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💪 To endure 🏗️ To support weight ⏳ To delay 🌟 To praise publicly 🔫 To rob
to hold up

to hold up

188 3.4
To support the weight of something so it does not fall
  • phrasal verb
  • /hoʊld ʌp/
: sujetar
  • He used a sturdy bracket to hold up the shelf on the wall.

This steel ball can be held up by the electromagnet.

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Examples

  • Please hold up the heavy box while I tape the bottom shut.

  • After each present, my mother tells me to hold it up and smile.

    Academic text (2009)

  • What we need to do is hold the straight stick up for them as parents.

  • And so hold it up for them to see.

  • Will the floor hold up?

    The Personal History of David Copperfield (2019)

  • Surely, this class can design some paper structure that can hold up some books.

    Academic text (2007)

  • You can adjust the force needed to hold the door up by turning the screw.

  • Engineers have built cardboard structures so strong that they can hold up battle tanks.

    Academic text (2007)

  • I open one of the aluminum packets and hold up the plastic bag inside.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • The bridge was designed to hold up a lot of weight without collapsing.

Synonyms

to hold
vsto hold up
∞ 1.0

To carry or support something with your hands

holds up weight to stop falling by providing physical carrying
to hang
vsto hold up
951 1.0

To attach something from above so it stays up

prevents falling by bearing weight directly rather than hanging it
to prop
vsto hold up
115 4.1

To hold something up by putting an object under or against it

carries weight directly to keep an item from falling
to hang up
vsto hold up
103 2.3

Put something on a wall or hook so it stays off the ground

keeps weight from falling by carrying it rather than attaching above
to support
vsto hold up
73 1.0

Hold up something so it does not fall

physically carries weight to prevent an item from falling
to prop up
vsto hold up
65 3.6

Support something so it does not fall or fail

carries weight to prevent falling rather than offering temporary help
to suspend
vsto hold up
47 3.5

To hang something so it can move or swing

prevents falling by carrying weight rather than suspending from above
to sustain
vsto hold up
7 4.1

To hold up something heavy so it does not fall

carries weight to prevent falling rather than only holding briefly
to stay
vsto hold up
  • Specialized
2 7.7

To make something stable by fixing ropes or braces

carries weight to stop falling rather than relying on fastenings
to brace up
vsto hold up
1 5.5

To make something strong and supported from below with extra beams

carries or holds weight to stop collapse rather than just bracing
to buoy up
vsto hold up
1 5.0

Keep someone or something floating on water

stops falling by carrying weight in air or on structure, not by floating

Antonyms

to drop
∞ 1.0

To let something fall suddenly or by accident

How Supportive

to sustain
124 4.0
to prop up
65 3.6
to hold up
188 3.4
to bear
482 3.5

Surface Forms

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

Morphology

hold + up

The meaning 'to rob (at gunpoint)' cannot be predicted from the literal senses of 'hold' and 'up' — there is no clear compositional relation that leads to 'rob'. The particle 'up' here contributes to an idiomatic phrasal-verb sense (distinct from literal senses like 'raise' or 'delay'), so a B1 learner who only knows the constituents would very likely not infer the robbery meaning.

Etymology

Hold up comes from the clear picture of something supporting weight from below, like a column that holds up a roof, so it means 'support'.