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Glite Dictionary
to hold memories

to hold memories

1 3.5
To make you think about the past because of an object or place
  • phrasal verb
  • /hoʊld ˈmɛməriz/
translation icon : guardar recuerdos

Examples

  • Did it matter that he held memories of this place and this city in better times?

    Fiction book (1991)

  • "You hold memories from many different lives, species," Casi pointed out, trying to slow things down.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • Ruins hold memories and stories, and a principle of resistance is that stories stoke struggle.

    Blog text (23)

  • The old house holds memories of my childhood that I cherish.

  • As I watched the sunset, I realized that the beach holds memories of our family vacations.

  • Every photograph in that album holds memories of special moments we shared together.

Synonyms

to keep
vsto hold memories
∞ 1.0

To store something for later use

focuses on preserving recollections or evoking past feelings not general storage
to recall
vsto hold memories
∞ 2.4

Remember something from the past

is about preserving or evoking past feelings and objects not just the mental act
to bring back
vsto hold memories
143 3.0

Make someone remember something from the past

is about preserving or evoking recollections rather than only prompting memory
to retain
vsto hold memories
47 3.2

To keep facts or information in your memory

also evokes past feelings through objects and places not only long storage
to bring back memories
vsto hold memories
21 3.5

To make someone remember the past, for example a song or photo

is about preserving recollections in objects or places rather than only causing recall

Antonyms

to forget
∞ 1.0

Not remember something you should remember

to erase
156 2.2

Remove all traces of something from memory or history

How Evocative

to haunt
268 4.9
to hold memories
1 3.5

Surface Forms

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

Morphology

hold + memory

The meaning is directly compositional: 'hold' (to contain) combined with 'memories' (recollections) yields 'contain or preserve recollections', a straightforward metaphorical extension of physical containment. This verb + noun pattern and the use of 'hold' to mean 'store/evoke' is common across languages, so a B1 learner who knows both words would readily infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

The phrase hold memories comes from the simple picture of something that holds things inside, like a box or an old photo album that keeps letters and pictures. That's why we say a place or object 'holds memories' when it 'keeps' or brings back feelings from the past.