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Glite Dictionary
🙅 To refuse or resist ✋ To stretch forward ⏳ To last
to hold out

to hold out

15 3.9
To last long enough when supplies or power are low
  • phrasal verb
  • /hoʊld aʊt/
translation icon : durar
  • Who knows how long backup power will hold out?
  • luck holds out
  • hold out long
  • supplies held out

Oh, because you're just hoping that that plastic holds out or you're dead.

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Examples

  • The beach was a long way behind her, and she was afraid her strength would not hold out.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • How's your air supply holding out?

    Creature (1985)

  • Can you hold out just a little longer?

    Apollo 13 (1995)

  • - How much longer can they hold out?

    Airplane! (1980)

  • Will your gas supplies... ...hold out very long?

    Licorice Pizza (2021)

  • The Romans beat them back, but John does not have enough supplies to hold out for long.

  • Hurry, they can't hold out for long.

    The Smurfs (2011)

  • We can't hold out much longer, sir.

    The Rock (1996)

  • If I'm lucky, and my savings hold out, I will not file for Social Security until I'm 70.

    Blog text (9)

  • The emergency rations must hold out until help reaches us.

Synonyms

to hold up
vsto hold out
163 3.7

To remain strong or effective under pressure

emphasize usable condition rather than strength under pressure
to endure
vsto hold out
94 3.6

To continue to exist for a long time despite problems

stress lasting usable condition during times of limited supplies
to last out
vsto hold out
4 5.0

Continue to exist through a hard time until the end

last in usable condition while supplies or resources are limited

Antonyms

to expire
197 3.7

Stop being valid after a fixed time, for example a passport or card

to deteriorate
146 5.9

To get worse in quality, condition, or value

How Long

to endure
94 3.6
to withstand
122 4.2
to hold out
15 3.9
to last
∞ 1.0
to run out
937 1.9

Surface Forms

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

Morphology

hold + out

The meaning 'to last' can be partly inferred from 'hold' (to remain/keep) with 'out' suggesting extension or continuation, so a learner who knows both words may guess a durability/continuation sense. However, the particle 'out' does not transparently encode duration and the phrasal verb has other senses (e.g. offer, resist), so the exact meaning is not fully predictable without exposure.

Etymology

Hold out comes from the idea of holding supplies out — using them slowly so they last during hard times. That's why it means 'to last' or 'to remain usable for a time'.