emotions specifically, not general management
to hold
vsto hold in
∞ 1.9

To stop yourself from showing a feeling or reaction

is specifically about stopping emotions or urges from being expressed
to contain
vsto hold in
388 3.5

To keep something dangerous from spreading or getting worse

is narrower, mainly about stopping emotions from being shown outwardly
to conceal
vsto hold in
282 3.7

To hide something so others cannot see or find it

refers specifically to inward suppression of feelings, not general hiding
to hold back
vsto hold in
108 4.2

Keep yourself from showing feelings or telling others

is focused on preventing emotional display rather than withholding facts
to check
vsto hold in
104 3.7

Stop something from growing or spreading

focuses on stopping emotional display rather than limiting external growth
to choke
vsto hold in
97 4.9

To find it hard to speak because you feel strong emotion

is about quieting emotions inwardly rather than broader creative acts
to suppress
vsto hold in
88 5.8

To hold back feelings or reactions

focuses specifically on stopping emotional display rather than all reactions
to repress
vsto hold in
75 6.6

Keep strong feelings or memories from coming into the mind

is about stopping outward emotional expression rather than burying memories
to curb
vsto hold in
73 3.5

To limit or control something to stop it getting worse

is about keeping inward emotional responses from appearing rather than general limits
to restrain
vsto hold in
72 4.6

Keep strong feelings under control so you do not act on them

is limited to stopping emotional display rather than general prevention
to stifle
vsto hold in
49 5.3

To hold back a feeling or reaction so it does not show

is specifically about preventing emotions or urges from showing
to smother
vsto hold in
39 6.0

To stop a feeling or sound from being shown

targets internal stopping of emotions rather than hiding outward signs only
to moderate
vsto hold in
34 4.4

To make something less strong or intense

is the act of stopping emotions being shown, not merely lessening them
to bottle up
vsto hold in
24 5.6

To keep strong feelings inside instead of telling others

may be deliberate or more neutral suppression of feeling display
to hold down
vsto hold in
22 3.2

To keep something low and stop it from getting bigger

is about controlling internal feelings so they are not shown outwardly
to choke back
vsto hold in
4 7.0

Stop yourself from showing a feeling when you want to cry

covers emotional holding in whether or not it is difficult
to keep back
vsto hold in
4 5.1

Stop yourself from showing an emotion like tears or laughter

is the wider habit of keeping emotions inside rather than only brief acts
to choke down
vsto hold in
2 7.7

To stop yourself from showing strong feelings like sadness or anger

is the general act of keeping emotions from being expressed

Antonyms

to express
∞ 2.3

To show ideas and feelings by words or actions

How Restrained

to suppress
88 5.8
control
∞ 2.8
to hold in
65 4.5
to blurt out
  • Informal
42 3.9
to explode
187 3.5

Surface Forms

hold in infinitive
holding in present participle
holds in third person singular
held in past
held in past participle

Morphology

hold + in

The sense 'to restrain or suppress an emotion' is directly derivable from combining 'hold' (to restrain or keep under control) with 'in' (indicating containment/inside); the particle gives a clear spatial/metaphorical sense of keeping something inside. This compositional pattern is common cross-linguistically and would be readily inferable by a B1 learner who knows both constituents.

Etymology

The phrase hold in comes from the image of keeping something inside your body—like trying to hold a laugh in your mouth or chest. So it means 'to stop a feeling or reaction from showing'.