to hold one's own
1
5.0
- idiom
- Informal
- Look, I understand that you can hold your own in a fight just fine, but don't you think this is a little out of your area of expertise?
Examples
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She was nervous about the match, but she managed to hold her own against the experienced players.
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But you've held your own as well as any of your male counterparts.
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And you can hold your own in a fight.
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- I think she can hold her own, sir.
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You sure held your own with the old man.
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Cam can hold her own.
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Cristina held her own quite well.
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And he's held his own.
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But for a little guy, Stu holds his own.
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If it's the latter, then yes, it is probably more difficult than ever to "hold one’s own" in the competition.
Blog text (10)
Antonyms
How Well
184
3.8
81
3.7
- Informal
1
5.0
∞
2.8
5
3.5
Surface Forms
Morphology
The verb 'hold' (to keep or maintain) combined with 'one's own' (one's position/status) yields a compositional sense of 'maintain your position', so a learner who knows the parts can partly infer the meaning. However, the extension to 'perform well against competition' is a contextualized, slightly idiomatic use that B1 learners may not fully predict without exposure, so it is not fully transparent.
Etymology
Hold one's own comes from the image of someone holding their ground in a fight or contest: to hold a position and keep what is your own against others. So it means 'to do as well as others' or 'to keep your place'.