on hold
169
2.5
- idiom
:
en espera
- A civil case filed for the 14-year-old Utah bride is on hold pending resolution of the criminal charges.
- put on hold
- on hold for now
- life on hold
So we cannot put those plans on hold the new house.
- So we cannot put those plans on hold the new house.
- You put your possibilities on hold because now you aren't stuck.
- So that that's, so I decided to put things on hold and start an Internet company.
- I did have another video planned and it's, it's on hold.
- Apparently that's causing some headaches and that's why we are on hold.
- I'm like, OK, so you post me back on hold.
- And in the meantime, it feels like life is on hold.
- So you're putting your own growth and well-being on hold.
- You know, a lot of the norms have just were on hold.
- OK, Phone rings, your assistant picks up, they put the person on hold and they call out to you.
- As for Garcia, he says the entire ordeal has put his family's life on hold.
Examples
-
"Many of our projects had to be put on hold while the engineers were training," Nelson added.
Academic text (1995) -
It's on hold for a week.
-
Might have to put the wedding on hold, is all.
-
So, it's on hold now.
-
Some college leaders are happy to see the rule put on hold for now.
Academic text (2016) -
All those things had been on hold for more than a year.
Fiction book (1999) -
Other aspects of life are put on hold, and even significant others are often ignored.
Academic text (1994) -
Currently, the final form of the Pedagogy test is on hold for the academic year 1995-96.
Academic text (1996) -
For the moment, his travel plans are on hold, he says. "That's ominous."
Fiction book (1995) -
The project is currently on hold until we secure more funding.
Synonyms
21
4.9
Put off until later
16
5.0
Kept for later and given lower priority
10
5.8
Put aside and not used now
Antonyms
How Delayed
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'temporarily stopped or paused' follows directly from combining 'on' (indicating a state or condition) with 'hold' (a suspension or interruption); a B1 learner who knows both words can infer 'in a state of suspension.' The 'on + noun' construction meaning 'in a state of X' is a common, cross-linguistic pattern in English, so the expression is transparently compositional.
Etymology
On hold comes from the image of someone holding a phone call or a plan for you so you must wait. So, if something is on hold, it is kept and paused until someone can start it again, which is why it means 'temporarily stopped'.